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 better international relations.
Seagal, a frequent visitor to Russia, backed Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 as "very reasonable". Last year, he 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 even joined a pro-Kremlin party in 2021, and visited a Russian-controlled part of eastern Ukraine, where he met with a Russian-backed separatist leader.
Ukraine in 2017 banned Seagal from entering for five years on national security grounds.
Seagal was named in 2018 as a Russian Foreign Ministry humanitarian envoy to the United States and Japan.
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