American boxer Kevin Johnson and Canadian ice hockey player Brendan Leipsic have been awarded Russian citizenship by Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a decree that was posted on a Russian official website on Tuesday.
September saw an article in the Russian daily Izvestia stating that heavyweight boxer Johnson had applied to become a citizen of Russia, shortly after he took on the Russian leader’s patronymic, Vladimirovich. Johnson claimed to have made this choice in honor of Putin.
Leipsic, who made offensive and misogynistic statements about other players and was fired by the Washington Capitals in 2020, has since played ice hockey for Russian clubs. He had written to Putin in July to request citizenship, according to reports in the Russian media.
Russia has previously given citizenship to a string of Western celebrities who have requested it and publicly spoken out in support of Russia, including U.S. actor Steven Seagal and French actor Gerard Depardieu.
