MOSCOW, October 31 (RAPSI) – Ukrainian Interior Ministry and Security Service opened a criminal case against popular Russian actor Mikhail Porechenkov, who went to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic on Thursday.

“Next we will put him on trial and on the wanted list. We’ll see how he will travel to Europe after that,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on Facebook on Friday.

Russian actor Mikhail Porechenkov was in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic for the opening night of the film Poddubny, in which he played Ivan Poddubny (1871 - 1949), a famous Russian and Soviet professional wrestler and athlete. The media wrote that Porechenkov visited the self-defense forces’ positions at Donetsk airport and shot from a large-caliber machinegun.

A violent internal conflict has been raging in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in southeastern Ukraine since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against the federalisation supporters. The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 3,500 people, according to the UN.

A criminal case has been opened in Russia against Avakov and Dnipropetrovsk Region Governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi under Russian Criminal Code articles on “the masterminding of murder, the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare, abduction, and the hindering of the legitimate activities of journalists.”