Ukraine bans Steven Seagal as national security threat
MINSK, Belarus -- Ukraine has banned action film actor Steven Seagal from entering the country for five years.
Seagal, an American, was given Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin last year in a ceremony shown on state television. He has vocally defended the Russian leader's policies and criticized the U.S. government.
A statement from the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday said Seagal's entry was banned "on the basis of Ukrainian national security." It did not elaborate.
Seagal also reportedly has spoken in favor of Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. That same year, Putin enlisted Seagal to preach physical fitness and to sell his vision, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports.
"I know him well enough to know that he is one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader, alive today," Seagal said of Putin at the time. "He cares more about Russia than anybody I know. And he's not afraid to get up and do what needs to be done."
