Politician offers to deprive French actor of Russian citizenship

Leader of ‘A Just Russia — For Truth’ party Sergey Mironov has proposed to deprive French actor Gerard Depardieu of Russian citizenship for criticizing Russia's actions in Ukraine.

The Russian politician reminded that Depardieu received Russian citizenship not to pay high taxes in France, Gazeta.Ru reports.

“Both native Russian citizens and those who have received Russian citizenship must decide whom they support,” Mironov said. “If you are against Russia, it is not your homeland — go to France.”

Earlier, Depardieu said that he considers the Russian special operation in Ukraine a "crazy and unacceptable" step. The French actor stressed that ordinary Russians are not responsible for the unacceptable actions of their government. The actor also promised that he would donate the proceeds from his three concerts in Paris to the needs of the Ukrainians who suffered as a result of the war.

In turn, the Kremlin assumed that Depardieu does not quite understand what is happening as he is unaware of the political agenda. The Kremlin also expressed the willingness to explain the situation for the actor to understand everything better.

The French actor received a Russian passport in 2013 after France taxed income over €1 million per year at 75 percent. The actor received a residence permit in Russia’s Saransk city and an apartment in Grozny city of Russia’s Chechnya Republic in February 2013. Moreover, Depardieu was registered in Novosibirsk city in 2018.