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North Korea has Dennis Rodman. Russia has Steven Seagal.
The “Under Siege” actor was awarded the Order of Friendship for his continued support of President Vladimir Putin even during the occupation of Ukraine. At an event held by the International Russian Movement in Moscow, Sigal accused the US government of “spending billions of dollars on disinformation and lies” in the media “to discredit, demoralize and destroy Russia’s emerging morale.” independent).
“More than half of the people in America really like Russia and they like the Russians and they know they’re being lied to,” Seagal said. “My father was purely Russian, and I grew up in a pure Russian family, because my mother was completely immersed in Russian culture and she had no parents. So I grew up with Russian culture.”
The Michigan native continued, “I grew up loving Russia and everything I learned about it from a very early age. And for me, I am one million percent Russophile and one million percent Russian.”
In 2018, Sigal was appointed a special representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for Russian-American humanitarian relations. This year, the Order of Friendship was intended to celebrate Sigal’s “great contribution to the development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation.”
In 2020, Sigal wrote a birthday message to Putin, saying, “Today is President Putin’s birthday. I just think we’re living in very, very difficult times right now. He is one of the world’s greatest leaders and one of the world’s greatest presidents. I really hope and pray that he gets the support, love and respect that he needs. And that all the troubles happening now will end soon and we will live in a world of peace.”
“It’s foolish for anyone to think that Vladimir Putin has anything to do with election rigging, or even think that the Russians have such technology,” Segal said. “And that kind of propaganda is really a diversion … so that people in the United States don’t really see what’s going on.”
Seagal was previously banned in Ukraine and considered a threat to national security.