Ben Stiller responds to being sanctioned by Russia with pro-Ukraine tweet

Actor Sean Penn among other Americans permanently banned from visiting Russia

US actor Ben Stiller, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, during a meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year. EPA

Stiller's actions have resulted in a lifetime ban from Russia. EPA

Actor and director Sean Penn attends a meeting with Mr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Reuters

Penn has also been banned from Russia after his visit. Reuters

Former US secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, seen here at the 13th DVF Awards 2022 during the 79th Venice International Film Festival in Venice, Italy, is banned. Getty Images

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is banned. AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden are both banned. AP

US Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg is banned. AP

Rob Reiner directed a 2017 video about the Kremlin meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Getty Images

Actor Morgan Freeman has been banned amid accusations of being 'anti-Russian' for narrating Reiner's video. Photo: Universal Pictures

US Vice President Kamala Harris made the ban list. Bloomberg

Ms Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff are banned from Russia. Bloomberg

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki made a quip about cancelling her vacation to Russia after hearing of her ban. AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was not surprised that he is banned from Russia. AFP

Mitt Romney, a Republican senator from Utah, has been banned. AP

Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator, is banned though his wife, Gabby Giffords, is not. Getty Images / AFP

Meta/Facebook chairman and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is banned and the social media service is also blocked in Russia. AFP

ABC newscaster George Stephanopoulos, with his wife actress Ali Wentworth, is banned from Russia. AP

Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros is banned from Russia. AFP

Corey Booker, a Democratic senator, is one of the many politicians no longer welcome in Russia. AFP

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic congresswoman, was banned by Moscow. AP

Marco Rubio, a Republican senator and long-time Donald Trump supporter, is banned from Russia. Mr Trump, however, has not been banned. Reuters

US Attorney General Merrick Garland is not welcome in Russia either. Reuters

Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, is banned. Reuters

Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman, is not welcome in Russia. Getty Images / AFP

Former acting US attorney general Sally Yates testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism that she had warned the White House about contacts between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia that might make him vulnerable to blackmail - hence her ban. Getty Images

The Kremlin gave no explanation for its ban of Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg. Getty Images / AFP

Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator who was Hillary Clinton's running mate in the 2016 presidential election, is banned. AP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Rob Portman and Amy Klobuchar, both US senators, last week. Both are banned from Russia. Reuters

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is banned from crossing Russia's borders. AP

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley is banned. AFP

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a US representative from New York, is also banned. EPA

Ilhan Omar, a representative from Minnesota, is also banned. AP

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Ukraine earlier this year and faces a lifetime ban. AP

USAID administrator Samantha Power is banned from Russia. EPA

Former UN ambassador Susan Rice is banned. EPA

Rashida Tlaib, a congresswoman from Michigan, is banned. Getty Images / AFP

Maxine Waters, a Democratic representative, is banned. AFP

Jeff Flake, the US ambassador to Turkey, is banned from Russia. AFP

Michele Flournoy, former under secretary of defence and co-founder of WestExec Advisers in Washington, is banned from Russia. AFP

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines is banned from Russia for life. AP

Liz Cheney, a Republican congresswoman, is banned along with her father. Reuters

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is banned. EPA

Marjorie Taylor Green, a Republican congresswoman from Georgia, is banned. Bloomberg

US actor Ben Stiller tweeted his public support for Ukraine on Tuesday, seemingly in response to being sanctioned by Russia.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that the Zoolander star had been permanently banned from entering the country.

But the announcement did not seem to upset Stiller, who posted a picture of a coffee mug with the phrase “I love Lviv” inscribed on it and accompanied with the caption, “Good morning”.

Stiller, a UN global ambassador, visited the Ukrainian city of Lviv in June after meeting refugees in Poland earlier in the day. He also visited the city of Irpin in Ukraine,

“Millions have been forced to flee their homes with over 90 per cent being women and children. I’m here to learn, to share stories that illustrate the human impact of war and to amplify calls for solidarity,” he said in an Instagram post at the time.

On the same trip, he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom Stiller called his hero.

“What you've done and the way you've rallied the country and the world, it's really inspiring,” he told Mr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Actor Sean Penn was also a target of Russia's latest round of sanctions, the country's foreign ministry said.

Penn, a two-time Oscar winner, was filming a documentary in Ukraine about the war in February when he and millions of others were forced to flee to Poland by foot. He has since become a vocal supporter of Mr Zelenskyy.

Penn has yet to publicly comment on being sanctioned by Moscow.

The latest list also includes US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and six US senators.

Other Americans previously sanctioned by Moscow include President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and actor Morgan Freeman.

This came in response to Washington's sanctioning of Russian President Vladimir Putin, his daughters and others close to him as well as a number of oligarchs over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin has called a “special military operation”.

US Actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie comforts a young victim of the Kramatorsk railway station missile strike in Lviv children's hospital, in Western Ukraine on April 30, 2022. EPA

This handout picture taken on August 7, 2022 shows the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, posing with US actress Jessica Chastain before a meeting in Kyiv. AFP PHOTO / Ukrainian Presidential press-service

Jolie interacts with a child at the main railway station during her visit to Lviv. Reuters

Zelenskyy, right, and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller shake hands during their meeting in Kyiv on June 20, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Stiller walks past a damaged building as he visits the Lypki neighbourhood in Irpin, Ukraine. Reuters

US President Joe Biden, right, stands with Spanish chef Jose Andres, founder of nonprofit organisation World Food Kitchen (WCK), after meeting refugees of Russia's war with Ukraine at PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland on March 26, 2022. AFP

Jose Andres is seen on a screen giving a pre-recorded acceptance speech for receiving The Sophia Award for Excellence 2022 from Ukraine, while he works there to feed those affected by the war on March 31, 2022. EPA

US actor and director Liev Schreiber prepares meals in the kitchen of the World Central Kitchen, for war refugees from Ukraine staying in Przemysl, Poland on April 15, 2022. EPA

Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Reuters

Zelenskyy, centre, talking with Sean Penn, right, next to President's office head Andriy Yermak during their meeting in Kyiv on June 28, 2022. AFP PHOTO / Ukraine's presidential press-service