Steven Seagal has long been popular with Russian President Putin. The former action star also seems to be standing by the Kremlin boss in the war against Ukraine. He visits the site of a massacre in Donbass.
Former action star Steven Seagal is apparently in Donbass at the moment. Photos on social networks verified by ntv show the 66-year-old in the occupied city of Olenivka. On site, the actor also visited and posed in the ruins of the prison where around 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war perished under circumstances that are still unclear.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained a friendship with the martial artist for several years. Decades after his biggest Hollywood successes, Seagal still enjoys cult status in Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe. In 2016, Putin, who is also a martial artist, granted him Russian citizenship. Two years later, the Russian Foreign Ministry appointed Seagal as Special Envoy for Humanitarian Relations with the United States. In May 2021, the actor joined the Fair Russia party.
The prison camp in Olenivka is located near the city of Donetsk in the area controlled by Russian soldiers and pro-Russian fighters. According to Russian information, a rocket hit the prison barracks at night about a week ago. The Russian Defense Ministry later released the names of 50 prisoners killed and more than 70 injured.
Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the attack. However, international research weighs primarily on the Russian side. Doubts about the Russian version are mainly due to the fact that there are no witnesses to the approach of the alleged Ukrainian missile. In addition, apparently only prisoners and no Russian or pro-Russian guards were hit. Satellite images also show relatively little damage in the camp: only the barracks were destroyed, the rest of the building complex appears to be intact.
International observers therefore suspect that an incendiary material or explosives may have been detonated inside a barracks. The accusation is that Russia wanted to cover up the torture and murder of Ukrainian prisoners in this way.
