No, Steven Seagal is not fighting with Russian special forces in Ukraine

Russian troops continue to struggle to make headway in the invasion into Ukraine, particularly in claiming its capital city of Kyiv as the country’s troops and citizens alike have mounted a fierce defense of their homeland.

If you’re Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ya gonna call? Steven Seagal, obviously.

Well, maybe not.

On Monday, an image of the 69-year-old 7th-dan aikido black belt and actor fighting alongside Russian troops surfaced as part of an alleged CNN tweet. The post said that Seagal is working with Russian special forces on the outskirts of Gostomel Airfield.

Controversial podcast host Joe Rogan shared the image to his Instagram with a caption that reads, “If I had to guess the plot of this fucked up movie we’re living through I would say we are about 14 hours from the arrival of the aliens.”

Unsurprisingly, Rogan, who has since removed the post, was duped by what seems to be a clever photoshop. The image has since been proven fake — making it the latest in the online propaganda war being fought in addition to the war itself.

However, on behalf of film-lovers everywhere, I think I speak for everyone when I say that a movie wherein Seagal and Oscar-winning actor and director Sean Penn, who is in Ukraine filming a documentary, duke it out on the mean streets of Kyiv as bombs and molotov cocktails fly would be a cinematic masterpiece akin to ‘1917′ or ‘Saving Private Ryan.’

Some commenters on the post suggested that Seagal is living in Moscow to evade taxes, according to Newsweek.

While the actor does have ties to Russia in the form of a personal friendship with Putin and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenka, who he enjoyed a carrot and a watermelon with in a bizarre 2016 YouTube video about farming, the reports of his involvement in Ukraine invasion appear to be fabricated.