Outspoken Russian television journalist Mikhail Leontyev, 47, became the latest Russian to be banned by the Ukrainian National Security Service from entering the country for five years. The service said the bearded journalist, who in his trademark leather jacket is known for making acerbic remarks about Ukraine on a short program after the main news on Channel One, was barred for violating regulations of foreigners' stay in Ukraine.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry sent Ukraine's Foreign Ministry a note where it assessed the Ukrainian side's actions on introducing a ban on entry to Ukraine with regard to Russian Federation citizens as an unfriendly act that does not contribute to development of good-neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation," the Russian ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, the forthright leader of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and MP Konstantin Zatulin were banned from entering the country.
Leontyev said he was surprised by Ukrainian authorities' decision. "I don't know about any claims against me, no one has made them known [to me]," he told RIA Novosti Friday.
