Steven Seagal appeared with president of Russia Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, March 13.

Seagal joined Putin at a martial arts school outside of Moscow, Russia, as part of a campaign to promote physical fitness in the formal Soviet Union.

Seagal's action films are popular in Russia, and he has met the president several times. The two sat together at a mixed martial arts competition in August of 2012.

At one point in the March 13 production, Seagal rushed into a crowd of children trying to pose with Putin and pulled the president out, like he was Putin's bodyguard.

The announcer said, "Kids, remain calm, it's a great honor to take pictures with the president of Russia."

Putin and Seagal then watched the children practice martial arts, but didn't join them.

Seagal was at the event to promote Putin's revival of a Soviet-era physical evaluation program. The original program required all school-age children to pass fitness tests.

Putin said the restoration of GTO, the Russian acronym for Ready for Labour and Defense, would teach children to "stand up for themselves, their family and, in the final run, the Fatherland."

Originally introduced in 1931 under Stalin, GTO required all school and university students to pass physical training tests. Those who qualified would receive silver or gold badges, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Putin said Russia should to focus on physical training because it lags behind other countries in that regard. Putin said the training standards "shouldn't be too high to avoid driving people into a heart attack," adding that they should be flexible.

Putin has been seeking to increase Russians' life expectancy and stop a demographic decline, according to The Guardian. The population has fallen to 141.9 million in 2011 from 148.6 million in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Putin told the gathered government officials, schoolteachers and coaches, "The revival of this system - in a new, modern format - could bring major benefits."