Steven Seagal Could Face U.S. Sanctions Over His Russia Support

Steven Seagal could face U.S. government sanctions for "perpetuating Russia's genocidal war in Ukraine."

The 70-year-old actor was one of six people recommended to be put under sanctions for his support of Russia's military actions in Ukraine and for his approval of President Vladimir Putin's "aggressive occupation policy."

Seagal was made a citizen of Russia in 2016, and Putin even personally handed his Russian passport to him.

Seagal also holds U.S. citizenship by birthright and was made a Serbian citizen in 2016.

The recommendation was made in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

It was sent by the Commission on Security and Cooperation for Europe and signed by its co-chair Steve Cohen, fellow member Congressman Joe Wilson and politicians from Estonia, Ukraine, the European Parliament and Poland.

Others named on the list included pop star Philipp Kirkorov, billionaire steel magnate Vladimir Lisin, and the governor of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky. Russian politicians Andriy Turchak and Franz Klintsevich were the final two names.

One of the co-signers calling for the U.S. to place sanctions on Seagal was Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko, who told Newsweek, "sanctions should be imposed on everyone who serves the Putin regime, not just Steven Seagal.

"Putin has such a favorite pastime—former politicians, famous actors, musicians—to involve in his propaganda. He gives a lot of money, and for this, he asks to promote his narratives, or put these famous people in high positions in state-owned companies in Russia," he said.

Goncharenko criticized Seagal for visiting wounded Russian soldiers in the occupied Olenivka, just weeks after Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a bomb attack.

"He visited the wounded Russian military—who, by the way, went to Ukraine to kill civilians... where our prisoners of war are kept," Goncharenko said.

The Russians and Ukrainians blame each other for the attack, with the latter saying the prison was bombed to cover up the torture of the POWs. The Kremlin said that Ukraine attacked the prison to silence a "Nazi" in its ranks.

Seagal visited the ruins and backed Moscow's claims, in a video shown on Russian state-owned TV network Zvezda.

"Seagal arrived and began to whitewash the whole story, accusing us of shelling. He plays the dirty games of the Kremlin and supports the war," Goncharenko said.

The MP added that Putin was using his celebrity friends in the propaganda war against Ukraine to "pretend that all [Russia's] crimes are not crimes, but a fight against the Ukrainian Nazis, whom he invented."

Beyond the six names on the letter, Goncharenko said there were many more people he wanted the U.S. to sanction.

"We are still developing a list of names that we would like to see on the list of sanctions. But it is important to start with these people," he said, highlighting their influence and power.

While some on social media welcomed the recommendation for sanctions, Ukrainian former journalist and veteran Viktor Kovalenko said the time for such actions had well and truly passed.

"I deeply understand the desire of Ukrainian politicians to increase the price for Russia in a form of imposing more various sanctions," he told Newsweek. "But, after eight months of the war, I don't believe in sanctions on Russia."

Kovalenko added: "Blanketing sanctions on Russian industries, government, and elites, and embargoes on Russian exports—not just individual sanctions—should [have been] introduced by the West immediately after [Russia] began its invasion of Ukraine."

Kovalenko argued the delay in opposing sanctions gave Putin an opportunity "to strike again without consequences."

"I think that we in the West missed the momentum of sanctions and still miscalculate goals of the Putin regime and its fanatical determination to destroy Ukraine at any cost," he said.

Billionaire Lisin's name being on the list might come as a surprise after he spoke out against the war in April and has so far avoided sanctions from the EU, U.S., Britain or Ukraine.

He is one of Russia's richest oligarchs and runs Novolipetsk Steel, one of the country's largest steelmakers.

Lisin sent a letter to his staff "expressing my deepest compassion to all the victims of the armed conflict in Ukraine, the families and relatives of those who died."

"Lost lives are always a huge tragedy that is impossible to justify. I am convinced that peaceful diplomatic conflict resolution is always preferable to the use of force," he wrote on LinkedIn.

However, recent reports found one of his companies had dealings with a state-run enterprise involved in making nuclear weapons, which he has vehemently denied.

"In relation to recent publications accusing NLMK of being a principal supplier to the Russian military-industrial complex, we would like to note that NLMK does not work with the Russian military-industrial complex and therefore never supplied Uralvagonzavod plant," Lisin said in an October statement.

"Russian operations of NLMK are not capable of producing heavy plate steel or steel with ballistic properties and focus solely on rolled strip steel for general civilian use."

The U.S. started imposing sanctions on Russian politicians and businesspeople in April. The White House described them as "devastating economic measures to ban new investment in Russia, and impose the most severe financial sanctions on Russia's largest bank and several of its most critical state-owned enterprises and on Russian government officials and their family members."

Update 11/3/22 3:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from Lisin.