Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree awarding the Order of Friendship to US actor, Russian Foreign Ministry Special Representative for Russia-US Humanitarian Ties Steven Seagal.
The relevant document was published on the official portal of legal information. According to the decree, the award was presented for a significant contribution to the development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
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.
"Steven Seagal was appointed as the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for Russian-US humanitarian ties," the embassy said in a Facebook post announcing the appointment. "The task is to facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public and youth exchanges, and so on."
Seagal visited Russia frequently for years before winning citizenship. A reported friend of the Russian president, Seagal accompanied Putin to several martial arts events during those visits. In November 2016, Putin granted Seagal a Russian passport.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Putin, told reporters at the time that Seagal "has been insistent for a long time in asking to be granted Russian citizenship," adding that "he is known for his warm feelings to our country, he never made a secret of it, and he's also a well-known actor, which gave grounds to make him a Russian citizen."
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