Why famous foreigners want to obtain Russian citizenship. Seagal is ours

History knows many examples of how successful people from foreign countries expressed a desire to become citizens of Russia or the USSR. In recent years, many famous foreigners have become holders of Russian passports, including Gerard Depardieu, Roy Jones, Steven Seagal and others. Next, we suggest recalling the most famous personalities who at different times became citizens of our country.

Steven Seagal. In October of this year, Seagal, having arrived in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, told reporters that he really liked it in Russia and could receive Russian citizenship in the future.

Soon, a decree on this signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin was published on the Kremlin website.

The actor has repeatedly admitted his warm feelings for Russia and loves to talk about his Russian roots, especially about his grandmother from Vladivostok.

Seagal is also very proud of meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin: “I consider him my friend and would like to consider him my brother,” he said in an interview.

Gerard Depardieu. In 2012, one of the most famous French actors declared his desire to move to Russia: “I adore your country, Russia, your people, your history, your writers... I adore your culture, your way of thinking.”

As the media suggested, Depardieu’s change of citizenship was also prompted by the government’s plans to impose a 75% tax on the rich. In response to such accusations, the actor stated that he is a true European and a citizen of the world.

Putin personally handed him a Russian passport with a double-headed eagle in Sochi in January 2013.

The actor expressed his desire to develop business in Russia and even registered as an individual entrepreneur. Since then, he periodically comes to Russia; his last visit was tasting Crimean wines in Moscow.

Jeff Monson. The MMA fighter and master of Brazilian jiu-jitsu became our compatriot at the end of 2015, and he waited a long time to receive a passport with a double-headed eagle.

Monson said that he was captivated by snow-covered Moscow, that he admires the Russian spirit and history, so he proudly goes to fights with the Russian flag, to the songs “Lube”, and also decorated himself with a tattoo with the sculpture “The Motherland Calls” and bearded Marxist-Leninists .

Jeff also became a citizen of the LPR and an honorary citizen of Abkhazia, supports the residents of Donbass and criticizes the United States.

Roy Jones Jr. The American boxer, world champion in four weight categories, silver medalist at the 1988 Olympics, earned the image of one of the most charismatic boxing stars and managed to become famous as a rap artist.

He liked our country for a long time, but Jones made the final decision to apply for citizenship after a visit to Crimea, where, among other things, he met with Putin.

Now Jones has dual citizenship, but, according to him, he considers himself Russian, says: “Crimea is ours,” and is also planning to open a gym in Moscow. He also likes the Russian president: “He’s a good, great guy.”

Fabio Mastrangelo. The famous pianist and conductor went on tour in St. Petersburg in the 2000s, after which he decided to stay.

He himself explained his decision by saying that “Russia has the most beautiful girls,” and in general his love for our country is “inexplicable.” Now the maestro directs the St. Petersburg State Music Hall Theater.

Teodor Currentzis. The outstanding Greek conductor has been living and working in Russia since the early 1990s.

Currently, Currentzis is the artistic director of the Perm Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. P.I. Tchaikovsky, artistic director of the International Diaghilev Festival.

Viktor An. Russia has adopted the practice of naturalizing athletes from abroad who want to compete for Russian teams. This is how the Korean speed skater became.

Ahn Hyun-soo took three golds and a bronze for his native South Korea at the 2006 Olympics in Turin. For several years he was considered one of the most successful athletes in the country, and then suffered a knee injury...

The local federation immediately turned its back on him. But Russian specialists were not so reckless. An changed his name and repeated his triumph in Sochi - he won three gold medals and one bronze.

Vic Wild. The Washington state-born snowboarder went to Russia, firstly because he married a Russian woman, and secondly, because American sports officials deprived his sport of attention and finances.

As a result, the athlete won two gold medals in Sochi and received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland from the hands of Vladimir Putin.

Anatoly Wasserman. Yes, yes, the famous political consultant, publicist and journalist received Russian citizenship only on January 27, 2016, and before that he was a citizen of Ukraine.

In 1994, he even participated in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, but did not pass.

Ezio Gambe. On January 8, 2016, an Italian judoka, head coach of the Russian judo team, received a passport as a citizen of the Russian Federation.

The 1980 Olympic champion and 1984 Olympic silver medalist received the position of head coach of the Russian men's judo team in 2008.

Robert John Holden. The American basketball player received Russian citizenship in October 2003. From 2002 to 2011 he played for the CSKA basketball club.

As part of the army team, he won the Russian Championship nine times, the Euroleague twice, and the VTB United League once.

Velko Kadievich. In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev granted citizenship to the former Minister of Defense of Yugoslavia. It was he who gave orders for operations in Dubrovnik and Vukovar during the Croatian Civil War.

He was granted citizenship almost immediately after being put on the wanted list by Interpol.

Edita Piekha. The pop singer of Polish origin also decided to settle in the Soviet Union.

She was born in France, after which she moved to Poland with her parents. Having taken part in a music competition in Gdansk in 1955, Piekha was sent to study in Leningrad.

Only 12 years later, she received a Soviet passport.

Roberto Bartini. The physicist, aircraft designer, creator of the theory of the six-dimensional world received Soviet citizenship in 1921.

The adopted son of an Italian millionaire, a member of the Communist Party, to which he transferred a $10 million inheritance, fled from fascist Italy to the USSR, where from 1928 he headed a seaplane design group.

Lloyd Patterson. The actor and artist became a Soviet citizen in 1932, when he came to our country as part of the black troupe of James Hughes, who dreamed of creating his own theater in the USSR.

He worked as a translator, radio announcer, and later, together with his wife, a Ukrainian artist, at the Moscow film studio. He died in Moscow in 1942 during an air raid.

It was he who was the father of Jim, who at the age of two played the role of a black boy in the film “The Circus”.

Wolf Messing. The illusionist, psychologist and clairvoyant received Soviet citizenship in 1939.

In 1937, Messing publicly predicted the death of Hitler, who placed a prize of 200,000 marks on his head. Two years later, after the Nazi invasion of Poland, he fled from Warsaw in a cart filled with hay, and then across the Bug to the USSR.

In our country, he performed “mind reading” in propaganda teams, in the circus, and then with personal programs at the State Concert.

Ramon Mercader. The Soviet intelligence agent, Trotsky's killer, served all 20 years in a Mexican prison, after which he was transported to Cuba, and then illegally to the USSR.

He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, as he was promised. He worked at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the CPSU Central Committee, received a four-room apartment and a dacha.

Zurab Tsereteli. President of the Russian Academy of Arts (since 1997), founder and director of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, author of the infamous monument to Peter I, one of the leaders of the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior remained a citizen of Georgia after the collapse of the USSR.

For special services to the Russian Federation in 2003, Tsereteli received Russian citizenship.

“I want to go to Russia because I’m inspired by your country,” the athlete admitted in response to the president’s approving words. There are many who want to repeat his act.

So, the other day, Hollywood celebrity, actor Robert de Niro, at the opening of a restaurant in Moscow, said that he would like to join the ranks of the citizens of our country. And on November 5, it became known that the former absolute world heavyweight boxing champion, Briton Lennox Lewis, was also considering the possibility of obtaining Russian citizenship.

In September, the vocalist of the American rock band Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst, expressed his desire to obtain Russian citizenship. And a little earlier in St. Petersburg, on the set of the film “Rock and the Road,” Sami Naceri, a French actor of Algerian origin, known for the “Taxi” series of films, announced his desire to become a Russian.

the site decided to remember the famous foreigners who asked for citizenship of our country and are now in one way or another connected with St. Petersburg.

The city has become destiny

The most famous foreigner from St. Petersburg is People's Artist of the USSR Edita Piekha. Polish by origin, she was born in France into a simple family of a coal miner. She first came to the Soviet Union and the city on the Neva in 1955 to study.

Edita Piekha Photo: www.russianlook.com

“When I saw Leningrad, I couldn’t believe for a long time that I had drawn a lucky ticket,” says the singer. “I walked through the streets and pinched myself: this is St. Isaac’s Cathedral, and this is Peter and Paul Fortress, the spire of the Admiralty. I thought it was a dream. From the first minutes I felt that I was in my city.”

Also in 1955, Edita made her debut on the stage of Leningrad State University. Then she met her greatest love - Alexander Bronevitsky. It was he who brought an unknown student to the big stage, and for 20 years he was her husband and producer. All together led to a completely conscious official decision: in 1967, Edita Piekha became the owner of a Soviet passport. Since then, she has repeated more than once that she has an affair with the city, and a song about the city that has become destiny appeared in her repertoire. By the way, this year marks 60 years since she settled in the Northern capital.

St. Petersburg Japanese

But not all stories with the discovery of a new homeland proceed so harmoniously and happily.

In December 2008, Japanese athlete Yuko Kawaguchi, a student of the St. Petersburg figure skating school, received Russian citizenship. She came to St. Petersburg in 2002 with a clear goal - to train only with the honored coach Tamara Moskvina and to compete at the Olympic Games.

It was Tamara Nikolaevna, after several not very successful duets, who paired her with Alexander Smirnov, Yuko’s current partner. The 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver were approaching. And Yuko, in addition to the crazy sports loads, had to go through one more test. To become a member of the Russian national team, she needed to take Russian citizenship, which meant giving up her Japanese citizenship. After all, according to the laws of this country, a Japanese must have only one homeland. Moreover, Japanese citizenship is no longer restored. Yuko does not hide the fact that this decision was extremely difficult for her psychologically. Nevertheless, she made her choice. And in 2008 she became a Russian citizen.

Yuko Kawaguchi. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Another goal was achieved - performance at the Olympic Games. However, the couple had no luck. In Vancouver, Kawaguchi-Smirnov, counting on prizes, came fourth, and in 2014 they did not go to the Olympics in Sochi at all, although they really wanted to. Just the day before, Alexander received a serious injury, he underwent a complex operation, and then began a long rehabilitation.

“Then, after Sochi there was such emptiness... I didn’t want to ride at all,” Yuko admitted. “We failed,” their coach Tamara Moskvina bitterly confirmed in those days.

However, both the skaters and their mentors coped with the stress and won gold at the European Championships this winter, and recently won the prestigious Chinese Grand Prix.

Now Yuko lives in St. Petersburg. I bought a one-room apartment here and received three (!) higher educations. She graduated from the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, Maritime Technical University with a degree in Economics and Management in a Mechanical Engineering Enterprise and also received a coaching diploma from the University of Physical Culture. Lesgafta. Awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Speaks Russian well.

Today Yuko is 33 years old; she has been in Russia for 13 years. She doesn’t hide the fact that she doesn’t have many friends, doesn’t have a family yet, and she doesn’t belong in the sports community either. But this brave and fragile girl has no intention of leaving St. Petersburg. On the contrary, she claims that it is much easier for her to work with Russians than with the Japanese, and after finishing her career she would like to become a coach and work with children.

"Golden" Korean

In December 2011, South Korean athlete Ahn Hyun Soo, or, as he is called in Russia, Viktor Ahn, received Russian citizenship. This gave him the opportunity to compete for the Russian short track speed skating team. In 2014, at the Olympics in Sochi, he won three gold and one bronze medals for our country. And although Victor mainly lives in a two-story townhouse in Novogorsk near Moscow, he often comes to St. Petersburg, where he has an apartment on Obukhovskaya Oborona Avenue.

Victor An Photo: RIA Novosti

A three-room, 100-meter apartment was presented to him by the leaders of one of the city’s construction companies, impressed by the athlete’s brilliant victories. Recently, renovations were made there, which the champion was pleased with.

All around there is laconic furniture and a minimum of conspicuous decor - this is what is needed,” admitted the owner of the house. - My wife and I generally like simple solutions, a lot of light, a lot of space. As true Koreans, we love minimalism, and in St. Petersburg everything is even better than we imagined. The view that opens from the 11th floor window is especially impressive: the Neva River and the surrounding area are in full view. We want to live here. True, it is difficult to sleep on white nights.

Victor does not hide the fact that he is seriously considering moving to the Northern capital in the future. Moreover, Russian short track speed skating began in St. Petersburg, and now two very promising athletes live here - Sofia Prosvirnova and Ekaterina Konstantinova. There is also a serious coaching school. So it is possible that the “golden” Korean will soon finally settle in St. Petersburg.

Proud to be Russian!

In January 2013, French actor Gerard Depardieu received a Russian passport from the hands of Vladimir Putin. Subsequently, he admitted more than once, including in France, that he was ready to die for Russia. He repeatedly said that he was proud to be Russian and even released an exclusive series of watches with such a phrase.

Gerard Depardieu Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Despite the fact that the famous artist is constantly registered in Mordovia, he has a lot in common with St. Petersburg. He owns a cafe on Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street, and is soon planning to open a chain of restaurants in St. Petersburg. According to the 66-year-old actor, he intends to “export French culinary skills” to Russia. Well, to confirm the seriousness of his intentions, the performer of iconic roles registered as an individual entrepreneur.

In June 2003, for special services, Russian citizenship was awarded to the sculptor and artist Zurab Tsereteli. After the collapse of the USSR, he remained a citizen of Georgia, although he worked and lived mostly in Moscow. Since 1997, Tsereteli has been president of the Russian Academy of Arts, which is located in St. Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island. There are also several Tsereteli monuments installed in the Northern capital, where the most famous is the 6-meter statue of Peter I on the Baltic Square.

However, Zurab Konstantinovich does not lose hope of placing 14 sculptures of kings from the Romanov dynasty in the city’s Primorsky Park. The master worked on this project for 35 years, all monuments are cast in bronze. One of the groups depicts the “Ipatiev Night” - the execution of Nicholas II and his family.

Zurab Tsereteli Photo: www.globallookpress.com

The master’s idea to create a large-scale State Academic Museum of Art in St. Petersburg also caused great resonance. It was planned that it would be located at the Academy of Arts, and the main exhibition would consist of more than 100 thousand (!) works of painting of the 19-20th century. Among them are works by Raphael, Luca Giordano, Watteau, Rokotov, Bryullov, Borovikovsky, Repin, Perov, Kustodiev, Chagall and other masters. They wanted to create a platform there for temporary exhibitions and contemporary art. And although this idea has not yet been implemented, people who know Tsereteli say that he rarely deviates from his plans.

Russian wife and son

In May 2014, the artistic director of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater, Teodor Kurtennzis, received a passport as a citizen of the Russian Federation. A native of Greece, he began working in Russia in the late 90s, becoming an assistant conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2008, he was awarded the Order of Friendship. Now Theodor lives in Perm, from which he wants to make a “Russian Salzburg”, creating a “strong opera tradition” there.

In October 2011, Italian conductor Fabio Mastrangelo, who today heads the St. Petersburg Music Hall, received Russian citizenship. He has been living in St. Petersburg for 13 years, loves to walk in the Mikhailovsky Garden, and says that he was destined from above to become Russian.

How else can we explain that at the age of 9 the boy began to learn the Russian alphabet on his own. My mother’s maiden name was also Russo, which translates as “Russian.” Father and mother adored Russia and Russian music, so when a daughter appeared, they named her Valentina, in honor of Valentina Tereshkova, the world's first female cosmonaut. By the way, Fabio was born in Bari, where the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, who has always been revered in Russia, rest. My personal life also developed.

“To become happy, you need to marry a Russian!”, the maestro is sure, which is what he did. He has a Russian wife, son, and now - for four years now - citizenship.

By the way, there are examples of the opposite attitude. Petersburger Mikhail Shemyakin, cult artist and friend of Vladimir Vysotsky, State Prize laureate, born in Moscow and currently a US citizen. He was expelled from Russia in 1971. This was preceded by numerous arrests, confiscation of works, forced treatment in a psychiatric clinic... Now Shemyakin lives in France, often comes to St. Petersburg, where he has a workshop and cultural center on Sadovaya. “Strictly speaking, I never left the country,” says the master.

Also writer Mikhail Weller, who lived in Leningrad-Petersburg from 1969 to 2000, still remains a citizen of Estonia. And, as he himself admitted during a recent meeting with St. Petersburg readers, he has no intention of changing his citizenship.

By presidential decree, Steven Seagal was granted Russian citizenship. RuBaltic. Ru recalls which other celebrities and cultural figures have recently received a Russian passport.

Foreigners who received Russian citizenship arrived in the regiment. On Thursday it became known that by presidential decree, Hollywood actor Steven Seagal received a Russian passport. “I have always felt that the United States and Russia should be the best of friends and allies,” he said, thanking the authorities for a positive decision on his request.

An aikido master, holder of black belts in karate, judo and kendo, Seagal is known to Russians mainly for his intense action films of the “VHS era.” Americans remember him more from his later work - the recent popular reality show "Lawman" about Seagal's exploits as a deputy sheriff in Louisiana. The actor has repeatedly admitted his warm feelings for Russia and loves to talk about his Russian roots, especially about his grandmother from Vladivostok. It was in Vladivostok last September, “on the sidelines” of the Eastern Economic Forum, that Seagal spoke with Vladimir Putin, visiting the aquarium on Russky Island. Earlier, in August 2012, Seagal met with the Russian Olympic judo team, then went with Putin to the final of the Russian MMA (mixed martial arts) championship in Sochi. In March 2013, they jointly opened the Sambo70 sports complex in Moscow. Seagal's close communication with Putin gave rise to rumors in the West that the Kremlin was going to use the actor as a mediator in negotiations with Barack Obama.

Seagal himself is proud of his acquaintance with the Russian leader. “I consider him my friend and would like to consider him my brother,” he said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Seagal fully supported the Crimean referendum and the annexation of the peninsula to Russia. He became an honored guest at the Night Wolves bike show in Sevastopol, performed for residents under the flags of the DPR (Segal is the leader of his own blues band), and tried on a T-shirt with the image of the President of the Russian Federation. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine put him on the “black list” for this.

Honorary Udmurt

In Soviet times, artists quite often moved to the USSR for studies, competitions and festivals. This is how the pop singer of Polish origin Edita Piekha settled in the Soviet Union. She was born in France, after which she moved to Poland with her parents. Having performed at a music competition in Gdansk in 1955, Piekha was sent to study in Leningrad. In 1967, she received a Soviet passport.

In 2012, one of the most famous French actors of our time, Gerard Depardieu, announced his desire to move to Russia. “I adore your country, Russia, your people, your history, your writers... I adore your culture, your way of thinking,” admitted the performer of more than a hundred roles from the Count of Monte Cristo and Rasputin to the Gaul Obelix. Sympathy for Russia was combined with mercantile interest. The change of French citizenship was spurred by government plans to impose a 75 percent tax on the rich. Depardieu decided that taxation in Russia was more suitable for him, and immediately decided to give up his French passport. At home he was accused of lack of patriotism; Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Depardieu's act pathetic. The actor himself responded by saying that he is a true European and a citizen of the world. Putin personally handed him a passport with a double-headed eagle in Sochi in January 2013. Depardieu was offered an apartment in Grozny, registration in Saransk along with the post of Minister of Culture of Mordovia, and was awarded the title “Honorary Udmurt.” The actor talked about his desire to develop business in Russia and even registered as an individual entrepreneur. Since then, he periodically comes to Russia, the last time he noted himself tasting Crimean wines in Moscow. Like Seagal, Depardieu became persona non grata in Ukraine for his statements.

At the end of 2015, MMA fighter and Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Jeff Monson became a citizen of the Russian Federation. He had been waiting for a red passport for a long time. Monson explained that he was captivated by snowy Moscow and began to fight in Russia more often than in his native USA.

He said that he admires the Russian spirit and history, so he proudly goes to fights with the Russian flag, to the songs “Lube”, and “got” tattoos with the sculpture “The Motherland Calls” and profiles of the classics of Marxism-Leninism.

Monson, being also a citizen of the LPR and an honorary citizen of Abkhazia, ardently supports the residents of Donbass and criticizes the United States. In particular, he would like to “punch” Obama.

Boxer Roy Jones Jr. is also happy to perform under the flag of the Russian Federation. An American, world champion in four weight categories, silver medalist at the 1988 Olympics, thanks to his behavior, he earned the image of one of the most colorful boxing stars and managed to become famous as a rap artist. Russia had long fascinated him, but Jones made the final decision to apply for citizenship after a visit to Crimea, where, among other things, he met with Putin. Jones considers himself Russian, says: “Crimea is ours,” and is planning to open a gym in Moscow. He says about Putin: “A good, great guy.”

Medalists and Landsknechts

Russia has adopted the practice of naturalizing athletes from abroad who want to compete for Russian teams. Among them are American basketball stars John Robert Holden and Becky Hammon, Japanese figure skater Yuko Kawaguchi, and Brazilian football player Guilherme. The greatest success for the team was brought by the Korean Victor Ahn and the American Vic Wild. Both applied for Russian passports after encountering obstacles at home.

Speed ​​skater Victor Ahn (Ahn Hyun Soo) took three golds and a bronze for his native South Korea at the 2006 Olympics in Turin. For several years he was considered one of the most sought-after athletes in the country until he suffered a knee injury. The local federation turned its back on him and began to actively put a spoke in his wheels. Ana was ostracized. It got to the point that his teammates refused to sit next to him on the plane and live on the same floor in hotels. Having decided to continue his career in Russia, An changed his name and repeated his Turin triumph in Sochi - he won three gold medals and one bronze. Washington state-born snowboarder Vic Wild went to Russia for two reasons. Personally - he married a Russian woman - and career - American sports officials deprived his sport of parallel slalom of attention and finances. As a result, Wild won two gold medals in Sochi and, together with Viktor Ahn, received the Order of Merit for the Fatherland from the hands of the Russian President.

Shortly before Euro 2016, football player Roman Neustedter, born in Ukraine and living in Germany, was naturalized in Russia. He failed to gain fame at the tournament, but Neustadter’s transfer caused a small scandal between Russia and Ukraine, which also laid claim to the footballer. Ukrainian Sports Minister Igor Zhdanov called the player “a quilted jacket and a football landsknecht.”

The soul called

More celebrities have begun to appear who have not received a Russian passport, but are thinking about it. Sami Naceri, a French rebel actor of Algerian origin who played the main role in the Taxi trilogy, would “with pleasure” receive Russian citizenship. He stated this upon his arrival in Russia for filming. The frontman of the rock band Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst, who is married to a Russian girl, is talking about the possible acquisition of a Russian passport, and with it a dacha in Crimea.

“I can help Americans understand how beautiful Russia is,” Durst said about his plans. – I will create films, TV series, music, new brands in Crimea, but at the same time I need to have two passports - this is important. I think there will be no problems with this."

Hollywood actor Cary-Hirayuki Tagawa applied for Russian citizenship. He explained that in the 60s, his musician father came to the USSR on tour. “But this is not my first time in Russia: over the past 12 years I have been to you 8 times, I have a lot of friends here,” Tagawa shared. – It’s difficult to explain why. Let’s just say that my soul called me, and yours accepted it.” There are rumors that actors Robert De Niro and Vin Diesel are thinking about a Russian passport. To the corresponding question asked during De Niro’s opening of a restaurant in Krasnogorsk, the actor answered: “Perhaps.”

Russian citizenship for American mixed martial arts fighter Jeff Monson. The athlete was not the first famous foreigner to receive a Russian passport; more details about them can be found in the RBC review.

Jeff Monson, mixed martial artist

On May 29, 2018, mixed martial arts fighter from the United States Jeff Monson announced that he was granted Russian citizenship. Previously, such a decree was issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Today I am very happy. Why? Because today I became Russian. Thank you very much to Russia!” the fighter said in his video message.

Shane Perkins, world cycling champion

On August 17, 2017, Vladimir Putin issued a decree granting Russian citizenship to Australian cyclist, two-time world champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Shane Perkins. According to the President of the Cycling Federation Vyacheslav Ekimov, from now on the 30-year-old athlete will compete for the Russian national team, but the initiative to become a Russian citizen belongs to Perkins himself.

An Australian talks about his desire to obtain Russian sports citizenship wrote back in February on his Facebook page. In August, Perkins made his debut as part of the Moscow team at the Russian Track Cycling Championships.

Zurab Tsereteli, sculptor

Soviet and Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, born in Georgia, received Russian citizenship in 2003 “for special services.” The corresponding decree was signed by Vladimir Putin. Tsereteli noted that he has lived in Moscow for a long time and “morally and physically” considers himself a citizen of Russia since 1964.

Ahn Hyun-soo (Victor Ahn), Olympic champion in short track speed skating

Photo: Valentin Egorshin / Interpress / TASS

The most decorated athlete in the history of world short track speed skating and former South Korean citizen Ahn Hyun-soo received Russian citizenship in 2011, shortly after he was unable to make the Korean team at the 2010 Games due to a serious injury. Along with citizenship, the athlete received a new name - Viktor An, under which he competes for the Russian national team. At the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, An won three gold medals and became the absolute record holder in short track speed skating.​

Gerard Depardieu, actor

In 2012, actor Gerard Depardieu renounced his French citizenship due to new President François Hollande's tax reform, raising the tax rate for the “super-rich” to 75%. In January next year, Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to the actor. In February 2013, Depardieu stamped his Russian passport for registration in the capital of Mordovia, Saransk.

The tax, which caused Depardieu to leave the country, was eventually found discriminatory by the Constitutional Court and abolished.

Roy Jones Jr., boxer

In September 2015, American boxer Roy Jones Jr. became a Russian citizen. Shortly before this, Vladimir Putin met with the athlete in Crimea to help him obtain Russian citizenship if Jones connected “a significant part of his life” with activities in Russia.

“I want to become an active citizen of Russia, I love Russian society as much as it loves me. Obtaining Russian citizenship will help me in reducing the gap between the two countries,” Jones said in his decision.

Anatoly Wasserman, publicist

By decree of Putin in January 2016, Russian citizenship was granted to publicist Anatoly Wasserman, born in 1952 in Ukraine.

In 2015, the Security Service of Ukraine opened a criminal case against Wasserman, who advocates the annexation of Ukraine to Russia. He was suspected of calling for actions aimed at changing the constitutional system, changing the boundaries of the territory, as well as the state border of Ukraine. He himself initiated the case “as an official recognition of his services to the peoples of Russia and Ukraine.”

Yuri Kuperman, artist

Photo: Irina Kuznetsova / Interpress / TASS

Soviet and American artist Yuri Kuperman received Russian citizenship together with Anatoly Wasserman in 2016. In 1972 he emigrated to Israel and lived in France and New York.

Steven Seagal, actor

American actor Steven Seagal received Russian citizenship in November 2016. According to presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the basis for granting citizenship was that Seagal is known for “his rather warm feelings towards our country” and is “a fairly well-known actor.”

Mario Fernandez, football player

In June 2016, Brazilian football player Mario Fernandez also received Russian citizenship. The corresponding decree was signed by Vladimir Putin.

According to the statutes of the International Football Federation (FIFA), in order to change football citizenship, an athlete who has played for the national team only in unofficial matches must live for five years in the country whose national team he wants to represent. Now the 26-year-old defender plays for CSKA Moscow.

New Russian Americans

Jeff Monson

Last year, Russia's population increased by two people due to Americans Roy Jones and Jeff Monson. The first is a famous boxer, the second is a mixed martial arts fighter, also crowned with many regalia. Currently, however, the sports careers of both are beginning to decline.

Gerard Depardieu

Why do noble foreigners need Russian citizenship?

The answer “out of love for Russia” can only partially satisfy us. Indeed, both Jones and Monson willingly and passionately talk about their feelings for the great country, its people and its culture, and Monson even got tattoos on his powerful body with images of Marx, Engels, Lenin, the hammer and sickle and the Motherland monument calling! But citizens of other states are also allowed to love Russia. Did they really do this for the sake of shocking, to stir up interest in their own persons? Or, what the hell, out of calculation?

Let us recall the story of another, even more eminent foreigner, Gerard Depardieu, acquiring a Russian passport. The Russian President publicly commented on the situation for the first time at his big press conference in December 2012. He was asked if it was true that Depardieu “almost already received a passport from you.” Vladimir Putin first said what excellent relations Russia has with France, then added that Gerard was offended by minor officials, that this was an “unfortunate incident,” but artists are “people of a special spiritual organization, so he understands his feelings. “As for the humanitarian side of the matter,” the president concluded, “if Gerard really wants to have either a residence permit in Russia or a Russian passport, then we will consider that this issue has been resolved, and has already been resolved positively.”

Thus, Depardieu received citizenship on humanitarian grounds. Let's say, as a tax refugee, although this reason is not listed in Russian legislation.

The decree granting him Russian citizenship was signed two weeks later, on January 3, 2013. And in April, on a direct line with the president, he was asked why Depardieu received citizenship so quickly, when the descendants of Russian emigrants who want to have it have to wait for many years.

Vladimir Putin said that Depardieu “was granted citizenship in a special manner in accordance with the current Constitution, bearing in mind his services to Russian culture.” These merits consist of the fact that he starred in the Russian-French film “Rasputin” in the title role. The President assured that “this is not some kind of Kremlin project” - Depardieu, as an “impulsive man,” announced his desire without consultation with the Russian government. “But when a person said this publicly to the whole world, what should we do? Say: no, we won't do this? Why? Why on earth? It's just funny, you know? Of course, we gladly gave him a passport and even thanked him for it.”

In fact, in the federal law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” (and not in the Constitution) there is a provision on special merits to the Russian Federation (Article 13, Part 3), but in the decree signed by Putin there is a different basis: “In accordance with paragraph “a” of Article 89 of the Constitution.” And this clause states that the president has the right to grant citizenship to anyone at his own discretion.

Finally, in November 2013, the so-called All-Russian Literary Meeting took place, at which the director of the Eksmo publishing house, Oleg Novikov, had the imprudence to speak favorably of French laws in the field of culture. The President immediately besieged him: “Do you know what taxes are there, especially on decent incomes? 75 percent. All business is running away from there. Gerard Depardieu also ran away, you know.”

Here are your humanitarian grounds and special merits. So, after all, he escaped from taxation. An open secret, of course.

The government of François Hollande did introduce a 75 percent tax on income exceeding one million euros per family member as a temporary anti-crisis measure, but in December 2012 the French Constitutional Court overturned this rate. The tax remained the same - 49 percent on amounts exceeding half a million euros. President Putin was not informed about this.

But if Depardieu wanted to pay income tax at a rate of 13 percent in this way, then he does not need a Russian passport for this. According to the Russian Tax Code, 13 percent of the tax is levied on the income of tax residents regardless of citizenship. To become a tax resident of Russia, you must constantly reside on its territory for at least 183 days a year. And from a non-resident, whether he is a Russian citizen, even a French or American citizen, a tax of 30 percent is charged.

Nevertheless, a way out was found - not without the help of Russian tax lawyers. In Mordovia, where Depardieu received an apartment and registration, he registered as an individual entrepreneur and paid taxes under a simplified taxation system. The rate under the simplified tax system is 6 percent. According to the laws of the constituent entities of the federation, it can be reduced to 0 percent if an individual entrepreneur is registered for the first time. This zero rate applies for two tax periods. In Mordovia there is a corresponding law.

Is it any wonder that both Roy Jones, who intends to do business in Russia, and Jeff Monson, who is now performing under the Russian flag, were inflamed with an ardent love for Russia and, most importantly, for Russian citizenship? Zero percent! They also say that small individual entrepreneurs are being oppressed in Russia.