Read more: 'The Death of Stalin' Comedy Has Russia’s Culture Ministry Bracing for Communist Backlash

According to a Culture Ministry representative, the screening license for “The Death of Stalin” was revoked for containing “information that is banned from distribution by Russian law,” the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday. A Russian culture ministry spokesperson told the AFP news agency that the distribution certificate of the film had been withdrawn for containing "information whose distribution is legally banned in Russia". The movie is a humorous depiction of the power struggle in Soviet politics following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, and features representations of major political figures of the time, including Stalin, Georgy Zhukov and Nikita Khrushchev. Image copyright Volga Film Image caption Jason Isaacs as Marshal Zhukov

Marshal Zhukov's daughter was one of 21 signatories on an open letter to the culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, complaining about the film. "We believe that the film contains information that can be regarded as extremist, aimed at humiliating the dignity of the Russian (Soviet) people, propagating inferiority of a person on the basis of his social and national identity," they said in the letter, according to the ministry.
Russia's Ministry of Culture bars the release of the British–French political satire film The Death of Stalin in the country after accusing the film of containing "ideological warfare" and "extremist" content.