Vladimir Putin on Monday honored American actor Steven Seagal, a former Hollywood star who in recent years has become an active defender of Russia’s president and more recently his offensive against Ukraine.
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Mr Putin signed a decree awarding the actor the “Order of Friendship” for “his great contribution to the development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation,” according to a document published on the Russian government’s official legal website .
Aikido specialist Steven Seagal, 70, was one of the stars of American action cinema in the 1980s and 1990s.
As his career waned, the Lansing, Michigan native gradually became close to authoritarian leaders, including the head of the Kremlin.
In 2016 he received a Russian passport from the hands of Vladimir Putin, but kept his American citizenship. Since installed in Russia, he even joined a nationalist party in 2021.
Last August he traveled to eastern Ukraine to meet and offer his support to the leader of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin.
He then visited Olenivka prison near Donetsk, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners died in an explosion this summer.
To mark Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday in October, Steven Seagal also recorded a video in support of the Russian president, who he called “one of the greatest leaders in the world.”
“I really hope and pray he gets the support, love and respect he needs. And that all the present difficulties will soon end, that we will live in a peaceful world,” added Mr. Seagal.