BOR /Nizhny Novgorod Region/, August 2. /TASS/. US-born ice hockey player Brennan Menell told TASS on Wednesday that he started learning the Russian language as soon as he signed with Dinamo Moscow hockey club in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order on July 27 to make the 26-year-old Menell a Russian citizen and the player received the officially signed documents on August 1.

"After I re-signed with Dinamo I got a teacher and started learning online on the computer," he said in an interview with TASS. "Right now we [the club] don’t have much time, we’re doing a lot of work, but during the season you have some off-time so as soon as we get back to Moscow I’m open to really start focusing on learning."

"The hockey words…, I know all of them. I hear them every day and you just start to understand a little bit," the player said. "Again, by the end of the season I’m hoping that I’ll be close to fluent."

Menell appeared in five matches for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild in 2019-2020, tallying no goals or assists. He suited up for the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk in 2020-2021, appearing in five matches, scoring one goal and dishing out six assists.

The US-born hockey player joined the KHL’s Dinamo Moscow HC in September 2022 and signed a three-year contract with the club in April of this year.

The Kontinental Hockey League was founded in Russia in 2008 and lists 22 professional ice hockey clubs, namely from Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.