Ukraine bans "Bruno" for nudity, gay sex

British actor Sacha Baron Cohen arrives for the Australian premiere of his new film ''Bruno'' in Sydney June 29, 2009.

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine has banned "Bruno," Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy about a gay Austrian fashion reporter, objecting to its scenes of nudity and homosexual sex, the culture ministry said on Wednesday.

The ex-Soviet state, where conservative views on homosexuality still prevail, had already banned "Borat," Cohen's previous satire aimed at demasking bigotry and anti-Semitism in the United States.

A culture ministry commission concluded "Bruno" included an "artistically unjustified exhibition of sexual organs and sexual relations, homosexual acts in a blatantly graphic form, obscene language, sadism, anti-social behavior which could damage the moral upbringing of our citizens."

Cohen's new incarnation travels to the United States to fulfill his dream of being "the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler."

Lines like that, as well as his explicit sexuality, gay sex scenes and nudity have shocked some.

But it has proven popular in the United States and Britain, where it reached the top of the box offices.