Russian Actor, Theater Director Oleg Tabakov Dies At 82

Russian actor and theater director Oleg Tabakov in Moscow on October 4, 2017.

Russian actor and theater director Oleg Tabakov has died at the age of 82, the Moscow theater he led as artistic director says.

The Tabakerka Theater posted a photograph of Tabakov on its website, against a black background, and a statement saying he died on March 12.

Tabakov was extremely popular and well-known across the former Soviet Union as a cinema and stage actor.

He played prominent roles in iconic films and TV series including Clear Skies, War and Peace, Seventeen Instants Of Spring, D'Artagnan And The Three Musketeers, and Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears, which won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 1981.

Tabakov supported Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

With reporting by Interfax and RIA