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Actor Seagal Gets Putin Prize


FILE: Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. actor Steven Seagal shake hands after visiting an oceanarium built on Russky Island, where the Eastern Economic Forum takes place, in Russian Far Eastern port of Vladivostok, Russia. Taken Fri. Sept. 4, 2015
FILE: Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. actor Steven Seagal shake hands after visiting an oceanarium built on Russky Island, where the Eastern Economic Forum takes place, in Russian Far Eastern port of Vladivostok, Russia. Taken Fri. Sept. 4, 2015

Moscow said Seagal had been given the Order of Friendship for his "major contribution to the development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation."

In the decades since the height of his Hollywood fame, Seagal has been an outspoken supporter of Putin, who granted the 70-year-old film star citizenship several years ago.

In 2018, the Russian foreign ministry appointed Seagal a special representative for Russian-US humanitarian ties.

He was granted Russian citizenship in 2016, when Putin personally handed a Russian passport to the actor during a televised meeting.

Last August, Seagal visited the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk, including the destroyed Olenivka detention center where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were reported to have died.

Rex Tillerson, the former Trump-presidency US Secretary of State and CEO of ExxonMobil, as well as current FIFA president Gianni Infantino are among notable foreigners to have also received the award.

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