Steven Seagal Receives Russian Citizenship from Putin

Steven Seagal will now be a formal Russian citizen, after years of intense bromance with pal Vladimir Putin.The 64-year old actor and martial arts icon was granted his citizenship on Thursday in a decree published on the Kremlin’s website.The actor is known for a variety of martial arts, military and law enforcement-based films, such as Under Siege, Above the Law, On Deadly Ground, and Half Past Dead.Seagal has called Putin “one of the greatest world leaders” and has had a friendship with the Russian premier for years, bonding over martial arts and “Asian philosophy.”

Steven Seagal's Russian Infatuation

In a 2013 interview with Russian news channel RT, Seagal talked about the first time he went to Putin’s house: “I walked in and saw a life-sized statue of Kano Jigoro, who is the founder of judo, so I was immediately taken and impressed and sort of really wanting to get to know this man deeper and deeper.”They first met at the Moscow International Film festival, where Putin held a dinner to celebrate the festival’s international guests.After that, Putin and Seagal attended multiple events together, including martial arts shows and the opening of a sports complex in Moscow.https://youtu.be/alYjGuJviRI“This [was his] desire, he had really applied. He had been really persistent for a long time and been asking to grant him citizenship, he is actually renown for his quite warm feelings toward our country,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told press when the news of Seagal’s citizenship was announced.Putin attempted to make Steven Seagal an “honorary diplomatic envoy” to Arizona and California in 2013, although the idea didn’t pan out.Seagal has been firmly on the pro-Russia side of the Crimea debate, where he held a concert for pro-Russian separatists just before Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula.While Seagal may be the most high-profile, he is certainly not the only martial artist to endorse Russian and Putin; MMA fighter Jeff Monson received Russian citizenship in September.