In a video posted online, Farrokhnezhad said he was giving back the award to the Moscow Film Festival in protest at Russia’s “brutal” attack on Ukraine.
He had won the Best Actor award for his part in ‘Left Foot Forward on the Beat’ at the 27th edition of the festival.
The actor also expressed hope that all artists around the world would similarly condemn Russia.
On 24 February, Russia began a military operation to “denazify” Ukraine. Russia has long been wary of NATO’s build-up at its doorstep in Eastern Europe and the overtures by the Western-allied government in Ukraine to the Western military alliance.
