The only problem is that the story resembles a plot of a Soviet movie more than a verified historical fact. Ivan Arefiev writes about this for the Prompolit-inform portal.
Russian propaganda has long lived by the principle: if you cannot create heroes of the present, you must invent heroes of the past. First, Russians were told about the extraordinary KGB officer Putin, then about a great strategist, then about an invincible geopolitician. Now it is the turn of the ancestors. It turns out that heroism in the Putin family was passed down almost genetically.
However, archival documents remain stubbornly silent. The propagandists, on the other hand, speak loudly. And this is not surprising. After all, modern Russia is building myths rather than a future. They realized long ago that truth can be verified, while a beautiful legend is easier to sell to television viewers.
This looks especially comical given that the most well-known fact about Putin’s grandfather is his work as a cook for the Soviet elite, in particular for Stalin. But even that is no longer enough for the Kremlin. Now, every relative must be turned into an epic hero.
Mikhalkov is diligently performing his role. He used to make movies; today he films historical reality, replacing it with political scenery. His task is simple—to convince Russians that Putin is not just a president, but part of some special historical lineage that supposedly always saved Russia.
In reality, the history of Russia in recent years speaks of something else. It speaks of thousands of deaths on foreign soil, destroyed cities, international isolation, and the lies that have become state policy.
Therefore, Mikhalkov’s latest story is not about Putin’s grandfather. It is about the desperation of Russian propaganda, which is no longer capable of creating new victories and is forced to invent old ones.
For when reality loses, the storytellers take the stage.
Author: Ivan Arefiev
Collage: Andriy Atlantov
