“Vladimir Putin signed an executive order according Russian citizenship to Steven Seagal,” announced the sober decree published on the Kremlin website on Thursday morning, among other items of national importance such as government reshuffles and international treaties. The US actor has said the Russian president could well be “the greatest world leader alive today”. US actor Steven Seagal who was granted Russian citizenship on Thursday by President Vladimir Putin, said he was "tremendously grateful for this opportunity," a statement provided to TASS by his agent reads. Seagal follows other celebrities including French actor Gerard Depardieu, US mixed martial arts fighter Jeff Monson, US boxer Roy Jones and US snowboarder Vic Wild in taking Russian citizenship.
– Vladimir Putin just took his bromance with Steven Seagal to a whole new level. The Russian leader has signed an executive order granting Seagal Russian citizenship, reports the BBC. A Kremlin rep says Seagal "was asking for citizenship persistently and for quite a long time," and his soft spot for Russia—the American actor once described Putin as "one of the greatest world leaders" and Russian's actions in Crimea as "very reasonable"—helped make it possible, per the Guardian. Seagal, whose father was Russian, says he's "tremendously grateful" for the honor and plans to "work tirelessly" until the US and Russia are "best friends and allies," per TASS.