Russia bans Ben Stiller and Sean Penn from entering country over Ukraine action

Ben Stiller and Sean Penn have been banned from entering Russia after expressing solidarity with Ukraine.

The US actors are now on the Kremlin’s 1,073-name long stop list - which also contains Joe Biden and Boris Johnson as well as another Hollywood star, Morgan Freeman.

Mr Stiller has met with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of his role as a United Nations ambassador for the high commissioner for refugees.

The 56-year-old actor, who once in Extras played the director of a film about a man fleeing an eastern European war, said Mr Zelenskyy was his “hero”.

“What you have done, the way you have rallied your country, and for the world, it is really inspiring,” he told the president at the meeting.

Mr Penn has a long history of activism and was forced to flee Ukraine in March while he was filming a documentary about the conflict.

Russian oligarchs and those with close ties to Vladimir Putin have also been blacklisted for travel to many western countries.

The home and foreign offices have been contacted for a response.