Actor Steven Seagal receives a friendship award from Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday bestowed a state decoration on Steven Seagal, the American action-movie actor who also holds Russian citizenship.
The awarding of the Order of Friendship was announced on the Russian government’s internet portal. The order recognizes people who Russia considers to have contributed to bettering international relations.
Seagal was a vocal supporter of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and last year visited the Russian-held Ukrainian town of Olenivka where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were reportedly killed in an attack for which Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other.
Seagal was named in 2018 as a Russian Foreign Ministry humanitarian envoy to the United States and Japan.
KNOW MORE ABOUT STEVEN SEAGAL
Steven Frederic Seagal (/sɪˈɡɑːl/; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-law’s dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he had the same profession. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law. By 1991, he had starred in four films.
In 1992, he played Navy SEAL counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback in Under Siege. During the latter half of the 1990s, Seagal starred in three more feature films and the direct-to-video film The Patriot. Subsequently, his career shifted to mostly direct-to-video productions. He has since appeared in films and reality shows, including Steven Seagal: Lawman, which depicted Seagal performing duties as a reserve deputy sheriff.
Seagal is a guitarist and has released two studio albums, Songs from the Crystal Cave and Mojo Priest, and performed on the scores of several of his films. He has worked with Stevie Wonder and Tony Rebel, who both performed on his debut album. He has been involved in a line of “therapeutic oil” products and energy drinks. Seagal is an environmentalist, animal rights activist, and supporter of 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.He is a supporter of Vladimir Putin, to whom he once referred as “one of the great living world leaders”.He was granted both Russian and Serbian citizenship in 2016. In 2018, he was appointed Russia’s special envoy to the U.S. On February 27, 2023 he received the Russian Order of Friendship.
