Depardieu gets free apartment as new Russian citizen

The day after receiving his new Russian passport from President Vladimir Putin, French actor Gerard Depardieu yesterday flew to the provincial town of Saransk, where he was greeted as a local hero and offered an apartment for free.

Depardieu had sought Russian citizenship as part of his battle against a proposed super tax on millionaires in France.

Putin granted his request last week and late on Saturday welcomed the actor to his residence in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics.