Gerard Depardieu, free agent

Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted citizenship to French actor Gérard Depardieu, who has been embroiled in a bitter fight over taxes with France’s government, the Kremlin said Thursday.

A statement posted on the government website said that Mr. Putin had signed a decree in response to “an application for citizenship of the Russian Federation” on behalf of “Depardieu Gérard Xavier, who was born in France in 1948.”