As the only Westerner, the unorthodoxly dressed Steven Seagal was inevitably an eye-catcher at Putin’s party

OOn the Tuesday that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (71) was inaugurated as President of the Russian Federation for the fifth time, there was a search for photos that still contained something of a surprise. No, they did not have to come from the petrified face of Putin himself. The last time he showed emotion at an inauguration was in 2012, at a mass meeting, after he had already been appointed president. Then tears of emotion flowed down his cheeks. But hey, you also get used to a reappointment.

Nor could much spontaneity or genuine emotion be expected from the thousands of people present at the ceremony in the Kremlin. They applauded their re-elected leader, nodded in his direction with friendly smiles, and carefully guarded against gestures and facial expressions that might suggest a hint of subversiveness. Sufficiently trained, with the pitiful fate of many a dissident as a deterrent example.

Repetition of previous ceremonies

The gentlemen were immaculately dressed in suits or uniforms, the ladies dressed up, the robes of the Russian Orthodox clergy ironed, the slightly forward-leaning guards of honor arranged like warped planks at the gilded doors from behind which Putin would emerge into the Kremlin: all that was a repetition of previous ceremonies with him at the center.

The gaze therefore lingered on the photos of three bulky men who did not conform to the predominant choice of clothing. Most striking were the images of the portly man in his black, Buddhist-inspired robe, with the string of beads with trinkets on it. Ring beard, the black dyed hair in a ponytail, the hairline on the forehead trimmed into a curving V.

We recognized the shaman as Steven Seagal (72), American actor of fighting films in the rough genre. Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Out for Justice and Under Siege. He was the only Western-identified guest at Putin’s party, which inevitably made him an eye-catcher – including among the photographers who attended the ceremony.

Beast on set

Seagal’s popularity in the West had, to put it mildly, been waning for years when his ego was seriously stroked by Putin in 2016. On the film set in the United States, Seagal was known as a loose cannon who used his physical strength – he has a 7th dan in the martial art aikido – to abuse stuntmen, kick the air out of the lungs or, like the late Scottish actor Sean Connery suffered a broken wrist. He was frequently accused of sexual misconduct by actresses and became involved in a dubious promotion of cryptocurrency (he settled a criminal case). In short: a beast on set and off.

Fortunately for Seagal, Russia, where his raw power was still appreciated on film, was forgiving. After applauding Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and calling Putin “one of the great leaders of the world, possibly the greatest,” his loyalty to the potentate was rewarded with a Russian passport. Since then, he has gone public as a supporter of Putin and has defended the invasion of Ukraine in the Russian media. They often pose for a photo together. Vladimir and Steven: great friends.

Notorious fighters

On Tuesday, Segal was not only among a host of artists, soldiers, prelates, administrators, oligarchs and other yes-men, but also in the company of two unorthodoxly dressed gentlemen from Putin’s entourage. Notorious fighters. One was Ramzan Kadyrov, the sinister leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, under whose reign of terror numerous critical journalists and human rights activists were kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Like Seagal, he also wore a bead necklace around his neck.

The second: the homophobic firebrand Alexander Zaldostanov (nicknamed: The Surgeon), leader of the Night Wolves, an ultranationalist motorcycle club modeled on the American Hells Angels and also an unofficial militia of the Russians in occupied Crimea. With a long mane and a leather vest with chunky, shiny insignia, he entered the Kremlin for his motorcycle friend’s party.

The photos from the Kremlin do not provide a definitive answer as to whether the three eye-catching muscle groups Seagal, Kadyrov and Zaldostanov met each other or their mutual friend during the festivities. Given their prominent presence there, Putin may hope that their machismo will rub off on him too. The photos in which he shows off his own physical strength – bare-chested on horseback, with a caught pike on his arm, as a hunter with a rifle, as a judoka on the mat – are at least five years old. Perhaps he realizes that he could use some help to shape the ideal image of the Russian man.