"unsent letter to surgeon." Robert Rozhdestvensky's last letter. Alla Kireeva-Rozhdestvenskaya: “I suspected that many people were jealous of Robert and me. But if they knew how happy we are, they would probably burn us in the square

"unsent letter to surgeon." Robert Rozhdestvensky's last letter. Alla Kireeva-Rozhdestvenskaya: “I suspected that many people were jealous of Robert and me. But if they knew how happy we are, they would probably burn us in the square

11.11.2021 Ulcer

Fate brought Robert Rozhdestvensky and his wife Alla Kireeva together at the Literary Institute. Alla was already studying, and Robert transferred to their course from the philological faculty of Karelian University. His previous attempt to enter the Literary Institute was unsuccessful. The selection committee rendered a verdict: “Incapable.” At first, the student from the capital did not pay attention to the funny, poorly dressed guy from the province. But then he struck her with his kind, attentive gaze and athletic bearing (he played for the Karelia national basketball team, was fond of boxing and volleyball). And most importantly - this is what women value most - intelligence. Rozhdestvensky could easily recite almost any poet by heart for hours. A feeling flared up between the young people that connected them for life. They lived together for 41 happy years. They understood each other without words and were above petty temptations. The story of their family life is admirable. Only Robert's death could put a cruel end to this great love. On June 20, the great poet would have turned 69 years old. “FACTS” offers its readers the story of Rozhdestvensky’s wife.

Rozhdestvensky called all writers a terrarium of like-minded people

You first met Rozhdestvensky at the Literary Institute. What was the Literary Institute like then, who studied there?

There were one hundred and twenty boys and five or six girls in the Literary Institute, so there were enough gentlemen for each. The guys were very different, including very funny ones. There were some who were completely illiterate among them; the republic allocated places, and they were sent to Moscow to study “to be a writer.” But the competition was nevertheless huge.

Robert and I studied in the same course, and then, one fine day, something happened. Immediately and for life.

Where did you live after your wedding?

In the basement. In the courtyard of the Writers' Union, on Vorovskogo, 52. There was communal apartment, and four families lived in it - a couple of teachers with a daughter and an elderly woman of easy virtue, the same age as the century. For a long time she was the mistress of Mate Zalka. My aunt and uncle, grandparents, mom, dad and I also lived there. When we got married, we occupied a six-meter room adjacent to the large one.

What kind of family did you have?

My father was a gifted critic. Under Gorky he served as director of the House of Writers. Mom was an operetta artist, but did not disdain any kind of work. Mom and Dad separated early, and I lived between two adjacent rooms: Mom and her new husband lived in one, Dad and his new wife lived in the other. My parents loved me very much, but I felt superfluous and unnecessary.

Mom and Robert adored each other. Recently I found her note: “Robochka, if you get up before me, wake up, I’ll cook porridge for you.” She doted on him, and he even dedicated poems to her and often joked: “Devil knows why I met Alka earlier, Otherwise I would have married Lidka.” She truly was an irresistible woman, and many of our friends were seriously infatuated with her.

After the poem “My Love” was published, Robert became famous - this happened during the time of the Literary Institute. But we were still without money. Sometimes we got from Vorovskogo Street to Tverskoy Boulevard by taxi, but we took three rubles for it from our mother. We had increased scholarships, we lived on them, and his parents also helped him a little. They were diehard communists: their stepfather was a colonel, a political instructor, their mother was a military surgeon. Robert's real father died in '42, and the young widow, very beautiful woman, got married five or six years later. Her new husband adopted Robka, and he revered his stepfather and was grateful to him all his life.

Who were you friends with at that time, who loved Rozhdestvensky, who hated him?

It seemed to me that everyone loved him. (And certainly everyone respected him.) The names of those who hated him will not tell anyone anything today. Scum always cluster together, but these guys couldn't stand each other and barked constantly. And then they made up - over a bottle. Drunkenness and envy were the aura of the Central House of Writers, where they liked to count other people's fees, poke their noses into other people's family affairs, and write denunciations. But to be honest, vodka was one of the main components in the communication of all writers. We were no exception either.

Did Rozhdestvensky respect the literary environment?

No, perhaps not. He respected and even loved individual writers, but called them all together a terrarium of like-minded people.

Fortunately, at this time a song appeared in his life, and we found ourselves in a completely different world. In some ways it differed little from the writer’s: in this world they also loved to go for a walk, and they also loved to slander. Among the composers there were also different people.

Writers and composers drank the same

Did writers and pop composers live differently?

Writers were poorer. But it depended on your talent, on how much you write, how much you publish, how often your works are performed. The difference is this: good writers rarely talk about their ideas and creativity. More often they can only talk about what has already been done. Composers, as a rule, discuss with the poet what the song will be about - Oscar Feltsman, for example, did not sit at the piano if Robert was not nearby. But writers and composers drank the same.

Did his friends betray him?

Friends - never. It happened that we ourselves parted with some people.

How did Rozhdestvensky feel in his last period, when the earth disappeared from under the feet of the poets and people thought not about poetry, but about how to survive?

Robert believed in perestroika like a child. I have never seen him happier. But immediate disappointment broke him. It was very difficult for him, he did not know how it would all turn out. And no one knew. But he was friends with Korotich, who was a behavioral genius.

In Kyiv, he was the most reptilian of Ukrainian writers, and I don’t really understand how this fits with the perestroika “Ogonyok”

Korotich is our friend. One of those who did not forget the way to our house even after Robert left.

At first, Robert was called editor of Ogonyok. Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev invited him, and he returned from the Central Committee gloomy.

Alka, I don’t have the strength for this

Well, give up and live your life. Robert immediately called Yakovlev back: “Alexander Nikolaevich, I recommend Korotich to you. He is a smart, talented person and will create the magazine that this time needs.” Korotich did it, but Roba would not have succeeded: his character was not the same. Vitaly wrote about Robert very precisely: “He was one of those people in front of whom you never wanted to feel ashamed.” Thanks to Vitaly for supporting Robert in recent years, after the operation, he published his poems and published books.

Robert was a very loyal man, a knight

In Soviet times, Robert Rozhdestvensky was considered the standard of a happy writer's destiny

Robert was amazed at what was happening in his life: his popularity, his demand, his endless letters and invitations. He believed that he did not deserve such success. He thought it was a mistake. The self-doubt was huge. “I think I took someone else’s ticket,” he wrote.

What do you regret? - asks “Caravan”.

About many things. About unwritten books, about unborn children, about departed friends, about failed friendships, about time wasted on insignificant people.

I was blind, I didn’t see that Robert needed me - with all my problems and complexes. And only me. And it seemed to me that there was a rival around every corner. Robert was not only a monogamous man, but also a very loyal man, a knight. Every day I heard: “Alka, I love you!” I got used to these words and still can’t believe that I’ll never hear them again. But they sound at night, making me wake up.

Robert always woke up in a great mood, as if thanking life for what it was. He hummed since the very morning, and it seems to me that this created a special aura, nourished our home, our thoughts, our affairs. After he was gone, we changed, became less tolerant - in his presence it was impossible to say anything bad about anyone. Life with him was a holiday.

Our friend, critic Tolya Bocharov, lent us money for a car, and when we collected this amount and came to visit them to repay the debt, Robert asked me to distract the owners. I began to tell some long, incomprehensible story, and after a while Robert entered the kitchen in swimming trunks. Around his neck he wore a monisto of twenty-five rubles. And on the floor in their room there were banknotes: “Thank you, Tolya and Sveta.”

What was he like during his illness?

He wrote until his last days, fading away when he had very little strength left.

Now we and our home feel like orphans, abandoned, abandoned. Although friends say that Robert did not leave him.

I suspected that many people were jealous of Robert and me, after all - so many years together! But if they knew how happy we were, they would probably burn us in the square.

A few months after Robert’s death, I found a telegram on the table: “IT GOT NORMAL HERE NOT BAD AT ALL DON’T WORRY I MISS YOU VERY ROBERT.”

It turned out that this was a telegram from the sixties

Alla Borisovna Kireeva, 1933 – 2015
Photo: Felix Rosenstein / Gordonua.com

Natalia DVALI
Editor, journalist (original)

We phoned Alla Kireeva at the beginning of November 2014, after the Ilovaisk cauldron, in which up to a thousand Ukrainian soldiers died, the first Minsk negotiations took place, and parliamentary elections took place. Alla Borisovna felt bad, spoke quietly and slowly, but really wanted to convey the main thing: “It’s high time for Russians to open their eyes, turn on their brains and finally understand who is fooling them and why.” We are publishing this interview once again in memory of Alla Borisovna Kireeva.

Robert Rozhdestvensky is a cult poet of the sixties, the author of several hundred songs, including “Don’t think down on the seconds,” “Something has happened to my memory,” “My years are my wealth.” This year marks exactly 20 years since his death. Of the 62 years allotted, Robert Ivanovich lived 41 years with his beloved wife, literary critic Alla Kireeva.

How they, so different, managed to save their family, Alla Borisovna herself cannot answer. Rozhdestvensky is an idol of a generation, a poet favored by the Soviet regime, Kireeva is a rebel and a truth-teller who has hated all her life Communist Party and the Soviet system. “Robka really, for a very long time, sincerely trusted everything he saw and heard,” Kireeva recalled. “I remember in 1978 he suddenly announced that he was going to join the party... I couldn’t stand it: “So, like this: one application to the party, the second to the registry office for a divorce. I won’t live with a party member!”

Alla Kireeva and Robert Rozhdestvensky lived together for 41 years, they have two daughters: Ekaterina and Ksenia Rozhdestvensky. Robert Ivanovich died in 1994 . Photo: Konstantin Eremenko / Facebook

Kireeva’s unbending character can be judged by one eloquent episode. For the 70th anniversary of the poet Andrei Voznesensky, the ex-manager of the affairs of the President of the Russian Federation (both Yeltsin and Putin) Pavel Borodin. While the Kremlin official was ascending the stage, Kireeva, who was sitting in the front row, loudly shouted: “The thief should be in prison!”

“The last thing I remember is the crazy eyes of Zoya Boguslavskaya (Voznesensky’s wife. - "GORDON"). – admitted Kireeva. - It broke out... Pal Palych (Borodin. - "GORDON"), of course, a charming-looking guy... But Christmas trees! You're a poet! Yes, Robka would hang himself if I told him: “Let’s invite Pal Palych...” It’s better to eat crackers instead of white bread than to drag such people to the doorstep!”

– Alla Borisovna, do you understand what Putin is trying to achieve?

– Neither the new USSR nor Russian Empire he doesn't need it. Putin’s goal is to build fur storage facilities for himself and his immediate circle. These are business tasks and nothing more.

– And Vladimir Vladimirovich assures that “the most important tragedy is the alienation of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples,” which the West supposedly contributed a lot to.

– Putin, with his own hands, orchestrated all the most important tragedies in Russia over the past 15 years. I emphasize: the tragedies were caused by him and only him!

– Judging by opinion polls, the Russian people do not think so, otherwise how could the President of the Russian Federation have a rating of 84%?

“Today, almost everyone inside Russia likes Putin, but tomorrow, when the state begins to reach into the wallets of the average person to provide for Crimea and support the militants in the Donbass, he will greatly dislike him. Soon the Kremlin’s promises about the creation of “Novorossiya” will disappoint and even anger most Russian citizens.

– And Maidan will appear on Red Square?

“Russia doesn’t have enough strength for its own Maidan; instead, robberies and bloody robberies will begin.”

– Why does Ukraine arouse such aggression and hatred among the Russian public?

– Most Russians are zombified by television propaganda. The people have forgotten how to think and work, and they don’t want to. Because the neighbor who took fate into own hands, causes rejection and irritation.

– It’s strange that the younger generation, who do not know the USSR, but understand perfectly well what the West is, succumbed to propaganda.

– Young people in Russia grew up with the TV on, which they absolutely believed and still believe. Now they are confused in the Internet, reading all sorts of nonsense instead of books. In Russia there is very harsh propaganda that changes consciousness, for me this is an absolutely real fact.

Our generation begins to get sick when they watch TV and once again see how they lied to us. I would like to intervene, but we can’t change anything. Therefore, it’s probably high time to give up on it.

I sat on TV all day long, watching the Orange Revolution! It was all “orange”! You know, I thought: “At least they will finally have a pleasant, civilized, European country, since nothing is working out for us.” If something encouraging starts to happen in Russia, it won’t be very soon. Everything has rusted, everything has been sold, betrayed, trampled... Everywhere there are some temporary workers who have forgotten what Russia is. No honor, no dignity...

2006, interview with Alla Kireeva to the weekly “Gordon Boulevard”

– How do you escape from Kremlin propaganda?

– I read Russian classics, I don’t watch TV, where the same faces with foam at the mouth and crazy eyes talk nonsense. Enough. It is impossible to influence me with propaganda.

– Why do so many representatives of Russia’s creative intelligentsia – writers, artists, musicians – not only not oppose Putin’s policies, but actively support them?

- Because they have a slave, lackey soul.

– Have you noticed that among the Russian figures who signed the letter in support of Putin, there is not a single poet?

– Poets are quite delicate material. It’s good that in Ukraine they noticed: there are no signatures of real poets under the letter. And that's great. I understand why contempt for Russians has matured in Ukrainian society. It's horrible. Restoring the old relationship will take decades of difficult work.

– Do you personally feel the effect of sanctions?

– I’m so decrepit that I rarely go shopping, that’s why Western sanctions haven’t affected me. And Russia's retaliatory sanctions look infantile. This is a terrible kindergarten habit: “Oh, are you like that? Then we are like this for you!” When a Russian citizen says: “It’s good that Western goods were banned, now domestic producers will rise,” he does not understand how much time and technology it takes to grow, for example, your own wheat. But where to go, such people in Russia...

– How will the Russian-Ukrainian war end?

– It is impossible to predict. The Kremlin government is unpredictable; it is completely unclear what it will want tomorrow. I think Ukraine will eventually become free European country, and Russia will continue to rise from its knees.

– What would you wish for our peoples?

– I wish Ukraine to quickly become a real strong fist and try not to hate Russia. Believe me, not all Russians are to blame for what is happening now. I wish Russians only one thing: to open their eyes, turn on their brains and finally understand who is fooling them and why.

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11 years ago, on August 1, the poet “Don’t think down on the seconds”, “Something has happened to my memory”, “My years are my wealth”, “Sweet berries” - songs based on the poems of Robert Rozhdestvensky once passed away. they sang on the streets and on trains.

And even now, if not everyone knows them, then very, very many. Less familiar with his poetry, but this does not stop Robert Rozhdestvensky from being a poet in history and literature.

Stuttering saved Khrushchev from the wrath In the 60s, young Akhmadulina, Okudzhava, Rozhdestvensky, Yevtushenko and Voznesensky packed stadiums. It is curious that the variety artists who were invited to entertain the audience in the first part were booed. Now, when concerts of “comedians” are shown on TV from morning to evening, it’s hard to believe.

One of the heroes of the poetic fever of those years, Robert Rozhdestvensky, did not live long - 62 years, but happily. As the poet Vladimir Gneushev put it, “daughter after daughter, book after book.” He had everything: talent, early fame, wealth (an apartment on Gorky Street, a dacha in Peredelkino, a Volga car), and a wonderful wife, and two daughters . The eldest, Ekaterina, is a translator and photographer, now famous for a series of photo projects in the magazine "Caravan of Stories", the youngest, Ksenia, is a journalist. Thanks to her, a book of memories about Rozhdestvensky was published.

I can’t say that dad got along with his fame,” recalls Ksenia. - He didn’t like it if people recognized him on the street, he tried to hide. When my father spoke publicly, I was worried - he was worried every time and stuttered even more. And I stood there and thought: “God, I wish all this would end soon!” The mother was also nervous, standing backstage: she could not sit in the hall. He was always uncomfortable on stage. If he were alive now, he would be more interested in mosquito dermatitis in children as a father than in social events with various cultural figures.

Nowadays this condition would be called social phobia. However, the poet Andrei Voznesensky assures that when Khrushchev scolded the “masters of words” in the Kremlin, Rozhdestvensky’s stuttering saved him from the wrath of the Secretary General: “Robert went to the podium, but was so worried that he had difficulty speaking and could not connect two words. That’s when I read poetry and never stuttered. And then his stuttering saved him.

I don’t know, maybe he felt sorry for him.” At the dacha in Peredelkino they drank until the morning. I remember a bunch of letters from fans. Among them were “city crazy” who made dates for him - without specifying in which city, on which street - continues Ksenia. “I will stand on the corner and wait. You’ll recognize me right away” - something like this. As a child, I read them with horror and was upset: “How can this be? The man is probably worth waiting. "

The fans didn't have a chance. For 41 years, Rozhdestvensky lived with one woman, Alla Kireeva, a literary critic by profession. “No matter what happens, please live, always live happily.” - the famous lines of “Nocturne” are dedicated to her. He gave poems to his Alena (as the poet called Alla Kireeva) all his life.

For some holiday, most likely a wedding anniversary, her father presented her with a three-volume book, says Ksenia. - From the first two books there were bookmarks sticking out - on the pages where there were poems dedicated to my mother, and in the third volume there were not even bookmarks - because it was all addressed to her. These books still stand in our house with those bookmarks.

“Robert needed me. And only me. And our girls. And my mother. And it seemed to me that there was a rival around every corner,” Kireeva wrote about her relationship with the poet. And in a conversation with “Interlocutor” she added:

I have never met anyone like Roba. He was a monogamous man, a homebody. But I try to think less about how happy I was with him - it poisons the rest of my life.

The Rozhdestvens lived openly and hospitably. “Feltsman, Fradkin, Bogoslovsky, who constantly teased everyone, and other wonderful people came,” recalls Ksenia. - As a child, I loved to sit under the piano, so that no one could see me, and listened to them play, come up with “fish” - a set of words that coincided with the melody, and laugh. There were always so many people both in the city apartment and at the dacha in Peredelkino!

I don’t even understand when our guests took care of their own lives. I woke up at about seven in the morning, went out into the living room, and there was a mountain of dishes, empty glasses and cigarettes were still smoking in the ashtrays - that is, people had just left. And this happened quite often. Life was fun - it’s a pity, as a child I took it for granted and did not remember the details.

In those days, it was a rare meeting among the “sixties” without alcohol - imitating Hemingway’s heroes, the writers drank, sat for a long time at the tables, and argued until the morning. Of course, the Rozhdestvensky house was no exception.

But at some point the poet gave up drinking alcohol. When they tried to persuade him to drink, he answered: “Guys, I heard all your arguments. And the fact that I’m not Russian, since I don’t drink, and the fact that I’m not a man, since I don’t drink, and the fact that I’m arrogant, since I don’t drink.” I drink, nothing can stop me: I don’t drink.” (From the memoirs of Grigory Gorin.)

In his youth, he wrote about “poisoning doctors.” Everyone who knew Robert Ivanovich noted two of his qualities - kindness and a peculiar sense of humor.

“He never laughed,” recalls the poet Andrei Dementyev. - He spoke very seriously. And you won’t understand whether it’s a joke or not, but everyone was laughing around. Because it was very witty. It was easy with him. It was possible to freeze any stupidity.

“They said about Robert in literary circles that he did not commit any evil when he was secretary of the Writers' Union. This is a rare case, because all secretaries were marked with evil.”

(From the memoirs of Bulat Okudzhava.) “We never had a heart-to-heart talk,” the youngest daughter continues the theme of kindness, “but dad radiated such love and warmth that there was no need to say anything.” I wasn’t even punished, I wasn’t specially educated, I wasn’t given any moralizing conversations. Once, when I was six years old, they put me in a corner.

I don’t remember why anymore. I never saw him work because dad locked himself in his office. My grandmother loved to tell how one day, when I was two years old, I stood in front of the office door and announced: “You can’t go to him. He’s working.” But dad willingly read us fresh poems.

The poet was published in huge editions both in the Soviet Union and abroad, so the family did not need it. He traveled a lot - together with his wife, as part of writing delegations, Rozhdestvensky traveled all over the world. But he was indifferent to luxury, clothes, cars: Alla Borisovna made sure that the tie matched the shirt. His poise was combined with passion; in his spare time he loved to play backgammon, preference and fool. I played sports all my life - I loved football, volleyball, and ping-pong.

“Dad had his own playing style,” the daughter recalls, “I’ve never seen anyone like that. He stood far from the table - it looked very nice from the outside.

But Robert Ivanovich was truly worried about the engravings and books about Moscow, which he collected all his life: a significant part of his fees was spent on this hobby. Rozhdestvensky called himself a product of his time. In my youth I believed in both a “bright future” and “poisoning doctors”

I even wrote a long poem on such current topic, but later admitted: “I will always be ashamed of these lines.” He performed both before ordinary spectators and before Kremlin officials.

Moreover, this was not perceived as an attempt to curry favor, but was considered an honor,” says Ksenia. - My father really believed in this whole thing. I remember when I was 16 years old, I read Solzhenitsyn in photocopies and asked him: “Is this really true?” And he answered: “No way. How could you think that?” But from abroad he brought collections of poems by Gumilev, Mandelstam, Akhmatova.

A book in which there is nothing but an idea could not captivate him. He completely sincerely joined the CPSU. When I was a deputy, I tried to give everyone apartments, feed the hungry, and help the disabled. Very calm, kind, dad had a great desire to make everyone happy. If possible, then all of humanity, if not, at least those who are nearby. He broke down when the system collapsed and it became clear that it was not at all about the happiness of all people on earth. And for what happened in the country, my father blamed himself first of all.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the poet was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family fought for him for five years - they bought currency at the extortionate rate of Vneshtorgbank to pay for the operation, looked for a clinic, got medicine. After a successful operation in Paris, Rozhdestvensky lived for another 4 years and wrote his best , according to many, poems. True, the wife and daughters perceived them differently.

Katya and I couldn’t hear them, because in each one he said goodbye to us,” says Ksenia. - At the request of the guests, my father often read them, but it was unbearable: Spider threads fly quietly. The sun is burning on the window glass. I was doing something wrong. Sorry: I lived on this earth for the first time. I only now feel it. I fall towards her. And I swear by it. And I promise to live differently if I return. But I won't return. Robert needed me. And only me. And our girls. And my mom. And it seemed to me that there was a rival around every corner.

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Widow of the poet Rozhdestvensky Kireev: Putin with his own hands
caused all the main tragedies in Russia of the last 15 years
Russia does not have enough strength for its own Maidan; instead, robberies and bloody robberies will begin. It’s high time for Russians to open their eyes, turn on their brains and finally understand who is fooling them and why, said Alla Kireeva, a literary critic and wife of the sixties poet Robert Rozhdestvensky, in an interview with GORDON.

Today 10:00

Alla Kireeva: Ukraine will become a free European country, and Russia will continue to rise from its knees
Photo: Felix Rosenstein / Gordonua.com
Natalia DVALI
Editor
Robert Rozhdestvensky is a cult poet of the sixties, the author of several hundred songs, including “Don’t think down on the seconds,” “Something has happened to my memory,” “My years are my wealth.” This year marks exactly 20 years since his death. Of the 62 years allotted, Robert Ivanovich lived 41 years with his beloved wife, literary critic Alla Kireeva.
How they, so different, managed to save their family, Alla Borisovna herself cannot answer. Rozhdestvensky is an idol of the generation, a poet favored by the Soviet regime, Kireeva is a rebel and truth-teller, who hated the Communist Party and the Soviet system all her life. “Robka really for a very long time sincerely trusted everything he saw and heard,” Kireeva recalled in an interview with the newspaper “Gordon Boulevard.” “I remember in 1978 he suddenly announced that he was going to join the party... I couldn’t stand it: “So, like this: one application to the party, the second to the registry office for divorce. I won’t live with a party member!”
Kireeva’s unbending character can be judged by one eloquent episode. For the 70th anniversary of the poet Andrei Voznesensky, the ex-manager of the affairs of the President of the Russian Federation (both Yeltsin and Putin) Pavel Borodin. While the Kremlin official was ascending the stage, Kireeva, who was sitting in the front row, loudly shouted: “The thief should be in prison!”
“The last thing I remember is the crazy eyes of Zoya Boguslavskaya (Voznesensky’s wife. - “GORDON”),” admitted Kireeva. “It burst out... Pal Palych (Borodin. - “GORDON”), of course, is a charming-looking man... But Christmas trees! You’re a poet! Yes, Robka would hang himself if I told him: “Let’s invite Pal Palych...” It’s better to eat crackers instead of white bread than to drag such people to the door!”
Putin's goal is to build fur storage facilities for himself and his immediate circle
– Alla Borisovna, do you understand what Putin is trying to achieve?
– He doesn’t need either the new USSR or the Russian Empire. Putin’s goal is to build fur storage facilities for himself and his immediate circle. These are business tasks and nothing more.
– And Vladimir Vladimirovich assures that “the most important tragedy is the alienation of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples,” which the West supposedly contributed a lot to.
– Putin, with his own hands, orchestrated all the most important tragedies in Russia over the past 15 years. I emphasize: the tragedies were caused by him and only him!
– Judging by opinion polls, the Russian people do not think so, otherwise how could the President of the Russian Federation have a rating of 84%?
“Today, almost everyone inside Russia likes Putin, but tomorrow, when the state begins to reach into the wallets of the average person to provide for Crimea and support the militants in the Donbass, he will greatly dislike him. Soon the Kremlin’s promises about the creation of “Novorossiya” will disappoint the majority of Russian citizens, even anger them.
– And Maidan will appear on Red Square?
“Russia doesn’t have enough strength for its own Maidan; instead, robberies and bloody robberies will begin.”
Young people in Russia grew up with the TV on, which they absolutely believed and believe in
– Why does Ukraine arouse such aggression and hatred among the Russian public?
– Most Russians are zombified by television propaganda. The people have forgotten how to think and work, and they don’t want to. Therefore, a neighbor who has taken fate into his own hands causes rejection and irritation.
– It’s strange that the younger generation, who do not know the USSR, but understand perfectly well what the West is, succumbed to propaganda.
– Young people in Russia grew up with the TV on, which they absolutely believed and still believe. Now they are confused in the Internet, reading all sorts of nonsense instead of books. In Russia there is very harsh propaganda that changes consciousness, for me this is an absolutely real fact.
– How do you escape from Kremlin propaganda?
– I read Russian classics, I don’t watch TV, where the same faces with foam at the mouth and crazy eyes talk nonsense. Enough. It is impossible to influence me with propaganda.
– Why do so many representatives of Russia’s creative intelligentsia – writers, artists, musicians – not only not oppose Putin’s policies, but actively support them?
- Because they have a slave, lackey soul.
– Have you noticed that among the Russian figures who signed the letter in support of Putin, there is not a single poet?
– Poets are quite delicate material. It’s good that in Ukraine they noticed: there are no signatures of real poets under the letter. And that's great. I understand why contempt for Russians has matured in Ukrainian society. It's horrible. Restoring the old relationship will take decades of difficult work.
I wish Ukraine to quickly become a real strong fist and try not to hate Russia
– Do you personally feel the effect of sanctions?
– I’m so decrepit that I rarely go shopping, that’s why Western sanctions haven’t affected me. And Russia's retaliatory sanctions look infantile. This is a terrible kindergarten habit: “Oh, are you like that? Then we’re like that for you!” When a Russian citizen says: “It’s good that Western goods were banned, now domestic producers will rise,” he does not understand how much time and technology it takes to grow, for example, your own wheat. But where to go, such people in Russia...
– How will the Russian-Ukrainian war end?
– It is impossible to predict. The Kremlin government is unpredictable; it is completely unclear what it will want tomorrow. I think that in the end, Ukraine will become a free European country, and Russia will continue to rise from its knees.
– What would you wish for our peoples?
– I wish Ukraine to quickly become a real strong fist and try not to hate Russia. Believe me, not all Russians are to blame for what is happening now. I wish Russians only one thing: to open their eyes, turn on their brains and finally understand who is fooling them and why.