Is Putin Replacing Under-Fire Defense Minister with Steven Seagal?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is allegedly considering veteran Hollywood star and aikido expert Steven Seagal as a replacement for beleaguered Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

That is according to a number of Iranian outlets, which reported the news on Monday night, apparently citing the Russian state news agency Sputnik.

Shoigu and Russia's military chief, General Valery Gerasimov, have both faced the ire of the pro-war patriotic factions of the Russian establishment, including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, former frontline general Igor Girkin and, most famously, Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The latter even launched a mutiny in recent days, leading his troops towards Moscow before unexpectedly turning back. But even as the rebellion appeared to come to an end at the 11th hour, there were lingering questions about what Russia's top military leadership knew ahead of these events, how they acted and what could be the possible repercussions for those deemed to have failed Putin.

Steven Seagal, one of the Russian president's most loyal supporters in the West, was personally appointed by Putin as Russia's special envoy to the U.S. in 2018, although he signaled a "change" to his role after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

But has he really been vying for Russia's top defense job? As Newsweek Misinformation Watch found, Iranian outlets have apparently fallen for a social media hoax.

A number of Twitter, Reddit and Telegram posts (in English, Persian and other languages) over the past two days made the sensational claim that Steven Seagal, the star of 1990s action blockbusters Under Siege and Out for Justice, was set to replace Shoigu as the head of the Russian ministry of defense.

"Russia's Sputnik news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Steven Seagal as Russia's new defense minister," a Reddit post said on Monday, June 26.

"Things are getting serious. Putin has just named Steven Seagal as acting Minister of Defense," tweeted an unverified account of Luis Moreno, a former U.S. ambassador to Jamaica (the account includes a "NAFO fella" userpic).

"Meanwhile, for #Iran, the #ruZZian Defense Minister is Steven Seagal," another account tweeted.

Similar tweets in Persian, some sharing screen grabs of articles by Iranian media without linking to the source, were viewed by thousands of Twitter users, archived here, here and here.

The articles, which referenced Sputnik as their source, appeared to have since been deleted from the Fars News, IRGC and other outlets and their Telegram channels, which have hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

Newsweek searched the Sputnik website and Telegram feed and found no evidence of such a story being published. Instead, as other users pointed out, the Iranians appeared to have taken the jokes and memes surrounding Prigozhin's mutiny—and referencing Seagal's deep ties to Russia—at face value.

As the Wagner mercenaries marched toward Moscow on Saturday, a number of prominent Twitter users joked about Seagal being drafted in to defend the Kremlin.

"You know what to do, Vlad," wrote Patton Oswalt, attaching a photo of Seagal with the Russian president.

"How long before Russia deploys it's deadliest weapon against Wagner, Steven Seagal?" wrote another Twitter user.

The original source of confusion for the Iranian press may have been the fake "Not Sputnik" account, which parodies the Russian state media news site.

"Steven Seagal tries to stop coup attempt by singing John Lennon's "Imagine"," it said in a post on Saturday, receiving nearly half a million views.

"Vladimir Putin is expected to address the nation tonight to announce the appointment of Steven Seagal to replace Sergei Shoigu," wrote another fake account in French. Despite the Twitter handle "Russia Today France," the bio clearly signaled that this was also a satire account.

While speculation about Shoigu's fate, including rumors that he has been sacked or sidelined, has accompanied the minister ever since Russia's initial failure to "take Kyiv in three days," there is no concrete evidence to suggest that he has, or is about to lose his job.

Shoigu attended Putin's meeting with soldiers on Monday, as well as the emergency meeting with Putin's top ministers and security officials on the same day. While there is some speculation that he may be replaced by Aleksey Dyumin, Putin's former bodyguard and the governor of the Tula region, nothing has yet materialized.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said speculation about Dyumin replacing Shoigu as defense minister couldn't be confirmed, adding that "any changes to the MoD leadership would notably represent a significant victory for Prigozhin."

The photo of Steven Seagal shaking Putin's hand, which was used in some of the news articles, was in fact from 2016, when the Russian leader personally presented the actor with a Russian passport after he secured his Russian citizenship.

Seagal's paternal grandparents were Russian Jews who immigrated to the U.S. and the actor traced his roots to the regions of Kalmykia, Tuva and Yakutia, RIA Novosti reported at the time.

In February 2023, Seagal was given an Order of Friendship medal for his work in supporting the nation.

While the veteran actor has been seen in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began, there is no credible news reporting or evidence to suggest Seagal is destined for any significant government role in Russia beyond the "envoy" position that he was handed in 2018 and other largely symbolic duties.

Seagal's representative also told Newsweek that the claim is completely false.

"This is false and no he has not been offered this role or expected to be," the representative told Newsweek in an email, adding that the actor "hopes this war to be ended as soon as possible so we can all live in peace."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment via email.