‘I am Russian. Russia has an existential threat.’ Steven Seagal went to Donbas. Here’s what he had to say.

Steven Seagal went to Donbas. Meduza watched his interview with Vladimir Solovyov so you don't have to. The interview has been abridged, and is not written verbatim. You can watch the full interview here

There are a lot of fakes around this conflict. I conducted an investigation and realized that 98% of the reports that are published in Ukraine are made by people who have never been there. They get information from unknown sources and spread the news without even trying to understand it. Fake news is scarier than nuclear weapons.

Right now I'm making a documentary, traveling around Donbas, talking to Ukrainian prisoners. They say they are treated well. I've seen hundreds of Nazis. Stepan Bandera's teachings are very common in Ukraine. There are hundreds of thousands of followers who want to fight and kill. This is the doctrine they believe in, many have swastika tattoos and Hitler portraits on their bodies. We've interviewed many prisoners of war. For most of them, this war is terrible. They are ordinary poor people, farmers, engineers, IT people. They were given a choice: fight or be killed.

I saw the aftermath of the missile attack in Olenivka, I saw the wreckage of HIMARS. I'm familiar with the case, I've studied the room, I can say for sure that it's not a bomb blast from the bottom up, there's a hole on top of the building, a rocket penetrated it, exploded inside, and burned everything down. I interviewed one of the Nazis, he was in Zelensky's office. They told him, "When you catch Russian soldiers, torture and kill them." I don't know, but isn't it strange that 24 hours later, as he told me this, he was blown up?

Many people think that the one who shot first is to blame. But the one who starts a war is the one who pushes his opponent to a state where there is no more choice. Russia now has an existential threat. If China or Mexico were to put high-precision weapons on the Mexican border, what do you think America would do?

Right now we are close to the point of no return. We're on the brink of war, we could fall into this abyss. Russia has realized that its existence depends on this campaign. If America realizes that Russia will not give up until Ukraine is neutral, then some kind of negotiations can begin. A world war would be a terrible outcome, no one wants that.

I am a diplomat, good and neutral. I love all nations. It is important to me that people sit down at the negotiating table so that humanity has a chance to survive. I am Russian, my grandfather was born in Vladivostok. On February 24, I was abroad, but I ran back to Russia because this is my home. Russians are honest and hardworking people, they are the salt of the earth. They just want to be left alone.