“A Russian action film star is in hot water after he was caught on film wearing press gear while firing a machine gun toward Ukrainian lines with Moscow-backed rebels at Donetsk airport,” mashable.com reports. “In the video released by the rebels’ NovorossiaTV on Oct. 30, the barrel-chested Mikhail Porechenkov is heard saying, ‘ceasefire,’ before opens fire with a mounted machine gun at the airport, grinning widely. Afterward, he poses for a photograph with the fighters, wearing a blue helmet and vest marked with ‘PRESS.'” The Spetsnaz star’s “hot water” immersion comes via The Security Service of Ukraine, whose Facebook page reveals that they’ve opened criminal proceedings against Porechenkov for violating article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: participating in terrorist activities. Some Russians are also displeased . . .
The Moscow Union of Journalists and a popular Moscow radio station also criticized the actor on Friday.
“I, as the chairman of the Union of Journalists of Moscow, believe this is sad and a shame, when in one moment what we fought for years to protect journalists is destroyed,” Pavel Gusev said in his statement.
He’s got a point there – unless the whole thing was being filmed for a movie in which the action star stars as a jobbing journo who just happens to like big-ass machine guns too much to resist. Oh and name that gun.