Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture maintains a list of 213 persons who pose a threat to the national security of Ukraine, according to Ukrainska Pravda. This includes top Russian news personalities Vladimir Soloviov and Dmitry Kiselyov, but also ice dancer and singer Anna Semenovich. Curiously, Russian actor Alexey Kravchenko, who had made the list in 2021 for acting in a Russian movie about the war in Donbass, was somehow deleted from the list in November 2019—reportedly due to a request from the SBU—but then was put back on in July 2023.
The Ministry of Culture targeted its first 14 offenders on August 8, 2015, based upon a list from Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU. It has gotten its targets from the SBU, the Office of the President’s National Security and Defense Council, and the National Council for TV and Radio. So far, there is no indication that it has the deadly consequences of the infamous Myrotvorets hit list or that of the NSDC’s Center for Countering Disinformation. An actor on the list can cause the movie he or she acts in to be prevented from being shown, so it appears to function more on the level of the old 1950s’ Hollywood blacklist.
