Why did the behind the scenes appoint Prokhanov as the chief Russian nationalist and editor of a major newspaper. Alexander Prokhanov - biography, information, personal life Who is Andrey Fefelov
A family
Prokhanov's ancestors, the Molokans, were exiled to Transcaucasia during the time of Catherine II. His grandfather, brother of Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov, leader of the Russian Baptist movement, founder and leader of the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians (1908-1928) and vice-president of the World Baptist Alliance (1911). Uncle A. A. Prokhanov, a botanist, remained in the USSR after the emigration of I. S. Prokhanov, was repressed, but then released due to the refusal of a significant fortune inherited after the death of I. S. Prokhanov in Berlin in favor of the state.
Married, has two sons and a daughter. One of the sons is a publicist Andrey Fefelov.
Biography
Alexander Prokhanov was born on February 26, 1938 in Tbilisi. In 1960 he graduated from the Moscow aviation institute, worked as an engineer at the Research Institute. In the last year of high school he began to write poetry and prose.
In 1962-1964 he worked as a forester in Karelia, took tourists to the Khibiny, took part in a geological party in Tuva. During these years, Prokhanov discovered A.P. Platonov, was carried away by V.V. Nabokov.
In 1968 he began working for "Literary newspaper".
Since 1970, he worked as a correspondent for Literaturnaya Gazeta in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola and other places. One of the first in 1969, he described in his reportage the events on Damansky Island during the Soviet-Chinese border conflict.
In 1972, Alexander Prokhanov became a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR.
Since 1986, he has been actively published in the magazines Molodaya Gvardiya, Our Contemporary, and Literaturnaya Gazeta.
From 1989 to 1991, Prokhanov worked as the editor-in-chief of the Soviet Literature magazine.
He was never a member of the CPSU.
In 1990, he signed the Letter of the 74's.
In December 1990 he creates his own newspaper "Day", where he also becomes editor-in-chief.
On July 15, 1991, the newspaper published an "anti-perestroika" appeal, Word to the People. The newspaper became one of the most radical opposition publications in Russia in the early 1990s and was published regularly until the October events of 1993, after which it was closed by the authorities.
In 1991, during the presidential elections in the RSFSR, Prokhanov was a confidant of the candidate General Alberta Makashova. Supports during the August putsch GKChP.
In September 1993, he spoke in his newspaper against what he considered to be unconstitutional actions Yeltsin, calling them a coup d'état and supported the RF Armed Forces. After the shooting of the parliament, the newspaper Den was banned by the Ministry of Justice. The editorial office of the newspaper was destroyed by riot police, its employees were beaten, property and archives were destroyed. Two issues of the newspaper, already banned by that time, were clandestinely printed in Minsk as special editions of the communist newspaper We and Time.
On November 5, 1993, the son-in-law of the writer A. A. Khudorozhkov established and registered the newspaper "Tomorrow", whose editor-in-chief was Prokhanov. Some organizations accuse the newspaper of publishing anti-Semitic material.
During the presidential elections in 1996, Alexander Prokhanov does not hide his preferences - he strongly supports the candidacy, the leader. Subsequently, he was attacked several times, and the identity of the attackers was never established, as well as the reason for the attacks themselves.
In 1997 he became a co-founder Agencies of patriotic information.
In 1999, after a series of explosions in residential buildings, Prokhanov describes his version of what happened in an artistic style, blaming the Russian special services for what happened. His thoughts are set out in literary work "Mr Hexogen", for which Prokhanov received the National Bestseller award in 2002.
From 2007 to January 2014 - a regular guest of the radio program "Special Opinion" on the radio station "Echo of Moscow". He explained his termination of cooperation with the radio station as follows: " I work here as a journalist… I am not a journalist. I want to talk with the world, with my friends as an artist, as a writer, as a philosopher, as a preacher and confessor, because I have lived a gigantic life and I would like to tell my listeners about this life".
Since September 2009 - on the radio station "Russian News Service" on Mondays at 21:05 he takes part in the program "Soldier of the Empire", and from January 2014 on Mondays at 20:05 he participates in the program "No Questions".
2003-2009 - one of the regular participants in Vladimir Solovyov's television talk show "To the Barrier!".
Since 2010 - one of the regular participants in Vladimir Solovyov's TV talk show "Duel".
2013-2014 - one of the leading headings "Replica" on the TV channel "Russia 24".
November 2014 - The court ordered Prokhanov to pay 500 thousand rubles for lying in an article in the Izvestia newspaper, which claimed that Makarevich gave a concert in Slavyansk, " and this music was heard by captive militias languishing in the basements, whose hands were crushed with bats and their eyes gouged out with knives". Makarevich assured (and was able to prove in court) that the case was not in Slavyansk, but in Svyatogorsk, and he sang not in front of the "punishers", but in front of refugees. Prokhanov claims that representing the musician in the process put pressure on the court.
Prokhanov is an extremely prolific writer: his novel is published almost every year. Prokhanov's style is considered by many critics to be original, colorful, emphatically individual. " Prokhanov's language is replete with vivid metaphors, original, flowery epithets, the characters are written convexly, visually, with an abundance of details, the description itself has a pronounced emotional and even passionate coloring, the author's attitude to this or that character is clearly traced". At the same time, there is another point of view among literary critics who find his style "banal", " style of writing - sugary, based on shameless lies and oversaturated with cheap embellishing epithets".
Prokhanov is fond of drawing in the style of primitivism. Collects butterflies (there are more than 3 thousand copies in the collection).
Scandals, rumors
Prokhanov is credited with very close contacts with Berezovsky during his London exile. In particular, BAB's interview with the editor-in-chief of the Zavtra newspaper was the reason for the exclusion of Boris Abramovich from the party. "Liberal Russia".
During the tragedy in Nord-Ost, Boris Berezovsky, State Duma deputy Victor Alksnis and the editor-in-chief of the Zavtra newspaper, Alexander Prokhanov, criticized the actions of the Russian authorities to free the hostages.
They set out their position on this issue in a joint statement adopted following the meetings held in London on 25 and 26 October 2002. In their opinion " the terrorist attack would have been impossible without the blatant connivance and, possibly, complicity of certain representatives of the authorities". "The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, from the very first hours of the tragedy, abstained from participating in the settlement of the crisis. Neither he nor his representatives offered a single solution to the problem and did not take any part in the fate of the hostages", - note Berezovsky, Prokhanov and Alksnis. " The most dramatic episode in V. Putin's less than three years in power showed that today there is no leader in the Kremlin capable of protecting the citizens of Russia"- emphasized in the statement of Berezovsky, Prokhanov and Alksnis.
Alexander Prokhanov is said to have received $300,000 from Berezovsky in 2002 "for the development of his publication," luring the exile with vague promises of becoming an opposition presidential candidate. No "development of the publication" happened: to "develop" A.A. Prokhanov decided his own dacha.
In 2003, the Lenta.Ru editors received a statement from businessman Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Prokhanov about the murder of a State Duma deputy Sergei Yushenkov. The authors of the letter claim that the responsibility for the murder of Yushenkov lies with the Russian authorities, and also promise that the opposition will win the elections and "prevent the death of the country coming from the Kremlin."
Website "a" opens a series of conversations with public and political figures modern Russia. At the center of our conversation are the problems of strengthening Russian civilization, returning to spiritual roots and traditions, topical issues modern life of our society, as well as, of course, reflections on the lessons of the history of our country. We will also try to find out what prominent politicians and public figures of Russia know about the Old Believers, about the Russian church tradition. Of course, first of all, we are interested in representatives of the patriotic wing of the Russian elite. People for whom the concept of "Russian civilization" is not an empty phrase. Today we are talking with the editor-in-chief of the Den TV channel, deputy editor of the Zavtra newspaper Andrey Fefelov.
What is the “Russian world” in your understanding? How far geographically does it extend and what worldview concepts does it cover?
The Russian world is the whole universe, because the Russian people have cosmic thinking, and Russia has no spatial, spiritual, or temporal limits. That is why one can only believe in it, and it is completely pointless to measure it in kilometers or kilograms. Russia is the territory of a miracle. The rays from this miracle penetrate walls, clouds, and zones of eternal emptiness, scatter across all the nooks and crannies of the universe.
Of course, the concept of the Russian world is associated with a complex, deep and mysterious phenomenon of the Russian language, inside which, like in a cradle, there are meanings, images and symbols of universal consciousness.
For me, the Russian world is a springboard for the implementation of the plan for the global transformation. This is a platform for the embodiment of the idea of the immortality of mankind. Ideas encrypted in Russian culture, and not only.
But not only modern Russia is the Russian world. The seeds of Russianness, the Russian ecumene are scattered all over the planet, all over the universe. In particular, the Old Believers living in Latin America for hundreds of years can be called part of the Russian world. Some kind of lunar rover, stuck many years ago on the moon, can also be attributed to the Russian world. This is also part of the Russian world. These are the touches left by Russian civilization, Russian culture, Russian technology, engineering, Russian thought.
The distant ancestors of your family were Molokans. Another relative, Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov (1869-1935), was a well-known composer and preacher in the Evangelical Baptist Church. Moreover, his spiritual songs gained fame even among the Old Believers. Your father, A. A. Prokhanov, identifies himself with Orthodoxy. What can you say about the spiritual path of your family? Is there any way to compare it with historical way our country?
Some of my ancestors came from Russian sectarianism. Both the Prokhanovs, and the Fefelovs, and the Mazayevs were once peasants and belonged to the Molokan milieu. Their descendants, having become merchants, gave their children education, sent their children to study in Europe.
My great-grandfather Alexander Stepanovich Prokhanov became a doctor of medicine in imperial Russia and received personal nobility for his scientific merits. Such people no longer expressed themselves in the format of the folk Molokan faith. This is how variations of Russian Baptism appeared, the sect of "Evangelical Christians", which was founded by the brother of my great-grandfather you mentioned.
However, the era soon changed, and spiritual issues faded into the background. For example, my grandmother, who came from a religious Molokan family, considered herself an atheist all her life, and only a year before her death, at the request of her son, her grandchildren and daughter-in-law, she received Holy Baptism at the age of 96. When she was accepted as a pioneer, Leon Trotsky spoke at a solemn rally.
Thus, my father received a non-religious upbringing, but again the 70s came, when interest in religion grew among the intelligentsia. It was then that my parents were baptized. Thus, questions of faith, church, eschatology accompanied me from early childhood.
Probably, his friend Lev Lebedev, who later became an archpriest, a well-known church historian and theologian, influenced the choice of his father. In addition, Father Leo was also a monarchist, he walked around Andropov's Moscow in a bowler hat and with a long umbrella like a cane. His belt buckle was also old-fashioned, with the imperial double-headed eagle shimmering on it.
And the works of A. A. Prokhanov and the apocalyptic theme in them also originate in this period?
Eschatology is an integral part of the Orthodox worldview. However, in my father's texts, this theme flares up as a metaphor for the catastrophic nature of modern civilization. As a journalist, he took part in several wars, later earning the title of battle writer. With his own eyes he saw the ruined reactor at Chernobyl. I watched the collapse of the Soviet society, its slipping into the nightmarish 90s. Isn't this a parable the last times? Burning horizons, in a dream and in reality - that's what suggests the imminent Apocalypse.
So, the tradition of milk culture has left you?
The tradition is gone, but the connections exist. Once, a whole delegation of Molokans came to the newspaper Zavtra. Such solid neat bearded people with calm faces. It turns out that Yuri Luzhkov at that time for some reason oppressed the Molokan community, deprived it of a prayer house. And then, knowing about our origin, they came to us for information support. We did not refuse them and even sheltered them for a while. Several Sundays in a row, meetings of Molokans were held in the editorial office of Zavtra and psalms composed by my great-grandfathers were sung.
Now many patriots talk about the greatness of pre-revolutionary Russia. At the same time, we must remember that the Romanov dynasty took tragic steps towards the division of the Russian people. In the 17th century, under Alexei Mikhailovich, church schism when the Russians were divided into Old Believers and New Believers. At the beginning of the 18th century, under Peter I, there was a cultural split into the highest elite with balls and assemblies, on the one hand, and a stinking peasant, on the other, and already under the subsequent Romanovs, the ruling class of Russia became Franco-German-speaking, living abroad, and in many ways comprador. What do you think of these divisions and could they have been avoided?
The Romanovs left a huge mark on Russian history. And the Western vector in their activities can be seen very clearly from the first years of the dynasty. However, I consider it a harmful and stupid thing to give biting unambiguous assessments of this or that figure or an entire era. Let's say Alexander II, an extremely dubious figure. He was fond of spiritualism, carried out a peasant reform with colossal violations and a bias in favor of the nobility, opened the way to Russia for foreign capital, and gave away Alaska to the United States almost for nothing. However, the era of Alexander II is the time of the dawn of Russian literature: Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky ...
The triumphs of the “white general” Skobelev are also the period of the reign of Alexander II. You can, of course, shout: "Ah, the Romanov family, ruined Russia ...". And you can look at the history of the country more broadly and more carefully. In society, as always, complex and very contradictory processes were going on, and the sovereigns from the Romanovs were also involved in these processes. It should be remembered that in Russia, after the overthrow of the dynasty, another period began, no less difficult, no less tragic and contradictory. And before the Romanovs there were Rurikovichs. And they may also have questions. Meanwhile, the Rurikovichs laid the foundation of the Russian empire.
It is interesting that the Romanov family - this cohort of sovereigns and empresses - stands between two pillars of Russian history: Ivan IV Rurikovich and Joseph Stalin. At the same time, we know that many terrible labels have been hung on both Stalin and Ivan the Terrible. They are sadists, and bloodsuckers, and madmen. Moreover, these labels were invented not only by biased historians. Painters, writers and cinematographers also tried their best here. At least take Pavel Lungin's vile film " Tsar". Only dirt and hoax! It is sad that the guru of modern patriotic youth Ivan Okhlobystin participated in the filming of this muck. In my opinion, he should apologize to the people for this role of the royal jester. To apologize for participating in a case that discredits the first Russian tsar, the entire Russian history and the very idea of the Russian state.
The figure of Peter the Great stands apart. He is a great destroyer and a great builder at the same time. In some ways it is similar to Patriarch Nikon and Lenin. Pushkin loved and felt Peter very much. He saw in him something that no historian, no sociologist understood.
But still, without destroying Russian customs, without tearing off a beard, was it possible to build ships?
This is a debatable question, depending on which ships. After all, the Pomors also had their own ships - boats. But it was a merchant and fishing fleet. But to build caravels, you need a European outfit.
But this Westernizing period, apparently, was necessary. This is part of our growing up as a people. We have already begun to return to Russian origins, to ancient culture, to forms that sprout from our very nature, from language and faith.
One must understand that the whole history of Russia is sacred, therefore one must treat it as some kind of sacred gift from above and not sprinkle dust on it. Even the demons of Russian history, such as, say, Leon Trotsky, must be carefully examined and read in a single grandiose, sacred context. It would seem that he is the enemy of the entire Russian people! But, nevertheless, it is "our" enemy, "our" unique demon. And no other story has produced such a figure. By the way, speaking objectively, Trotsky is known as the creator of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, which became the striking force of gathering the territories of the Russian Empire, which collapsed in February 1917.
In modern Ukraine, it is customary to talk about the crimes of the Soviet government, bring down monuments to Lenin and call for a ban on the Communist Party. Maidan demands to disavow and condemn the crimes of the totalitarian regime. Why, then, do they not demand to disavow such “crimes of the totalitarian regime” as the establishment of historically unjustified administrative borders of the Ukrainian SSR during the time of Lenin-Khrushchev?
Those people who bring down monuments to Lenin in Ukraine have no logic. Their logic is that Lenin is a Russian man, a “Moskal”, who, with his Bolshevik regulations, came to Ukraine, this supposedly flourishing, mighty, majestic, “independent power”. He enslaved her, and then planted a Bolshevik totalitarian regime in her, perpetrated a famine, and so on. They really do not want to talk and even remember that the current territory of Ukraine is the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, created, composed of several provinces of the Russian Empire, precisely by the Bolsheviks ...
The history that is taught to Ukrainian children is built more abruptly than Tolkien's books. This is not history, but pure fiction, built on the ideology of "Bandera". In addition to ultra-Ukrainian nationalism, it is based on the demonization of Bolshevism, the association of Bolshevism with the “Muscovy” invented by them, and “Muscovy” with the “Asiaticism” ... Destroying ties with Russia, they allegedly do European choice and moving somewhere in Europe, away from Stalin, Lenin and Putin. In fact, they are turning their country into Somalia, with all the ensuing consequences.
Ukromants show an obstinate desire to own foreign lands, to impose their language of a small people on all the other numerous peoples living in this country. The last Maidan gave rise to an expansionist wave among the youth, and even with all the hatred for Lenin, no one is going to give up the “Leninist territorial heritage” there. But at the same time, the ruling elites of Ukraine have no understanding of what a true empire is.
It is always a kind of compromise between peoples, an agreement based on supervalues. If an empire is built on the idea of total domination of one nation, then this empire is doomed. So the German Reichs collapsed one by one, because they did not give the opportunity to bloom to all peoples, to all flowers in the inflorescence. This imperial tolerance, unfortunately, has not been observed throughout the history of the “independence” of Ukraine.
The policy of Ukrainization of the non-Ukrainian population is clearly manifested in everything last years. This policy can be defined as ethnocide. Genocide is a direct physical destruction, and here the recoding of consciousness, assimilation, resettlement and, of course, the expulsion of peoples are used. Now, if some kind of integral Ukrainian ideology appeared, which would take into account all factors, was supranational, then it would be possible to say that Ukraine has taken place as a state.
But, unfortunately, the current Ukrainianism is small-town Westernism plus redneck, with elements of Nazism. The Galician group can really influence the situation in Kyiv, it is really a passionately active layer. In fact, one of the artificial ethnic myths has been created about the cultural and linguistic advantage of the Zapadensky, Galician sub-ethnos, which would not have had much significance in the development of the peoples living in Ukraine if it were not for the political fate of Ukraine.
Why are there no rallies against the war in Ukraine?
Because Ukraine is now terribly heated. The media is setting people up so that everyone wants blood. The townsfolk have become hostages of their own media, textbooks, and years of anti-Russian propaganda. People were very, very warmed up. Maidan, which erupted like an abscess in February, is a bastard. A premature birth of the new government took place. The government is weak and afraid of the crowd. As for the peace marches in Russia, they are being conducted by the liberal intelligentsia, who for some reason have also shut up and no longer hold “Peace Marches”. Liberals are now in favor of an active continuation of hostilities, for bombing, for conducting the so-called "anti-terrorist operation."
They are engaged - it is clearly visible. As soon as America began its brutal operations in full measure, human rights activists fell silent. As soon as Bashar al-Assad began to carry out some kind of hostilities, they began to shout, yell, stamp their feet, sprinkle ashes on their heads, tear their shirts and tear curtains with their teeth. It has always been and will always be so, because this group is not self-sufficient and independent. The command center of the army of human rights defenders is located in the United States. Human rights organizations work only for the United States and in the interests of the United States.
Now there is such a thing as "Orthodox Stalinism." Is it possible to combine these words together and does this concept make sense?
Yes, it has the most serious meaning, because Stalin expressed the Russian idea at the turn of the epoch, at a terrible rift in time. And part of the Russian idea is Orthodoxy. Building a just society based on Christian morality is what Stalin did. He also built a superpowerful state that holds the world order. Stalinist Russia stood in the way of Leviathan, world usurious capitalism, from the depths of which the Antichrist will appear. The Stalinist USSR is the so-called katechon - holding ... a stone on the path of world evil. Therefore, Orthodox Stalinism is not only possible, but also organic. This trend can be considered a mystical projection of the entire Russian history of the twentieth century.
Alexander Andreevich Prokhanov. Born February 26, 1938 in Tbilisi (Georgian SSR). Soviet and Russian journalist, writer, screenwriter, publicist, political and public figure. Chief editor of the newspaper "Tomorrow".
Father - Andrei Prokhanov, died near Stalingrad on the night of Christmas in 1943.
Mother - Tatyana Alexandrovna Prokhanova.
According to his father, his ancestors are Molokans who lived in the Tambov region and the Saratov province, and then moved to the Transcaucasus. Grandfather Alexander Stepanovich Prokhanov was a Molokan theologian and was the brother of Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov, founder and leader of the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians, as well as vice-president of the World Baptist Alliance.
Uncle - I. S. Prokhanov, a botanist, remained in the USSR after emigration, was repressed, but then released.
He was born in a house that belonged to his great-grandfather - Titus Alekseevich Fefelov, which he bought when he got rich on the Georgian Military Highway (he was a coachman). The mother went to give birth in Tbilisi, as it was the ancestral city of his Molokan ancestors.
Three weeks after his birth, he ended up in Moscow, where his parents lived.
Alexander Prokhanov studied at Moscow school number 204, which was located near the Minaevsky market and the Miussky cemetery.
In 1960, Prokhanov graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute, worked as an engineer at a scientific research institute. In the last year of high school he began to write poetry and prose.
In 1962-1964 he worked as a forester in Karelia, took tourists to the Khibiny, took part in a geological party in Tuva. During these years, he became acquainted with the work of Vladimir Nabokov and Andrei Platonov.
In 1968 he began working for Literaturnaya Gazeta. He was taken as a connoisseur of folklore. At that moment, he was fond of children's toys, folk songs, wandering around the villages.
Since 1970, he worked as a correspondent for Literaturnaya Gazeta in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola and elsewhere.
Prokhanov's first military assignment was Damansky Island in 1969, where there was a clash with the Chinese. He recalled that this trip radically changed his life and the direction of his work: “I see the bodies of the executed border guards. Helicopters, on which relatives of the dead were brought from all over the country. Kulikovo and Borodino fields, on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. It changed me completely ... I turned away from my former hobbies, friends. In "Literature" he began to write about factories, highways, oil fields, bombers, submarines, the atomic triad, later he took up Chernobyl, Semipalatinsk and so on.
He has about 20 military missions to his credit.
The first stories and essays by Alexander Prokhanov were published in the Literary Russia newspaper, in the magazines Krugozor, Family and School, Rural Youth, and Deer. Particularly successful was the story "The Wedding" (1967).
In the second half of the 1960s, the essays and reports of the young writer attracted the attention of readers in the USSR. Prokhanov's first book, "I'm Going My Way" (1971), was published with a foreword by Yuri Trifonov: "The theme of Russia, the Russian people for Prokhanov is not a tribute to fashion and not a profitable enterprise, but part of the soul. The prose of the young writer has a great sincerity. The collection "I'm going on my way" depicts the Russian village with its rituals, old-fashioned ethics, original characters and landscapes.
In 1972, Prokhanov published the essay book Burning Color about the problems of the Soviet countryside.
In 1972 he became a member of the SP of the USSR.
In the early 1970s, Prokhanov published a number of stories: "Tin Bird", "Red Juice in the Snow", "Two", "Stan 1220", "Trans-Siberian Driver" (all - 1974), "Fire Font" (1975) and other. In 1974, the second collection of novels and short stories, The Grass Turns Yellow, was published. The basis of the first novel "The Wandering Rose" (1975), which has a semi-essay character, was the writer's impressions from trips to Siberia, the Far East and Central Asia. In this and in three subsequent novels - "The time is noon" (1977), "The scene" (1979) and "The Eternal City" (1981), Prokhanov addresses the pressing problems of Soviet society.
Style of Alexander Prokhanov- individual and original, distinguished by a colorful language, which is replete with vivid metaphors, flowery epithets. His characters are written convexly, clearly, with an abundance of details, the description itself has a pronounced emotional and even passionate coloring, the author's attitude to this or that character is clearly traced.
From the beginning of the 1980s, the writer began to work in the genre of a military-political novel; his numerous business trips serve as material for new works. The travel novels A Tree in the Center of Kabul, A Hunter in the Islands, An Africanist, And Here Comes the Wind form the Burning Gardens tetralogy, created in the wake of events and characterized by intense plot development.
In 1984, the Chechen-Ingush Drama Theater staged the play "I'm Going My Way" based on Prokhanov's novel "A Tree in the Center of Kabul". The performance was successfully staged on various stages of the USSR.
Since 1985, Prokhanov has been the secretary of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR.
Since 1986, he has been actively publishing in the magazines Molodaya Gvardiya, Our Contemporary, as well as in the Literaturnaya Gazeta.
The main character of the novel “Drawings of a Battle Painter” (1986) is the artist Veretenov, who, on the instructions of the editors, goes to Afghanistan in order to make a series of drawings of Soviet soldiers, and who wants to see his son, a soldier. The novel Six Hundred Years After the Battle (1988) is about demobilized soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
From 1989 to 1991, Prokhanov worked as the editor-in-chief of the Soviet Literature magazine. He was a member of the editorial board of the magazine "Soviet Warrior".
He was not a member of the CPSU.
In 1990 he signed "Letter 74"(general alternative title of two documents: “Letters of Russian writers to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, delegates of the XXVIII Congress Communist Party Soviet Union”, signed by 74 writers, as well as its finalized version after the election of the President of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev - “Letters from writers, cultural and scientific figures of Russia to the President of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, delegates of the XXVIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union”) . The letter said: “Russophobia is in the means mass media Today the USSR has overtaken and overtaken foreign, transatlantic anti-Russian propaganda. For this, the history of Russia is falsely, mockingly rewritten, so that the defense of the Fatherland, the holy heroism of the Russian patriotic feeling is interpreted as “genetic” aggressiveness, self-sufficient militarism ... The “progressive” press, including the organs of the Central Committee of the CPSU, propagates the blasphemous concept of “Russian fascism...
In December 1990 he creates his own newspaper "Day", where he also becomes editor-in-chief. On July 15, 1991, the newspaper published an "anti-perestroika" appeal, "Word to the People." The newspaper became one of the most radical opposition publications in Russia in the early 1990s and was published regularly until the October events of 1993, after which it was closed by the authorities.
In 1991, during the presidential elections in the RSFSR, Prokhanov was a confidant of candidate General Albert Makashov.
During the August putsch of 1991, Prokhanov supported the State Emergency Committee.
In September 1993, he spoke in his newspaper The Day against the unconstitutional actions of the president, calling them a coup d'état, and supported the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation. After the tank shelling of the parliament building (Supreme Council), the newspaper Den was banned by the Ministry of Justice. The editorial office of the newspaper was destroyed by riot police, its employees were beaten, property and archives were destroyed. Two issues of the newspaper, already banned by that time, were clandestinely printed in Minsk as special editions of the communist newspaper We and Time.
On November 5, 1993, the son-in-law of the writer A. A. Khudorozhkov established and registered the newspaper "Tomorrow", whose editor-in-chief was Prokhanov.
In the 1996 presidential election, Prokhanov supported the candidacy of the Communist Party candidate. In 1997, he became a co-founder of the Patriotic Information Agency.
Twice - in 1997 and 1999 he was attacked by unknown people.
Sympathy for Christianity, Russia and everything Russian, criticism of capitalism and liberalism can be traced in Prokhanov's journalism and artistic work. He positioned himself as a Soviet person, noted that his philosophy is the philosophy of a soldier of the empire.
He said about the Soviet period: “This is my life, this is the life of my mother, dying, she said that it was a great era, the meaning of the Soviet period was to win - not a military and geopolitical victory. This is, in essence, like the Second Coming of Christ, because if there had not been this victory, the world would have developed in completely different, terrible fascist ways, and victory straightened this earthly axis, and 30 million Russians who died in the war are Christ's sacrifice . I believe that the meaning of the Soviet period is victory.”
Particularly worth highlighting "Septateuch" by Alexander Prokhanov- a series of seven novels, main character which - General Beloseltsev, who has a unique experience of vision and contemplation. The "Septateuch" includes novels: 1. "The Dream of Kabul", 2. "And the Wind Comes", 3. "Hunter in the Islands", 4. "Africanist", 5. "The Last Soldier of the Empire", 6. "Red -brown”, 7. “Mr. Hexogen”.
In 2002 Prokhanov's novel "Mr Hexogen"(in which the events of Russian history in 1999 and, in particular, a series of apartment bombings in Russia, were presented as the result of a conspiracy of power during the operation of the transfer of power from the incumbent president to his successor), receives the National Bestseller Award.
Later, Prokhanov, who initially regarded him as a man “grown out of Yeltsin’s greatcoat,” revised his attitude towards him, noting that Putin “hardly stopped the collapse of Russia,” “pushed the oligarchs away from the country’s leadership,” and “created the plane of Russian statehood.” He described the Putin era as follows: “We are going through a period of powerful historical creativity, when the state of Russia is being created again. Since 1991, it has, in fact, not been. Instead of the state, there was a sticky, vile, disgusting puddle in which a drunken monster sat. In the place of this puddle, nothing should ever have grown ... And we are growing again!
On July 18, 2012, Vladimir Putin signed the Decree "On Approving the Composition of the Council on Public Television", including Alexander Prokhanov among the members of this council. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
In 2012, Prokhanov published a book "Tread of the Russian Victory" in an unusual genre. The book tells about the ideologies of modern Russia and presents the history of Russia in the form of the so-called "four empires": Kiev-Novgorod Rus, Muscovy, Russian empire Romanovs, Stalin's empire. The imperial attitude, from this position, is central to the Russian consciousness, as well as an attempt to embody the Kingdom of God on Earth. The central plot of the book is the idea of the "Fifth Empire", which, according to the writer, is already emerging in modern Russia.
He has worked extensively on radio and television. In 2007-2014 he was a regular guest of the Special Opinion radio program on the Ekho Moskvy radio station. Since September 2009, he has often been on the air of the radio station "Russian News Service", took part in the programs "Soldier of the Empire" and "No Questions".
In 2003-2009, he was one of the regular participants in Vladimir Solovyov's television talk show "To the Barrier!". Since 2010 - one of the regular participants in Vladimir Solovyov's TV talk show "Duel".
Since 2013 - one of the leading headings "Replica" on the TV channel "Russia 24".
In 2014, he supported Vladimir Putin's policy on Ukraine and Crimea. Alexander Prokhanov said about the events in Ukraine: “We see the fall of Ukraine. Someone can rejoice, someone can rejoice, but an observer who knows the fall of kingdoms sees that the Ukrainian kingdom is falling before it has had time to form as a state. It flies into the abyss."
In 2014 he wrote a novel "Crimea". The hero of Alexander Prokhanov's book is identified with new life peninsula, which began near the Crimea after joining Russia. Book published in 2016 "Novorossia, washed with blood". The novel has become a kind of chronicle of recent events in the country.
In May 2015, during a meeting of the plenum of the Union of Writers of Russia in Belgorod, he brought in an image made by order of the Izborsk Club by artists from the city of Rybinsk, called “The Icon of the Mother of God Sovereign”, where he was presented surrounded by Soviet military leaders, which was then brought to Prokhorovka Field to participate in the celebrations of the famous tank battle, where a certain "Athos hieromonk Athenogenes" made a lithium in front of her. The official press release of the Belgorod Metropolis reported that this is not an icon, but a picture painted in the "icon style", none of the characters depicted on it are considered Russian Orthodox Church to the face of the saints, and some of them were outright persecutors of the church. The press release also states that this painting is a kind of manifesto and illustration of the ideas of the so-called "civil religion", which opposes the revealed religion and the Orthodox Church.
“Stalin is the great Russian monarch. Having won a mystical victory, he also became the anointed one, ”Prokhanov noted.
In August 2017, he was one of the 20 signatories of a letter to the President of France with a request to pardon the terrorist Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez, who is serving a prison sentence.
Alexander Prokhanov in the program "The Fate of a Man"
Personal life of Alexander Prokhanov:
Wife - Lyudmila Konstantinovna Prokhanova (died in 2011). At the time of their acquaintance, Lyudmila was an artist, later she devoted herself to the family and raising children.
Alexander Andreevich said: “She was my only wife, there were no others. She bore me three children. She was an exalted person. Now that she is gone ... she appeared to me in a completely different, crystal image, in which everything that connected with earthly life, which irritated, quarreled. Like a genius of pure beauty ... I think about my wife every day, I dream of meeting her. I believe that she also dreams about it. And I think we will see her very soon ".
Daughter - Anastasia Prokhanova, graduated from the textile institute.
The eldest son is Vasily Prokhanov, photographer, songwriter.
The youngest son is Andrei Fefelov, a well-known publicist.
There are eight grandchildren.
Alexander Prokhanov with his wife Lyudmila and daughter Anastasia
Lyudmila Prokhanova with children
Anastasia - daughter of Alexander Prokhanov
He is fond of drawing in the style of primitivism. Collects butterflies (there are more than 3 thousand copies in the collection).
Filmography of Alexander Prokhanov:
2009 - Sokha and the cross of Vasily Belov (documentary)
Scripts by Alexander Prokhanov:
1988 - Shuravi
1988 - Paid for everything
1991 - Gorge of Spirits
Screen versions of the works of Alexander Prokhanov:
1972 - Fatherland
1983 - Location
1988 - Shuravi
1988 - Paid for everything
1991 - Gorge of Spirits
2010 - Caravan Hunters
Bibliography of Alexander Prokhanov:
1971 - I'm going on my way
1971 - Letters about the village
1972 - Burning color
1974 - Grass turns yellow
1975 - In your name
1975 - Reflections of Mangazeya
1976 - Wandering Rose
1977 - Noon time
1980 - Location
1981 - Eternal City
1982 - Tree in the center of Kabul
1984 - Hunter in the islands
1984 - Burning Gardens
1984 - Nuclear shield
1985 - And here comes the wind
1985 - At the distant frontiers
1985 - Light blue
1988 - There, in Afghanistan
1989 - Drawings of a battle painter
1989 - Notes on the armor
1989 - 600 years after the battle
1993 - The last soldier of the empire (original version)
1994 - Angel flew
1995 - Palace
1998 - Chechen blues
1999 - Red-brown
1999 - The Word Carried Through Hell (collection of editorials by Prokhanov, drawings by G. Zhivotov and poems by E. Nefyodov)
2002 - Africanist
2002 - Mr. Hexogen
2003 - The last soldier of the empire (final version)
2004 - Cruiser Sonata
2005 - Chronicle of diving time (collection of editorials of the newspaper "Tomorrow")
2005 - Inscription
2005 - Political scientist
2006 - Gray-haired soldier
2006 - Motor ship "Joseph Brodsky"
2006 - Symphony of the "Fifth Empire"
2007 - Behind the fence of Rublyovka
2007 - Choice of Weapons (Africanist)
2007 - War Matrix (Hunter in the islands)
2007 - Contras on feet of clay (And here comes the wind)
2007 - East Bastion (Dream of Kabul)
2007 - Among the bullets (Parliament on fire, Red-brown)
2007 - The death of the red gods (The last soldier of the empire)
2007 - Fifth Empire
2007 - Friend or foe
2008 - Hill
2008 - Hamas - school of heroes ("Hamas - glory to the heroes", "Hamas - praise to the heroes")
2009 - Virtuoso
2010 - Eye
2010 - Fighter (originally "Dark Speed")
2010 - Collected works: in 15 volumes
2011 - Aluminum Face
2011 - Walking into the fire
2011 - Rock Book
2011 - Russian
2011 - Putin, in whom we believed (Four colors of Putin)
2012 - Star Man
2012 - The tread of the Russian victory
2013 - Golden Time
2014 - Crimea
2015 - Murder of cities
2016 - Governor
2016 - Novorossia, washed with blood
2016 - Orientalist
2017 - Russian stone
2017 - Kill the Hummingbird
Awards and titles of Alexander Prokhanov:
Order of the Red Banner of Labor (11/16/1984);
- Order of Friendship of Peoples (05/10/1988);
- Order of the Badge of Honor (08/07/1981);
- Lenin Komsomol Prize (1982) - for the novel "A Tree in the Center of Kabul";
- Prize named after K. A. Fedin (1980);
- gold medal named after A. A. Fadeev (1987);
- Prize of the USSR Ministry of Defense (1988);
- awards of the magazines "Znamya" (1984), "NS" (1990, 1998);
- International Sholokhov Prize (1998);
- medal "Defender of Transnistria";
- I have the honor award (2001);
- Bunin Prize (2009) - for filing the editorials of the Zavtra newspaper for 2008 and the collection "Symphony of the Fifth Empire" on March 23, 2010 in the nomination "Best Editor-in-Chief / Publisher of the Socio-Political Mass Media" was awarded the "Power No. 4" prize established by the Institute of Public Design and the November 4 Club (as the editor-in-chief of the Zavtra newspaper);
- All-Russian Literary Prize. N. S. Leskova "The Enchanted Wanderer" (2012);
- International Literary Prize "White Cranes of Russia" (2013);
- Award "Golden Delvig" (2013) - "For outstanding contribution to Russian prose and enrichment of the political novel genre";
- International Kim Il Sung Prize (2016) - "for journalistic activities that make a significant contribution to the creation of a powerful Russia, the achievement of global independence and peace, friendship, unity, progress and prosperity among various countries of the world";
- Medal "For the liberation of Crimea and Sevastopol" (March 17, 2014) - for personal contribution to the return of Crimea to Russia.
From the cycle: conversations with famous people.
Soviet and Russian writer, screenwriter, publicist, public figure.
Member of the secretariat of the Writers' Union of Russia. Chief editor of the newspaper "Tomorrow". Winner of the Lenin Komsomol Prize (1982). Cavalier of the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labor (1984), the Badge of Honor and the Red Star.
Born on February 26, 1938, in Tbilisi. Ancestors, Molokans, who came from the Tambov region to Transcaucasia.
His grandfather was the brother of Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov, the leader of the Russian Baptist movement, the founder and head of the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians (1908-1928) and vice-president of the World Baptist Alliance (1911), who emigrated from Russia in 1928.
His son, Yaroslav Ivanovich, a well-known botanist, was arrested in 1938 under articles 58-10 and 58-11 (counter-revolutionary activities), but managed to negotiate the transfer of a very large inheritance that Ivan Stepanovich, who died in 1935, left him abroad.
* And then it was possible to agree. What is there. It would be for what.
And thus, in 1939, he was released, all charges were dropped from him, although the persecution continued in the future due to the fact that he, being a student of N. I. Vavilov, continued to promote classical genetics.
Alexander Andreevich graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1960, but already in the last year of the institute he began to write poetry and prose. After working as an engineer at a scientific research institute for two years after graduation, he became a forest ranger in Karelia, took tourists to the Khibiny, and participated in a geological expedition in Tuva.
*So to speak, I was gaining worldly and writing experience. Everywhere a little.
In 1968, he began working at Literaturnaya Gazeta and was the first to describe in his report the events on Damansky Island during the Soviet-Chinese conflict in 1969. Since 1970, he has been broadcasting reports, being a correspondent in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola. In 1972 he became a member of the USSR Writers' Union (he was 34 years old) and continued to publish in the Literaturnaya Gazeta, in the magazines Young Guard and Our Contemporary. In addition, for two years he worked as the editor-in-chief of the journal "Soviet Literature" (1989-1991).
He did not join the CPSU.
In December 1990, he created his own newspaper, The Day, where he became editor-in-chief. On July 15, 1991, the newspaper published an "anti-perestroika" appeal, "Word to the People." The newspaper became one of the most radical opposition publications in Russia in the early 1990s and was published regularly until the October events of 1993, after which it was closed by the authorities.
In 1991, during the presidential elections in the RSFSR, Prokhanov was a confidant of candidate General Albert Makashov. During the August putsch, Prokhanov supported the State Emergency Committee.
In September 1993, he spoke in his newspaper against Yeltsin's anti-constitutional actions, calling them a coup d'état, and supported the RF Armed Forces. After the tank shooting of the Parliament, the newspaper Den was banned by the Ministry of Justice. The editorial office of the newspaper was destroyed by riot police, its employees were beaten, property and archives were destroyed. Two issues of the newspaper, already banned by that time, were clandestinely printed in Minsk as special editions of the communist newspaper We and Time.
* As you can see, Prokhanov's experience of political struggle was already great.
On November 5, 1993, the son-in-law of the writer A. A. Khudorozhkov established and registered the newspaper Zavtra, of which Prokhanov became the editor-in-chief. A number of organizations accuse the newspaper of publishing anti-Semitic materials.
In the 1996 presidential election, Prokhanov supported the candidacy of the Communist Party candidate Gennady Zyuganov. In 1997, he became a co-founder of the Patriotic Information Agency. Twice - in 1997 and 1999 he was attacked by unknown people.
In 2002, Prokhanov's novel "Mr. Hexogen", where he artistically depicted the version of the organization of explosions of residential buildings in Russia in 1999 by the Russian special services, received the National Bestseller award.
He is fond of drawing in the style of primitivism. Collects butterflies (there are more than 3 thousand copies in the collection).
Married, has two sons and a daughter. One of the sons is a publicist Andrey Fefelov.
* So briefly about the biography of A. A. Prokhanov, in which the genes of relatives, the character of the journalist himself and his life are traced in all three periods of time that took place before our eyes.
And now, in fact, the interview itself with Alexander Andreevich. My notes are in italics.
“The USSR was a unique project. The Soviet can be copied, but it is still better to build something of your own.”
A. A. Prokhanov
Reflections of A. Prokhanov on the pages of "AiF" No. 15 2014. Recorded by Vitaly Tseplyaev.
About Russian power.
If Russian statehood continues to grow, then our geopolitical space will expand. And we don't have to include some new lands, like Crimea. The unification of the Russian world can be done without tank columns and without special forces units.
For example, the Union State of Russia and Belarus.
Kudrin (former finance minister) talks about $150-160 billion that could leak out of the country in 2014. This is due to the annexation of the Crimea.
But the price we paid for the presence of "curly" in our politics is estimated in trillions of dollars.
* It will not be possible to create some kind of separate "Slavic world" Alexander Andreevich. If the "Slavic Bazaar" I would agree. And with the title too. Well, look how many nationalities and confessions exist side by side on the territory of the Russian Federation. And how many non-Slavs entering the Russian Federation for a while, for permanent residence, unofficially
For example, Armenians in their state are Christians, but they are 99.9% Armenians. Azerbaijan, having separated and become a Muslim country, seems to be tolerant of the Russian-speaking population. But let an Armenian, at least in the singular, or someone else, of a different nationality and in droves, try to come there to work ...
And now, after the examples, estimate how many subjects of these nations live on the territory of the Russian Federation. Officially, unofficially, temporarily, permanently…
As for types like “curly”, I agree. There were so many that one wages that they were given will be worth many millions.
About "Serdyukovism".
"Serdyukovism" has become a household term, like Dostoevsky's "Smerdyakovism".
* Everyone is outraged, everyone understands the destructiveness of the "Serdyukovism" existing in Russia, but they cannot do anything on the basis of the law. This means that there are forces in the state that are above the law. And these are only those who invent them and those who approve them.
About points of development.
“The first thing to do is defense…
The modernization of the defense industry (defence-industrial complex) will entail the modernization of entire spheres of life, the entire environment.
“The second super project is connected with the land. Perhaps now we will stop buying modified Western products, we will plow our Russian arable land and start our own cattle.
And Russia will become a flourishing ultra-modern agrarian power.
* With these two most important directions, I agree entirely. I will only add that all borders: land, sea and air must again be locked up. At least temporarily, but for unwanted individuals and companies, perhaps forever.
Otherwise, our constant laxity, friendliness, laziness and "short memory" inherent in the genes can lead to the constant penetration of alien elements, pests into the country's territory, and not only illegally.
And as for plowing, one should not forget the experience of the virgin lands of the 50s of the last century. In order not to get, after the grandiose successes of the first years of virgin lands, a drop in crops and the restoration of land to an arable state within a decade and a half.
On the symbols of the USSR.
The return of the TRP, SSO, the title of Heroes of Labor, VDNH is cosmetics, copying samples. The Soviet style is unique, it is impossible to reproduce it!
We are going through a period of powerful historical creativity, when the state of Russia is being re-created. Since 1991, it has essentially not been.
“Instead of the state, there was a sticky, vile, disgusting puddle in which a drunken monster sat. In the place of this puddle, nothing should ever have grown.”
And we are growing again!
And each facet of the newly growing crystal must have a new name. History cannot move backward.
*History does not move backwards. She repeats herself. Well, when several generations have passed, or even in the memory of one generation.
About our mission.
Everyone got the golden calf with its hegemony of money, with the primacy of vile banking mathematics. People want to take off, they want a miracle ...
And Russia, albeit sometimes in harsh forms, brings people's hopes closer.
Putin reproached the West that it is becoming more and more like Sodom, trampling on Christian values.
At the same time, despite the fact that in Russia there is a wild stratification, there is a forgiven Serdyukov, there is a robbery of the country by bribe-taking officials, there are so many bitches, the place for which is on bitches, Putin took on the mission of preserving Christian values.
And this huge ideological movement inspires hope that everything will be all right with Russia.
* The revival of values, this is what many Russians, Alexander Andreevich, welcome. Only that's why some Christian. And it would not have happened that under the guise of Christianity would begin to occupy an increasingly important place in the politics of the Russian state. At the same time getting rich, impudent, using their influence on the minds. And this is also dangerous. Not everything is so good with Orthodoxy, as one would like to see those who are more and more inclined towards faith.
And, the last.
“My books are a laboratory where I formed my ideas about Russian history and Russian messianism. All these novels are about the Russian state. I traveled to construction sites and factories, oil fields, wrote about the campaigns of nuclear boats. I was delighted with the victories of my state and felt anguish when it suddenly fell and broke.
But today I see that my state is being revived, and I am writing about it again.
The novel that I am completing describes everything that preceded the Crimean events. Such a "pre-Crimea" ...
*Does it feel like nostalgia? This is not a breakdown, and not a disappointment at the end of the road. This is a truthful presentation of their thoughts without a hint of "PR". Why does he, a well-known writer for a long time, need "PR"?
Afterword.
In addition to the above, I want to show you a little information about how a lawsuit was filed against Prokhanov for the article “Singers and scoundrels” in the Izvestia newspaper dated August 17, 2014 and against the newspaper itself.
MOSCOW, October 28 - RIA Novosti. The leader of the rock group "Time Machine" Andrei Makarevich (b. 1953), if he wins the trial against Izvestia and the writer Alexander Prokhanov, plans to spend the money on charity.
“... Andrey Vadimovich filed a lawsuit for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. The defendants are the Izvestia newspaper and the writer Alexander Prokhanov, whose comments were especially outrageous,” said Chernin (Makarevich's secretary). According to him, the lawsuit was preceded by correspondence with the editor-in-chief. “We demanded a retraction, the newspaper refused to publish it, and then we had to file a lawsuit,” the spokesman added.
“The publication claims that Makarevich gave a concert in Slavyansk in the Ukrainian military unit, but in fact he performed in a refugee camp in the city of Svyatogorsk,” Chernin specified.
According to Chernin, if the musician wins the case, he will transfer all the money to refugee children who suffered from military operations in Ukraine.
* By the way, Makarevich demanded money for his honor, dignity and business reputation in the amount of 1,000,000 rubles.
He won back 500,000 rubles in court, but the writer filed an appeal with the Moscow City Court against the decision of the Savelovsky Court of Moscow.
So I have a question for readers who have read this issue of Conversations with Famous People to the end:
Don't you think that such a "bazaar" among the creative intelligentsia absolutely does not lead to the "Slavic World" and the world in general?
But they act negatively on the “brains” of the masses, showing who is who ?!
My conclusions.
I tend to think that genes, a person's knowledge of his relatives from childhood, reflections, eventually give the development of a personality in which there are features of his great-great-grandparents. But here's how the person uses all this in the future, it's up to each individual. For the benefit of others or only for ourselves, what do we, those around us, get from such personalities in the end - is this a question?
In this case, I cannot say that Prokhanov's personality, his biography and work can negatively affect the minds environment. And he still occupies a worthy place among part of the creative intelligentsia, whose words can be heeded ...
Or at least take it to mind.
Altaiich
With. Altai
"We saw how punitive detachments began to enter Donetsk, which was surrounded on all sides. They began to move to railway stations and other parts of the city, fighting, sniper fire, and the city was instantly deserted. I remember an ominous sunset over Donetsk, a yellow and thickening city, as if internal energy is leaving from there, it becomes dead - windows close, entrances close, transport stops running, and you understand that city battles will begin now. Donbass On the eve.RU told Andrei Fefelov, editor-in-chief of the Den Internet channel, journalist, son of the writer Alexander Prokhanov.
Question: You have recently arrived from the Donbass, what is the most vivid impression of the trip left?
Andrey Fefelov: When we arrived in Novorossiya, this new union state was just announced before our very eyes. On this day and at this hour, the format of a new country, Novorossiya, was born, and everyone was very inspired by this. Although, it is completely incomprehensible why, because no one even says what Novorossiya is, no one knows what will be under this sign, but for some reason everyone imagines some kind of utopian picture. The theme of Novorossiya has not yet been formulated, has not yet been declared, but it already represents a kind of space for myth, and each one fills this space with its own content.
Communists believe that it will be a promised country of general equality, people of the Orthodox worldview say that it will be a country of Orthodox orders, where there will be no place for debauchery, abortion and mass media culture, people who dream of scientific and technological progress say that Novorossia will be a great testing ground for honing new amazing technologies. This is how this myth is formed from fragments of our consciousness, the most beautiful, best aspirations. So, Novorossiya is a dream space.
Question: What is happening on the city streets? Do children play in the streets or do they all hide in their homes?
Andrey Fefelov: Now this is not a total war - this is not Stalingrad. And in Damascus, during the crisis, they drank coffee in the city center, and there were battles in the neighboring quarter - and this is normal, it happens. So the center of Donetsk, if you do not go beyond a certain zone, looks like an ordinary southern city, and ordinary life goes on there. Another thing is that there are days and hours when everything changes. We saw how punitive detachments began to enter Donetsk, which was surrounded on all sides. They began to move to railway stations and other parts of the city, fighting began to arise, sniper fire began, and the city was instantly deserted. I remember an ominous sunset over Donetsk, a yellow and thickening city, as if internal energy is leaving from there, it becomes dead - windows close, entrances close, transport stops running, and you understand that city battles will begin now.
As for the administration building, it is indeed lined with bags and coils of barbed wire, but these are mainly revolutionary decorations. I do not think that in real combat conditions these bags will allow you to protect administrative buildings. However, the symbolism of resistance, flags, roadblocks - this is also very important, they have, if not military, but some kind of political, symbolic meaning.
Question: What is the distance between the militias and the Ukrainian military? As far as we know, conscripts are the same Donbass people.
Andrey Fefelov: There is a difference between the Ukrainian army and the terrorist units that are introduced into the territory of Donbass by the "Right Sector" and the National Guard. The militias say that the Ukrainian army is our children, conscripts, and when the barracks are captured, these conscripts are not taken prisoner, they are not enlisted in the defense forces, but they are put on a train and sent home. I don’t know what happens to them next, but I suspect that they will be mobilized again and thrown back into the Donbass.
On the other hand, we see the massacre of the wounded in the hospital in Krasny Liman. This degree of hatred and mutual claims is growing. Unfortunately this is logic. civil war. No matter what events take place, no matter what Putin concludes agreements, no matter whom Patriarch Kirill congratulates, the situation will continue - too much strength is contained in it, blood and tears are shed.
Question: And how are the fronts distributed? Are there many more territories captured by the junta?
Andrey Fefelov: There is now no such thing as fronts. The entire Donbass is under attack. There is a patchwork there - here are units of the "Right Sector", there are some parts of the Ukrainian army, it is not known whose order is being carried out, planes fly here. And as soon as the militia encroaches on certain structures - the financial system, the border, the transport system, the communication line, the junta immediately takes very violent steps to block these efforts. And everything is still ahead of us, because there are still a couple of days before the inauguration, and fantastic things can happen during this time, since the new president made a statement that the inauguration will take place in Donetsk. This statement is amazing! He put his chocolate reputation on the line - if he fails to do this, then who is he? And if he does it through bombardments, victims and destruction, including the civilian population, then what will he, the head of a tribe of savages, celebrate his inauguration on the bloody streets among skulls, among stakes in order to establish himself as the president of a new united Ukraine? What are they thinking about in Kyiv?
Question: The day before, representatives of the DPR came to visit the State Duma, where they announced the need to switch the economy of the republic to the Russian ruble ...
Andrey Fefelov: The demarche in the State Duma is connected with the recognition of these republics by Russia, and so far, in my opinion, this recognition is impossible. However, in the DPR, I think, a separate financial system will be created, as it was once created in Transnistria. The example of Transnistria is not inspiring for the inhabitants of Donbass, it is an example of people who are in a kind of blockade, but Donbass will have Russia. Roughly speaking, Transnistria will turn out of Donbass, but with much better starting conditions.
Question: How do you assess the fact that Putin has not yet recognized the DPR?
Andrey Fefelov: It is very difficult for me to talk about Putin's strategy, because it includes other factors that I may not be aware of. For example, he will soon have a meeting with representatives of the Western powers and, obviously, some kind of secret ultimatum will be presented to him. How will he react to this ultimatum, to these threats? This is his personal choice as a politician, and I think he will have enough experience and courage to do right choice. It is philistine to argue that the president should do this or that, here it is a matter of his personal fate, because what he decides now in Ukraine concerns not only our entire society, but also his personal fate. However, I am sure that Russia will be more and more involved in this process.
Question: How do residents of Donbass react to the silence of official Moscow?
Andrey Fefelov: Of course, this creates a background of uncertainty, since great amount there were hopes that Russia, as in the case of Crimea, would take and take the territories for itself, take them for maintenance, ensure security, expel the "Right Sector" from there, create conditions for normal life. But that didn't happen, so people are worried. However, the DNR and LNR authorities are hinting that Russian support will come, and this is part of the ideological background. However, if the independence of the republics is recognized, they will also have close interaction with Russia, and here it is also necessary to explain to people that "for now you will be in limbo, but this will not last forever. After all, Russia will recognize you, but for now you will use Russian passports to travel abroad, like most residents of Transnistria."
Question: As for the media, one can often hear that our television allegedly exaggerates when talking about what is happening in the Donbass.
Andrey Fefelov: Television is always a kind of magnifying glass, because it considers one local event, and all the world's attention is focused on it. And I was always amazed that some local event on the next street may not even be heard, but the whole world can discuss it. This is fine. However, I can say that the general tone of the Russian channels corresponds to the ideas of the population, this is not in dissonance with the ideas of the people. There, Ukrainian channels also work for days, but the local population, of course, has a completely different attitude towards them.
Question: From here it seems to us that everyone in Donetsk has given up work and joined the militia. Is it so?
Andrey Fefelov: Donetsk is a millionth city, and about 4 thousand people went to the militia. Of course, if all the men went to fight, then they would take Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk. But this does not happen, because there are ordinary people, people of a different type, there is no involvement at the level of the future "if we do not come today, tomorrow they will kill us." People are not yet fully aware of what is happening. The time of total war, as in the days of Hitler, has not yet come, thank God. Yes, and we must understand that during the Great Patriotic War, not everyone went to the partisans.