Mumbai, February 27 - Following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine earlier this week, the Ukrainian Film Academy, the national group representing the country's film professionals, has urged the international authorities to boycott Russian cinema and the Russian film industry.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, an online petition has been filed in which Academy has called on producers to stop licensing Russian movies and series, for international festivals to ban Russian films from their line-ups and for international producers to terminate any business dealings with Russian companies.

Specifically, the Academy is calling on producers and license holders, which include Hollywood studios, to "terminate any business with business entities of the Russian Federation and not to transfer intellectual property rights to any films to the territory of the Russian Federation".

Meanwhile, there have already been cultural sanctions on Russia, with the European Broadcasting Union on Friday banning Russia from participating in its hugely-popular Eurovision Song Contest in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, besides other economical sanctions by Western governments, including the U.S., European Union, the U.K. and Canada.

Stay tuned...