Depardieu was offered a free apartment in Saransk, Russia

Today, Depardieu flew to Saransk, a city 500 kilometers from Moscow, and was greeted at the airport by the mayor and a group of women in folk costumes who sang folk songs.

He showed the crowd his new passport and then went on a tour of the city.

The governor invited Depardieu to settle in Saransk and offered him an apartment of his choice, state television reported.

Depardieu did not say that she would move to Russia, but only that she did not want to live in Moscow because it was too big and because she preferred the countryside.

Depardieu spent a lot of time in Russia in the last few years and expressed his respect for Putin. However, Russia's 13 percent income tax seems to have played a role in his decision to take a Russian passport.

France's new socialist government tried to increase the tax on income above one million euros to 75 percent, compared to the previous 41 percent.

Although that plan was rejected by the highest court, Budget Minister Žerom Kaizak said today that the government is reorganizing the law so that taxes will still be increased for the rich. "I think it's a little unfortunate that this man - who, by the way, I have immense respect for as an actor - has decided to go into exile because of taxes," Kaizak said.

Depardieu got a Russian passport, Bardot says she's tired of France too

French actor Gerard Depardieu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and received a Russian passport, agencies reported this morning.

"They had a short meeting yesterday" at Putin's residence in Sochi, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP. He confirmed that the French actor received a passport, but did not specify whether the document was handed to him during the meeting.

On Thursday, Putin granted Depardieu the Russian citizenship that the famous French actor requested at the end of December in protest at the attacks he was exposed to in public over taxes for the rich.

The French public reacted strongly to Depardieu's announcement that he would move out to avoid paying the high tax for the rich - 75 percent on annual incomes above one million euros - introduced by the government of President Francois Hollande.

And while his move is being criticized in France, the famous actress Brigitte Bardot has threatened to request Russian citizenship if the French authorities do not prevent the planned euthanasia of two sick elephants.

She said that France is fed up with her and that she can no longer tolerate the negligence towards animals and the fact that no one from the authorities responds to her requests and requests in that area.

As reported by AFP, Bardot supported Depardieu's decision to move to neighboring Belgium due to the introduction of high taxes on the rich in France. She stated that her colleague is "a victim of extremely unfair persecution".

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