World's celebrities who got Russian citizenship

Several foreign celebrities have been granted Russian citizenship in recent years, often by presidential decree. Who those people were and why they did it, we will discuss today.

GERARD DEPARDIEU

Perhaps the most famous example of a Western celebrity who has become a Russian citizen. The French actor received a Russian passport personally from Putin in 2013, but retained the citizenship of his native country too. The actor decided to take this step because of the tax reform in France, which increased the wealth tax rate to 75%. The tax, because of which the Frenchman left the country, was later recognized as discriminatory, and the Constitutional Council of France repealed it. However, taxes are not the only reason why Gerard Depardieu became a Russian citizen - he has long been interested in Russian culture and even starred in several domestic films. Since 2022, after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began, the actor has been calling for peace. He now lives more often in Belgium, but is registered in Novosibirsk.

STEVEN SEAGAL

Also a pretty well-known story - the American action star managed not only to be granted Russian citizenship, but also to succeed in the political sphere. Steven became a citizen of our country back in 2016, after which he managed to change several political parties. According to the President's press secretary, Steven Seagal «persistently and for quite a long time» asked for naturalization. By the way, the Hollywood actor has Russian roots - his grandparents were from the Russian Empire.

EDWARD SNOWDEN

Snowden is a former National Security Agency intelligence contractor and is known for leaking classified documents in 2013 that revealed the extent of the US government's mass surveillance programs. He fled his homeland to evade possible legal consequences for this, and now is our compatriot. There are currently no extraditions between Washington and Moscow.

CARY-HIROYUKI TAGAWA

The star of the Mortal Kombat franchise, the American-Japanese actor not only became a citizen of the Russian Federation, but also converted to Russian Orthodoxy. Tagawa said he was impressed with the Russian soul's depth

ROY JONES JR.

The US boxer became a Russian citizen in 2015. Earlier that year, he met with the Russian President in Crimea, where he said: «I love Russian society as much as it loves me. » Vladimir Putin, in turn, supported the athlete's idea. Roy Jones decided not to renounce his US citizenship, and in an interview, he admitted that he lives in and for two countries. In Moscow, he opened the Roy Jones Boxing School.

NATALIA OREIRO

Famous Uruguayan actress and singer Natalia Oreiro obtained a Russian passport together with her son in 2021 at the embassy in the city of Buenos Aires, where she lives. According to the actress, she has many connections with Russia; and in our country, she is loved and known primarily for her leading role in the TV series «Wild Angel». However, she didn't plan to move to Russia and lives permanently in Argentina. Oreiro also has Spanish citizenship.

JEFF MONSON

Monson is an American-born mixed martial artist and boxer. He became a Russian citizen in 2018, and in four years, renounced his US citizenship.
Soon after naturalization, the boxer was elected as a deputy of the City Duma of one of the towns in the Moscow region. Monson recently married a Russian woman and had a child with her. Now he hosts his own program on TV. «I am Russian in spirit, » the athlete declares.

AHN HYUN-SOO

Korean short track skater Ahn Hyun-soo received Russian citizenship in 2011, after a conflict with the South Korean Skating Federation. He changed his name to one more understandable to his new compatriots, Victor Ahn. The skater brought the Russian national team three gold and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games in the city of Sochi.

There are many other people who have also officially linked themselves with Russia: Brazilian footballer Mario Fernandes, Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis, Serbian actor Miloš Biković, Italian conductor and pianist Fabio Mastrangelo, and others.

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