Sean Penn Ben Stiller are permanently banned from Russia after visiting Ukraine meeting Zelensky

Russia slapped Hollywood stars Ben Stiller and Sean Penn with sanctions on Monday in response to their public criticism of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Putin’s foreign ministry included the actors on a new list of 25 US citizens banned from the country.

Those affected are mainly politicians, trade officials and industrial executives. The sanctions bar them from entering Russia.

Stiller and Penn have been vocal supporters of Ukraine in the conflict and have met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in high-profile shows of support.

In a televised meeting in Kyiv in June, Stiller, star of Zoolander, Meet the Parents and Dodgeball, told Zelensky: ‘You’re my hero.’

Two-time Oscar winner Penn was in Ukraine recording a documentary when Russia invaded on February 24. 

He was forced to flee on foot, joining the millions of Ukrainians crossing into Poland in the first days of the war.

He has been a vocal backer of Zelensky ever since and ever returned to Ukraine in June to meet the war-torn country’s leader. 

Penn was supposed to meet Zelensky ahead of war breaking out. He noted how he didn’t have time  to see if Zelensky could be a good friend and so ‘decided he’s a great friend that I love,’ noting ‘I don’t know if I’ll see him again’.

‘Part of what makes him so particularly extraordinary is that courage, he’s the face of so many Ukrainians. I mean this is leadership we aspire to, this is freedom of thought and true leadership that mostly is just so moving,’ Penn said at the tiem.

‘Ukraine with all its diversity has a unity we’ve never seen in modern times with the challenge it has.’

Penn also visited Bucha and Irpin near Kyiv, the sites of alleged atrocities against civilians by Russian forces, and Zelensky has publicly thanked Penn for his support.

While in Ukraine, Penn issued the following statement: ‘Already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and if he doesn’t relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind. 

‘President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.’

Stiller visited Ukrainian refugees in Poland in June before traveling to Kyiv and, as part of his work representing the UN Refugee Agency.

He spent time with President Zelensky on World Refugee Day.

‘I was really taken by the resilience of the people of Ukraine, and of the President,’ he said of his trip to the country. ‘His incredible sense of how he has risen to the moment and offered his people leadership and true resolve to get through this awful situation.’

Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a ‘special military operation’ to protect Ukraine’s Russian-speakers from persecution and defuse a Western threat to its security. Kyiv and the West say these are baseless pretexts for a war of aggression.

The sanctions freeze any Russian assets that those on the list have, prohibit Russian citizens from doing business with them, and ban them from traveling to Russia.

The list also included U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as were several senators: Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. 

Previous rounds of Russian sanctions against Americans have included President Joe Biden and members of his family, as well as lawmakers and business leaders. 

The U.S. has sanctioned numerous Russians, including government officials and business people. 

The West has imposed an unprecedented barrage of economic and personal sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow has retaliated with tit-for-tat sanctions on politicians, business leaders and cultural figures who it says are hostile to Russia. 

Penn prides himself for his journalism and activism. 

He previously filmed his efforts in Haiti for a documentary called Citizen Penn, after a devastating earthquake shook the nation. 

In 2016, he found himself caught up in the US investigation into fugitive drug lord El Chapo, after he made contact with him while working on a Rolling Stone article. 

Mexican actress Kate del Castillo arranged for the men to meet, and later said she felt used by Penn. 

She persuaded El Chapo to meet with Penn in 2015, after he had broken out of prison. 

During the clandestine meeting, Penn sprang on her to ask Guzman if he could interview him for Rolling Stone. 

‘Suddenly, Sean starts saying, ‘Tell him that I want to interview him for Rolling Stone magazine,’ Del Castillo told Gloria, Lili and Emily Estefan. ‘I was just like, ‘Wait, this was not on the script’…I cannot do a face because [Guzman is] gonna notice that something’s wrong. 

‘He’s gonna pick up on it, and [Penn is] gonna be dead in just a blink of my eye,’ she said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times later. 

There was speculation that the pair’s pursuit of El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman, led to US authorities tracking him down and re-arresting him.