London, July 16 - British comedian Sasha Baron Cohen's new movie 'Bruno' has been banned by authorities in Ukraine because they feared the comedy will 'damage the morality' of locals.

'Bruno' stars Cohen as gay Austrian fashionista Bruno and has been a success in the US and Britain. The film has topped box office charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

But officials in the eastern European country are refusing to allow it to be released in their cinema halls because of the 'unjustified' shots of homosexual sex scenes, reported femalefirst.co.uk.

The decision to ban the film came after nine out of the culture ministry's 14 members opposed its release.

'The Ukrainian ministry of culture has decided to ban all showings of this film on Ukrainian territory. The film contains unjustified showing of genital organs and sexual relations and shows homosexual acts and homosexual perversions in an explicitly realist manner. It also contains sadistic manifestations which could damage the morality of citizens,' said a letter to the country's film distributor Sinergia.