Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to bargain bucket DVD action movie fixture Steven Seagal, the Kremlin announced today. 

Best known for his portrayal of near-invulnerable characters in a series of B-list action movies, Seagal has long voiced his admiration for Russia and for Putin in particular, having previously called him "one of the greatest world leaders".

Seagal's admiration would appear to be reciprocated, with Putin having previously tried to get the martial arts star to be Russia's special envoy to California and Arizona and to broker the sales of small arms between the US and Russia. The White House "politely declined", Foreign Policy reported.

A Kremlin spokesman confirmed that the announcement was not a prank. "He had been really persistent for a long time and been asking to grant him citizenship, he is actually renown for his quite warm feelings toward our country," they said. 

Now that he is a Russian citizen, Seagal may want to get some martial arts tips from the Russian leader. While Seagal built a career on a 7th Dan black belt in Aikido,  Putin holds both a 5th Dan black belt in judo and an 8th Dan black belt in karate. 

And if he's keen to take a break from all the fighting talk, Seagal may want to hook up with Gerard Depardieu: the French actor was granted Russian citizenship back in 2013, after a row with the French government over taxes.