“We saw how punitive detachments began to enter Donetsk, surrounded on all sides. They began to move to train stations and other points of the city, there was hostilities, sniper fire, and the city was instantly empty. I remember the ominous sunset over Donetsk, a yellow and thickening city as if internal energy is leaving there, he becomes dead - the windows are closed, the entrances are closed, the transport stops walking, and you understand that the city battles will begin now. " About his trip to the Junta-occupied Donbass On the eve.RU told Andrey Fefelov, editor-in-chief of The Day Internet channel, journalist, son of writer Alexander Prokhanov.
Question: You have recently arrived from 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 - Novorossia was born, and everyone was very inspired by this. Although, it is completely incomprehensible why, after all, no one even says what Novorossia is, no one knows what will be under this signboard, but for some reason everyone imagines some kind of utopian picture. The topic of New Russia has not yet been formulated, has not yet been declared, but it already represents a kind of space for a myth, and each space fills this space with its own content.
Communists believe that this 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 training ground for new and exciting technologies. This is how this myth is formed from the fragments of our consciousness, the most beautiful, the best aspirations. So, Novorossiya is a dream space.
Question: What is happening on the city streets? Are the children playing on the streets or are they all hiding 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 next quarter - and this is normal, it happens. Likewise, 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, surrounded on all sides. They began to move to train stations and other points of the city, hostilities began to arise, sniper fire, and the city instantly became empty. I remember the ominous sunset over Donetsk, the yellow and thickening city, as if internal energy is leaving it, it becomes dead - windows close, entrances close, transport stops walking, and you understand that city battles will begin now.
As for the administration building, it is indeed surrounded by sacks and coils of barbed wire, but these are mainly revolutionary decorations. I don’t think that in the conditions of real battles, these bags will make it possible to protect administrative buildings. However, the symbols of resistance, flags, checkpoints are also very important, they have, albeit not military, but some 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 being brought 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 is captured, these conscripts are not taken prisoner, they are not enrolled in the defense forces, but they are put on a train and sent home. What happens to them next - I do not know, but I suspect that they will be mobilized again and again thrown into Donbass.
On the other hand, we see the massacre of the wounded in a hospital in Krasny Liman. This degree of hatred and mutual claims is growing. Unfortunately, this is the logic of the civil war. No matter what events happen, no matter what Putin makes agreements, no matter who Patriarch Kirill congratulates, the situation will continue - there is too much strength in it, blood and tears have been shed.
Question: How are the fronts distributed? Are there many more territories occupied by the junta?
Andrey Fefelov: There is now no such thing as fronts. The entire Donbass is under attack. There is a patchwork - here are the units of the "Right Sector", there are some units of the Ukrainian army, it is not known whose order is carrying out, planes fly here. And as soon as the militia encroaches on certain structures - the financial system, border, transport system, communication line, the junta immediately takes very furious steps to block these efforts. And everything is still ahead of us, because there are still a couple of days before the inauguration, and during this time fantastic things can happen, 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 doesn't manage to do it, then who is he? And if he does it through bombing, casualties 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 the skulls, among the stakes in order to establish himself as the president of the new united Ukraine? What are they even thinking about in Kiev?
Question: On the eve of the DPR representatives came on a visit to the State Duma, where they declared the need for the transition of the republic's economy to the Russian ruble ...
Andrey Fefelov: The demarche in the State Duma is connected with the recognition of these republics by Russia, and this recognition is still, in my opinion, 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 residents of Donbass, this is an example of people who are in a certain blockade, but Donbass will have Russia. Roughly speaking, Donbass will turn out to be Transnistria, 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, since it also 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, he will be presented with some kind of secret ultimatum. 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 make the right choice. It is commonplace to argue that the president should do this or that, here is a question of his personal fate, because what he is deciding 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 there was a huge amount of hope that Russia, as in the case of Crimea, would take and take territories for itself, take them for maintenance, ensure security, expel Right Sector from there, create conditions for normal life. But this did not happen, so people are in anxiety. However, the authorities of the DPR and LPR are hinting that support for Russia 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 you also need to explain to people that “you will be in limbo for now, but this will not last forever. In the end, Russia will recognize you, but for now you you will use Russian passports to travel abroad, like most of the inhabitants of Transnistria. "
Question: As for the media, you can often hear that our television allegedly exaggerates, 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 directed to it. And I was always amazed that they might not even hear about some local event on the next street, but the whole world could 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 does not come into dissonance with the ideas of the people. There, and Ukrainian channels 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 has a millionth city, and about 4 thousand people went to the militia. Of course, if all the men went to fight, then there would have taken Kiev and Ivano-Frankivsk. But this does not happen, because there are ordinary people, people of a different kind, there is no involvement at the level of the future "if we do not come today, they will kill us tomorrow." People are not yet very aware of what is happening. The time of total war, as in the days of Hitler, has not yet arrived, thank God. And one must understand that during the Great Patriotic War, not all joined the partisans.
A family
Prokhanov's ancestors, the Molokans, were exiled to the Transcaucasus during the reign 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 scientist botanist, remained in the USSR after the emigration of I. S. Prokhanov, was repressed, but then released due to the abandonment of the significant state inherited after I. S. Prokhanov's death in Berlin in favor of the state.
He is married and 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 a research institute. In the last year of the university, 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 and became interested in V.V. Nabokov.
In 1968 he began to work in "Literaturnaya gazeta".
Since 1970 he worked as a correspondent for Literaturnaya Gazeta in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola and other places. He was one of the first in 1969 to describe in his report 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 publishing in the magazines "Young Guard", "Our Contemporary", as well as in the "Literary Gazette".
From 1989 to 1991 Prokhanov worked as editor-in-chief of the magazine "Soviet Literature".
I have never been a member of the CPSU.
In 1990 he signed the "Letter of the 74s".
In December 1990 he creates his own newspaper "Day", where he also becomes editor-in-chief.
On July 15, 1991, the newspaper published the "anti-perestroika" appeal "The 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 1993 events, after which it was closed by the authorities.
In 1991, during the presidential elections in the RSFSR, Prokhanov was the confidant of the candidate general Albert Makashova... During the August putsch he supports GKChP.
In September 1993, spoke in his newspaper against what he believed to be anti-constitutional actions Yeltsin, calling them a coup d'état and supported the RF Armed Forces. After the shooting of 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 issues of the communist newspaper "We and Time".
On November 5, 1993, the writer's son-in-law A.A.Hudorozhkov established and registered the newspaper "Tomorrow", of which Prokhanov became the editor-in-chief. Some organizations accuse the newspaper of publishing anti-Semitic materials.
During the presidential elections in 1996, Alexander Prokhanov does not hide his preference - he strongly supports the candidacy of the leader. Subsequently, he was attacked several times, and the identity of the attackers was never established, as was the reason for the attacks themselves.
In 1997 he became a co-founder Patriotic Information Agencies.
In 1999, after a series of apartment bombings, Prokhanov describes his version of what happened in an artistic style, blaming the Russian special services for the incident. His considerations are set out in a literary work "Mister Hexogen", for which Prokhanov in 2002 received the National Bestseller Prize.
From 2007 to January 2014 - a regular guest of the "Minority Opinion" radio program on the "Echo of Moscow" radio station. 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 since 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 "Towards the Barrier!"
Since 2010 - one of the regular participants in the television talk show "Duel" by Vladimir Solovyov.
2013-2014 - one of the leading columns "Replica" on the TV channel "Russia 24".
November 2014 - The court ordered Prokhanov to pay 500 thousand rubles for a lie in an article in the Izvestia newspaper, which claimed that Makarevich gave a concert in Slavyansk, " and this music was heard by the captive militiamen languishing in the basements, whose hands were crushed with bats and their eyes were 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 the musician's representative put pressure on the court.
Prokhanov is an extremely prolific writer: his novel is published almost every year. Many critics consider Prokhanov's style to be original, colorful, emphasized individual. " Prokhanov's language is replete with vivid metaphors, original, flowery epithets, the characters are written out 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". At the same time, there is another point of view among literary scholars who find his style" banal "," writing style - sugary, based on shameless lies and oversaturated with cheap adorning epithets".
Prokhanov is fond of drawing in the style of primitivism. Collects butterflies (there are over 3 thousand items in the collection).
Scandals, rumors
Prokhanov is credited with very close contacts with Berezovsky, during his London exile. In particular, BAB's interview to the chief editor of the newspaper "Zavtra" became 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 Aleksandr Prokhanov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Zavtra, 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 October 25 and 26, 2002. In their opinion " the terrorist attack would have been impossible without the blatant connivance and, possibly, complicity of certain government officials". "Russian President Vladimir Putin, from the very first hours of the tragedy, withdrew from participating in the settlement of the crisis. Neither he himself, nor his representatives offered any 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 less than three years of V. Putin's stay in power showed that today in the Kremlin there is no leader capable of protecting the citizens of Russia"- emphasized in the statement of Berezovsky, Prokhanov and Alksnis.
It is said that Alexander Prokhanov received $ 300,000 from Berezovsky in 2002 "for the development of his publication," tempting the exile with vague promises to become an opposition presidential candidate. No "development of the publication" happened: "to develop" A.A. Prokhanov decided his own dacha.
In 2003, the editorial office of Lenta.Ru received a statement from businessman Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Prokhanov, dedicated to the murder of a State Duma deputy Sergei Yushenkov... The authors of the letter claim that 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."
Alexander Prokhanov is a famous Russian writer and politician. Known as the chief editor of the newspaper "Zavtra", in 1982 he was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize. Already in 2002, he received the National Bestseller award for the novel Mr. Hexogen, which tells about a conspiracy by the secret services to change the government in Russia.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Prokhanov was born in 1938. He was born in Tbilisi. His ancestors were Molokans. They were forced to move from the Saratov and Tambov provinces to the Transcaucasus. The grandfather of the hero of our article was a prominent Molokan theologian, the brother of Stepan Prokhanov, who founded the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians.
Alexander Prokhanov received his higher education in Moscow. In 1960 he graduated from the Aviation Institute, worked as an engineer at a research institute. He became interested in literature in the last year of the university, actively began to write poetry and prose.
Labor activity
At the same time, at first, Alexander Prokhanov did not think about how to professionally engage in writing. Therefore, he worked as a forester in Karelia, as a tour guide in the Khibiny, participated in a geological party on the territory of Tuva. During these years of wandering throughout the Soviet Union, he was especially carried away by Vladimir Nabokov and Andrei Platonov.
In 1968 he got a job at Literaturnaya Gazeta, deciding to devote more time to his own writing opportunities. Mostly he is sent on business trips abroad. Alexander Prokhanov, whose photo is in this article, writes reports from Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia. They began to talk about him after, in 1969, he was one of the first to describe the armed border conflict between Russia and China on Damansky Island.
Member of the Writers' Union
Very soon, it was decided to officially recognize the talent of the writer Alexander Prokhanov. In 1972 he was admitted to the Writers' Union of the USSR.
The heyday of his journalistic talent fell on the perestroika period. In 1986 he began to actively publish in the magazines Our Contemporary and Molodaya Gvardiya, continuing his collaboration with Literaturnaya Gazeta. From 1989 to 1991, he headed the magazine "Soviet Literature" as editor-in-chief. He was a permanent member of the editorial board of the Soviet War magazine. At the same time, he never became a member of the Communist Party, which is surprising for a person who managed to build such a career in the Soviet Union.
He is one of the first to understand that society needs a new platform on which it will be possible to express thoughts and ideas in a fundamentally new language, without fear of censorship and any restrictions. Therefore, at the very end of 1990, he created a newspaper called The Day. Automatically becomes the editor-in-chief in it.
"Word to the people"
In the middle of the summer of 1991, it published the famous "anti-perestroika" appeal, known as "Word to the People." First of all, it was addressed to the army. In it, Soviet political scientists and cultural figures criticized the policies pursued by Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. They called to stop the collapse of the USSR, to create an influential opposition movement. Now many see the "Word to the People" as an ideological platform for the August putsch, which took place exactly four weeks later.
The Day newspaper was viewed as one of the most oppositional and radical publications in Russia in the early 1990s. She appeared regularly until October 1993. After the shooting of the White House and the Yeltsin coup, the publication was banned. But it immediately began to be published under the name "Tomorrow", in this form it has survived to this day. Its editor-in-chief is still the writer Alexander Prokhanov.
Participation in the political life of the country
In the early 90s, Alexander Prokhanov, whose biography is given in this article, was directly involved in the political life of the country, not only through his newspaper. In 1991, at the presidential elections in the RSFSR, he was a confidant of General Albert Makashov. Makashov, who represented the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in these elections, took fifth place, gaining less than 4% of the vote. During the August putsch, Prokhanov sided with the Emergency Committee.
In September 1993, the hero of our article, on the pages of his newspaper The Day, called upon to oppose the anti-constitutional actions of Boris Yeltsin, claiming that a coup d'etat had actually taken place in the country. Makashov, who took part in armed clashes in Moscow, became an active participant in the October events.
After the newspaper was banned by the Ministry of Justice, according to some sources, the editorial office was smashed by riot police officers, workers were beaten, and all archives and property were destroyed.
Alexander Prokhanov founded the newspaper "Zavtra" on November 5. She is still distinguished by a radical position, often the materials that are published in it are accused of a pro-fascist, imperial, anti-Semitic nature.
At the same time, Prokhanov remains true to himself, having supported Gennady Zyuganov in the 1996 presidential elections. However, those elections for the communist leader ended in defeat. As you know, he lost to Boris Yeltsin in the second round.
At the same time, now the hero of our article is a member of the Council on Public Television, created in 2012.
Style features
Many people know exactly from books with Alexander Andreevich Prokhanov. His style is considered to be very colorful, original and individual. On the pages of the novels of the hero of our article, you can find a large number of metaphors, flowery epithets, interesting characters, a large number of various details.
In his artistic work and journalism, one can often find sympathy for the Christian religion, primordially Russian traditions, while he regularly criticizes liberalism and capitalism. He has repeatedly stated that he still considers himself a Soviet person.
According to a number of critics, as a writer, Prokhanov is a postmodernist, and from an ideological point of view, an imperial author.
Early works
The first works of Prokhanov were published in the newspaper Literaturnaya Rossiya, then in the magazines Family and School, Krugozor, Olen, Rural Youth. From his early works, the story "Wedding", which was published in 1967, can be distinguished.
His first book was called "I'm on my way", it was published in 1971 with a foreword by Yuri Trifonov. This is a collection of stories in which the author depicts a real Russian village with its patriarchal ethics, rituals and traditions, distinctive landscapes and characters. Following this, in 1972, he wrote the essay "The Burning Color", where he discusses the problems facing the Soviet countryside.
From his stories, published in the 70s, it is necessary to highlight "Two", "Tin Bird", "The Trans-Siberian Engineer", "Stan 1220", "Fiery Font", "Red Juice in the Snow". In 1974 his second collection was published under the title "The Grass Turns Yellow".
The following year, his first novel appeared in print, which was titled "The Wandering Rose." It is written in a semi-essay style, based on the author's impressions of business trips to the Far East, Siberia and Central Asia. In it, he addresses the urgent problems of contemporary Soviet society. They also bother Prokhanov in the three subsequent novels: "The Place of Action", "Noon Time" and "The Eternal City".
Military-political novel
The writer's style changed dramatically in the 80s. He begins to create in the genre of a military-political novel. The works are based on his business trips to different countries of the world.
During this period, his whole tetralogy "The Burning Gardens" was published, which includes the novels "A Tree in the Center of Kabul", "There is a Hunter in the Islands ...", "Africanist", "And Here Comes the Wind".
He again turns to the Afghan theme in the 1986 novel "Drawings of a Battlefighter". Its main character is the artist Veretenov, who, on the instructions of his editorial office, travels to Afghanistan to make a series of drawings of Soviet servicemen. At the same time, he also has a personal interest in seeing his son.
The soldiers who returned from Afghanistan are described in Alexander Prokhanov's 1988 book "Six hundred years after the battle."
"Seven Books"
The series of novels "The Seven Books" is becoming popular. It is united by the main character, General Beloseltsev, who stands out for his unique experience of contemplation and vision.
This cycle includes "A Dream of Kabul", "And Here Comes the Wind", "Hunter in the Islands", "Africanist", "The Last Soldier of the Empire", "Red-Brown", "Mister Hexogen".
The last novel on this list has become especially popular. Prokhanov published it in 2002. The book describes the events of 1999 in Russia. In particular, the series of bombings in residential buildings, which led to numerous casualties, is presented as a conspiracy by the authorities to transfer rule from the incumbent president to his successor.
The conspirators, including representatives of the special services, use intrigues, murders and all kinds of provocations in Prokhanov's novel. The author himself noted that initially he perceived Putin as a follower of Yeltsin, but then reconsidered his attitude towards him, stating that he stopped the disintegration of Russia, removed the oligarchs from the country's leadership.
In this novel, one can clearly trace the favorite writing technique, when real events coexist with absolutely fantastic things. For example, the oligarch, in whom Berezovsky is guessed, in the hospital literally melts under a dropper and disappears into thin air. The chosen one, in whom a hint of Putin is guessed, asks to fly the plane alone and also disappears, turning into a rainbow.
"The tread of the Russian victory"
In 2012, Prokhanov publishes a new book entitled "The Tread of the Russian Victory", in a very unusual genre for himself. It tells about the ideology of modern Russia, and its history is conventionally divided into four time periods. These are Kievo-Novgorod Rus, the Moscow kingdom, the Russian Empire of the Romanovs and the Stalinist empire.
The entire book is divided into four parts. The first contains the main theses on the idea of the "Fifth Empire", it is called "The Hymns of the Russian Victory". In the second part, attention is paid to industrial enterprises, primarily defense plants, its name is "Marches of Russian Victory". The third part, "Psalms of Russian Victory," tells about Russian parishes and monasteries, and the final "Codes of Russian Victory" - about the Eurasian Union, which should fulfill the function of the forerunner of the "Fifth Empire".
Film and television
Several of Prokhanov's works were filmed or staged on the theater stage at once:
- In 1972, the film "Fatherland" was released according to his script.
- In 1983, Anatoly Granik filmed the melodrama "Place of Action" based on the novel of the same name by the hero of our article.
- In 1988, Alexei Saltykov's drama "Everything Is Paid For" was released, for which Prokhanov wrote the script.
- In 2012, a project was launched on the Russia-1 TV channel. The series of documentaries "Soldier of the Empire" tells in detail about the personality of Alexander Prokhanov himself.
- Passion for the State is a 2018 documentary in which the author analyzes the latest corruption scandals, explosions in the St. Petersburg metro, demonization of the country itself and its leaders in the West and the liberal public.
Public life
Prokhanov often participates in all kinds of political talk shows, expresses his opinion about the events taking place in the country. He is a regular guest of Vladimir Solovyov on his talk show "Towards the Barrier" and the new project "Duel". He is one of the hosts of the "Replica" column, which is broadcasted on the "Russia 24" channel.
Alexander Prokhanov expressed his opinion about the pension reform. He noted that Putin's address to the nation was impeccable, the president made convincing arguments. Therefore, he himself supports this reform.
Writer's wife
We can say that the personal life of Alexander Prokhanov has developed successfully. All his life he lived in marriage with Lyudmila Konstantinova, who after the wedding took his last name.
They had three children - a daughter and two sons. One of them, Andrei Fefelov, became a publicist. Now he works with his father as an editor for the Internet channel The Day. Vasily Prokhanov became a performer of the author's song and a photographer.
In 2011, Lyudmila Prokhanova passed away.
It is known that in his free time the hero of our article collects butterflies and draws.
Taken from Sergei Fominhttp://sergey-v-fomin.livejournal.com/78708.html#comments
IN THE FLAME OF "FIRE" (part 5)
"Bathing a Red Coble"(continuation)"You can't wash a black dog white."
Russian proverb
In one of the previous posts, we tried to understand the hidden meanings of A.A. Prokhanov, promising to pair it with some features of the writer's biography.
The ancestors of Alexander Andreevich, in his own words, were Molokans who fled from the Tambov province to the Transcaucasus.
This sect in the Russian Empire was considered "especially harmful", was strictly persecuted up to the liberal decrees of Emperor Alexander I. It was not without reason: the Molokans "rejected the Orthodox cult", honored the Sabbath. Due to their noticeable rapprochement with Judaism, they were even called "Subbotniks", "Jews", "new Jews." You can read about them in detail in any Jewish encyclopedia.
It is worth noting that all this is by no means "matters of bygone days", as evidenced by the confessions of the son of Alexander Andreevich - the deputy editor of the newspaper "Zavtra" Andrey Fefelov, made by him on August 13, 2014 in an interview:
“Some of my ancestors came from Russian sectarianism. And the Prokhanovs, and the Fefelovs, and the Mazayevs were once peasants and belonged to the Molokan environment. Their descendants, having become merchants, educated their children, sent their children to study in Europe. […]… Questions of faith, church, eschatology accompanied me from early childhood. […] 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 informational support. We did not refuse them and even sheltered them for a while. Several times in a row on Sundays in the editorial office of Zavtra there were meetings of Molokans and psalms composed by my great-grandfathers were sung. "
Indeed, the ancestors of Alexander Andreevich are far from ordinary sectarians.
Much was tied to the great-uncle of Alexander Andreevich - Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov (1869-1935). He was also a Root Molokan, but in 1875 his father and in 1886 he himself joined the Baptists.
This transition was natural. At one time, the historian N.I. Kostomarov emphasized the connection between the emergence of the Molokan sect and "the development of rational thinking in the Russian people."
With a biography of I.S. Prokhanov, this "Russian Luther", anyone can get acquainted by looking on the Internet. All the facts are there, but their true meaning remains, as it were, behind the scenes. Therefore, let us turn to an old, written back in May 2005, post from the LiveJournal of the famous Russian philosopher, writer and publicist D.E. Galkovsky (albeit straightening some angles and somewhat categorical, but noticing a lot):
http://galkovsky.livejournal.com/52 576.html? thread = 37 ..
“Yes, this is understandable,” Dmitry Evgenievich said during a discussion of one of the topics. It doesn't have to be a “verified person”. It should be “it itself”.
Prokhanov's grandfather was one of the most active members of the British residency in the Russian Empire, Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov. Mr. Prokhanov was also a publisher of newspapers and magazines; he was exiled to his native England for systematic anti-state and anti-church activities. There he graduated from theological college in Bristol. In 1898, Prokhanov returned to Russia, launched a large-scale subversive work right off the bat. Lenin (through Bonch-Bruevich) was Prokhanov's leader. […] Soon Prokhanov became the head of the Russian Baptists and one of the 6 vice-chairmen of the World Baptist Union. In 1914, as direct accomplices of Germany, members of socialist subversive organizations and German spies, Prokhanov and his comrades were slightly pressed. With the consent, approval and direct advice of England. "
Let us add to this that at the time being described, I.S. Prokhanov, contacts were established with such iconic figures as S.Yu. Vite and P.N. Milyukov. It is also known that Ivan Stepanovich ran for the State Duma - a well-known hotbed of Russian turmoil.
But let us continue with the quote from D.E. Galkovsky: “I don’t need to explain what Prokhanov did in 1917 and beyond. Subsequently, the scoundrels invented “repressions” for themselves and sobbed tearfully in something like this: “The VI All-Russian Congress of Christian Youth with the participation of Ivan Prokhanov gathered in 1921 in the city of Tver. As soon as the participants started the planned program, on May 5, on the denunciation of the priest of the local Orthodox parish Vinogradov, who made his way to Tverskaya Gubchek as an investigator, 42 participants of the congress were arrested. 30 people were soon released, and 12 (including Prokhanov) were transferred to a forced labor camp for a period of one to three years. But after three months the central authorities released them too. "
Check it out. “The priest made his way into the valiant Cheka and slandered the faithful Leninists”; "They were subjected to monstrous persecution, in 1921 they spent three months in prison." Horror.
In the 1920s, Prokhanov actively disintegrated the Russian Church, collaborating with the "living churchmen". He calmly traveled to Europe and America. In 1928, while in Canada, Prokhanov decided not to return to the USSR, while calmly continuing to be one of the most active and influential Soviet Baptists.
In his FOREIGN memoirs, Prokhanov, the first president of the All-Russian SEKhB, wrote: “At the heart of the Bolsheviks' policy towards religious organizations was freedom for all, except for those groups and priesthoods that participated in political opposition to the new regime. One of the first steps taken by the Soviet government was the decree on the separation of church and state. In accordance with the proclaimed decree, the Orthodox Church was losing financial support from the state ... Millions of rubles were withdrawn from church treasuries and this undermined the livelihoods of the Holy Synod, the Theological Academy and other church institutions. Most of the priests were removed from the ministry ... Thus, the overthrow of the Orthodox Church was a significant achievement, the main basis of religious freedom ... ””.
And by the way, compare this passage of Prokhanov the grandfather with the text of the “letter of mahatmas” in 1926, written by N.K. Roerich, in poetics, as we have already noted, is very similar to the writings of the grandson of Prokhanov: “In the Himalayas, We know what you are doing. You have abolished the church, which has become a breeding ground for lies and superstition. You have destroyed the petty bourgeoisie, which has become a conduit for prejudice. You have destroyed the parenting prison. You have destroyed the family of hypocrisy. You have burned an army of slaves. "
Direct roll call!
“This Prokhanov-gate for me,” wrote one of the readers of the post by D.Ye. Galkovsky, - not that it disfigures, how much the amazing continuity of generations is simply incomprehensible. It can be explained, perhaps, only by the fact that all this time since the good old era there was a lively nutrient medium (a club, a sect or something like that), a “Dukhobor” grandfather's pad ”.
This characteristic of I.S. Prokhanov from the book of the scientist L.N. Mitrokhin "Baptism: History and Modernity" (St. Petersburg 1997):
“In his purposefulness, confidence in the success of his missionary vocation, in his organizational acumen, he was a unique figure. He was not attracted to ordinary preaching work. Russia, he repeated, is "a spiritual cemetery or a valley of dry bones." But the Russian people are on the eve of an uprising - "this will be a true Sunday, spiritual renewal and reformation." […]
Prokhanov's energy was truly inexhaustible. He was cramped within the framework of a small association. He constantly created new unions, organizations, publishing courses and schools, published at least 10 collections of spiritual hymns, over a thousand (!) Of them he wrote himself (“poetry flew from my pen like a living flower”) compiled the confession of the ECB, wrote hundreds of articles , appeals, projects. [...] His authoritarian methods, not always predictable actions confused and irritated more sedate and balanced colleagues, creating additional friction between alliances, despite constant assurances of mutual love.
Doesn't this remind you of anything? After reading this, I, for example, realized that the "passionarity" of Alexander Andreevich Prokhanov is a generic trait.
All this background of the writer President V.V. Putin, by the nature of his previous occupations, probably knows very well. Therefore, apparently, he does not make contact with A.A. Prokhanov, literally imposing himself (remember, at least, the President's answers during the "direct line" to Alexander Andreevich's questions). At the same time, Vladimir Vladimirovich, as you know, willingly communicated with V.G. Rasputin, A.I. Solzhenitsyn, N.S. Mikhalkov.
(Anticipating a possible objection, I would like to note that the reason for this distance is not at all in the once-hung labels. After all, VG Rasputin was once called “red-brown”.)
As for Valentin Grigorievich, he hardly knew the ins and outs of Alexander Andreevich, but he certainly felt it well.
What yeast ferments there is not difficult to find out. For example, here is a look at the Russian history of the son of A.A. Prokhanov - Andrey Fefelov:
“It is interesting that the Romanov family - this cohort of sovereigns and sovereigns - stands between two pillars of Russian history: Ivan IV Rurikovich and Joseph Stalin. […] 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. […]
Even the demons of Russian history, such as, for example, 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 history has produced a similar figure. By the way, speaking objectively, Trotsky is known as the creator of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, which became a striking force for the gathering of the territories of the Russian Empire, which collapsed in February 1917. "
Needless to say, all this (in all likelihood, family, prokhanov's) historiosophy was deeply alien to Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin.
It was in vain that Viktor Astafyev was worried about his brother in his time: they did not influence Valentin Rasputin, did not spoil him by patriots, like Prokhanov, who were disgraceful to Viktor Petrovich, in his words, "for glorifying revolutions." Couldn't influence.
Being in the same room, sipping from the same misa - does not mean to be like-minded yet.
It has long been said: “They went out from us, but they were not ours: for if they were ours, they would have remained with us; but they went out, and through that it was revealed that not all of ours " (1 John 2:19).
And now, after the death of Valentin Grigorievich, this incompatibility, due to the extreme delicacy of the writer, which almost never showed itself in public (except that "non-communication" testified to this), has become completely undeniable.
However, another "fear" of V.P. Astafieva was not so empty. In a letter to V.Ya. Kurbatov, sent in February 1994, he lamented that "comrades Zyuganov and Prokhanov proudly shake your speculations and spiritual reminders on the" popular theme "."
All this now seems to be confirmed. In the article-manifesto under consideration by A.A. Before casting a shadow over the fence, Prokhanov writes directly: “It was not for nothing that Valentin Grigorievich signed the Word to the People during the years of perestroika, it was not without reason that he was close to the communists, to Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov.”
But was it possible to avoid this then? The interests of the people and the country for people like V.G. Rasputin, were above their own ambitions and purity of vestments ...
In the article we are reviewing "Rasputin: Empire and People" A.A. Prokhanov recalls, in fact, one work - the story of 1976 "Farewell to Matera."
But here's how he twists its content: "... Russians, struggling at construction sites, leaving and letting their villages under the water, like the legendary city of Kitezh ..."
That is, YOURSELF (and not the state at all) voluntarily let their huts, cemeteries, fields under the water!
In addition to open mockery of the pain of the Russian writer and his people (here I strongly disagree with those who write that “Farewell to Matera” Prokhanov de “did not understand”), this reading is no longer the Rasputin text, but “The Legend of the City Kitezh ”, testifies to a certain spiritual corruption of the one who released this from the pen.
A still from the film "Farewell" based on the story by V.G. Rasputin. Directed by Larisa Shepitko and Elem Klimov. 1981 year
You need to be a deeply non-Russian person in order to pervert one of the archetypes of our consciousness so subtly.
The Russian messianic city "with white stone walls, golden-domed churches, with honest monasteries" disappeared under the water "miraculously, by God's command, when the godless Tsar Batu", having ruined Russia, approached it.
"Its inhabitants were not even going to defend themselves and only prayed." It was for those prayers that "the Lord did not allow the Basurmans' abuse of the Christian shrine."
As for our Maters, the Soviet authorities let them under the water: the local ones - at the direction of the central authorities. And from there, from the water through the looking glass, no one can get that old Russia. Until she ITSELF (not lured out by the "red" or any other spellcasters, namely herself, of her own free will) will not come out of there.
It will be released without fail when the deadline comes - "The Last Deadline".
"And to this day that city is invisible, - it will open before the terrible judgment seat of Christ."
A still from the film Farewell. 1981 year
It is difficult to understand this for those who grew up on asphalt. It is not enough even for two years to be a forester and go to geological parties. And why such sacrifices? It's not about the city itself. It's about the soul. "Where is your heart, brother? .. Where is your soul, sister? .."
It is difficult to become a Russian without believing in what the people, whose son you consider yourself to be, believe in.
And before teaching others, become a disciple yourself. Sit with Mary at the feet of Christ and listen.
The same Valentin Rasputin did not consider it shameful for himself to do this at the age of 44, for which he was rudely ridiculed by the regular author of the newspaper "Zavtra" Vladimir Bushin.
But for some, listening to something goes badly ...
Here is the last issue of the newspaper "Zavtra", dated April 2. As usual, the editorial by A.A. Prokhanov. It tells about his recent trip to Serbia, and at the end - about “the divine service in the Cathedral of St. Sava ... the largest cathedral in Belgrade” (hereinafter we keep the original spelling of the author): “... When we received Communion, when I ate from my hands lord wine and bread, suddenly experienced such a surge of light, love and beauty. "
It turns out for Prokhanov the Body and Blood of Christ is simply “wine and bread”, and he also accepts Them “from the hands of the lord,” and not from a liar from the Eucharistic cup? Any church person does not need to explain what such use of words speaks about ...
It is interesting that another subverter V.G. Rasputin (but already on the part of the liberals) Dmitry Gubin, about whom we wrote in one of our previous posts, simultaneously (in a broadcast of April 3) spoke, in essence, about the same thing, but already in a prohibitively unacceptable form. (It pains me to quote these words, but without doing this, we can hardly understand what we are dealing with.)
http://gubin-live.podster.fm/91
To justify the offensive production of Tannhäuser in Novosibirsk, Gubin, trained in England, found no less blasphemous expressions: “Any parent who takes children to first communion takes a child to eat the body of a 33-year-old Jew and drink the blood of a 33-year-old Jew. Because the sacrament consists in the transformation of wine and bread (any clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church will tell you this) into the real and genuine body and blood of Christ. But we do not run to the prosecutor's office with a demand to stop corpse-eating. We understand: the church lives this way, it is arranged this way, this is their territory, they do not interfere with those who are outraged by cannibalism in any other place ... "
But back to Alexander Andreevich, who, as we remember, described his Communion in the Belgrade Cathedral. (After Gubin, it even looks pious.)
Literally on the back of the page on which this revelation was printed, his own article was published under a very symbolic title, fraught with many meanings: "The True Aryan." It is about the recent death of a passenger plane in France and about a German pilot who is now considered the culprit of the tragedy.
“... In my opinion, - writes A.A. Prokhanov, - we are talking about the psychiatry of an entire people - the German people, the people who are in such a state today that a single German, being part of this people, is able to commit such acts of suicide. […] He showed that Germany, which is being destroyed in this way, she along with her to the underworld, to Valhalla will take all the rest of humanity. [...] ... This mysterious and terrible death can be interpreted as a psychiatric diagnosis of the current state of the German nation. "
All these arguments in themselves, of course, are monstrous and shocking, but, we admit, they fit, nevertheless, into a certain system of values.
Moreover, this first blow to the nerves mixes, it seems to us, the main meaning, for which, in fact, apparently, this text was created:
“… The very act of suicide does not mean at all that it is an act of suffering and a desire to break with life. Perhaps this act should be interpreted as an act of rebellion. Maybe a German or Germany, who are in terrible humiliation, trying to break out of control, resort to the last resort - death, which saves a person from this control.
Moreover, this death is not an ordinary death, an individual death. It is death associated with an impulse into other, coming Germanic dimensions. And this death is of a ritual nature, so the pilot dragged 150 people into this death. This was not just the death of a loner. It was self-immolation in full view of the world, self-immolation or suicide in spite of this world. "
The phrases: “act of rebellion”, “striving to get out of control”, “last resort”, taking into account the worldview of the author, certainly carry positive meanings.
They are organically complemented by others: "ritual character", "the entrainment of 150 people into this death."
And the final chord: "It was self-immolation in full view of the whole world [...] in spite of this world."
This is the apotheosis of death as a “creative act”. Splinter burns! Holy suicide!
Sectarian leaven - where are you going to get away from you?
It was not for nothing that, apparently, the poet Alexei Shiropaev, who had been in contact with Alexander Andreevich for some time, called him “The Red Shaman”.
With a thundering tambourine, screaming spells, twirling and jumping ...
It is noteworthy that some ambiguity did not hide, nevertheless, the main nerve from “their own”.
“In my opinion,” replied one of the regular commentators on the website of the newspaper “Zavtra”, “hiding behind God all the time, referring to God, talking about God, relying on God is even greater cowardice than suicide. It is also depriving oneself of the freedom of independent choice, depriving oneself of responsibility for the fate of one's country and one's people - they say, everything is in the hands of God. "
These are the true chicks of Prokhanov's nest.
But then what is the meaning of all these sparkles, tinsel, "Orthodox" rhetoric of Prokhanov, his trips to monasteries-sketes-elders?
Is this an attempt to stretch a sheep's skin before the Orthodox Russian people, who are still at their core? Is this exploitation of the authority of Orthodox ascetics venerated by the Russian world for their political projects?
Let's not guess. The main thing for us is the indisputable fact that behind all this lies deception and lies. Even if, as some believe, "for the good." Good intentions, our ancestors firmly knew, paved the road to hell.
And one more thing (no less important): convincing himself and others that he is going on a pilgrimage, in fact Alexander Andreyevich is engaged in two things: "agit-run" or "Orthodox tourism". He never opened his soul before God, who himself would have created the Good there.
Sometimes, even a thought comes to mind: he wants, but ... he cannot.
And here is the place to repeat the words of the critic V.Ya. Kurbatov, addressed by him to V.P. Astafiev: “It comes from unbelief, from irreligion. I am afraid that now he is even at odds with his people, who have turned to God. It seems to him to be Pharisaism, and it seems that he does not see salvation there. [...] There is no rest, there is no Core. " (With a small, nevertheless, amendment: not from "irreligion" or atheism, but - in this case - from spirituality distorted by sectarianism.)
However, look at what an interesting layout comes out. On one side - it just so happened! - Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Orthodox Faith, our Russian writer Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin. On the other hand, such seemingly different worldviews and political positions held - the patriotic writer A.A. Prokhanov and liberal journalist D.P. Gubin, who is regularly provided on air by the pro-presidential radio Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Isn't there something to think about?
In these difficult reflections, in the face of the upcoming difficult choice, Valentin Rasputin acts as our assistant, willingly or unwillingly. He is one of those touching stones on which many (and many), one way or another, are tested: for kink, for loyalty, for ideals.
Death made it clear.
And then the headline of a long-standing review of one of the writer's last stories suddenly comes to mind: "Fire has highlighted."
If it were not for this sad departure, I thought, many of us, having read or listened to the words we quoted, would once again have passed by, perhaps muttering under our breath: "He's doing something strange again."
The death of Valentin Grigorievich, who during his lifetime was called "the conscience of the people", reminded us of our duty, made us stricter towards ourselves and others ...
Soviet and Russian public figure, writer, publicist. Member of the Secretariat of the Writers' Union of Russia. Chief editor of the newspaper "Zavtra".
A family
Prokhanov's ancestors, the Molokans, were exiled to the Transcaucasus during the reign 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 scientist botanist, remained in the USSR after the emigration of I. S. Prokhanov, was repressed, but then released due to the abandonment of the significant state inherited after I. S. Prokhanov's death in Berlin in favor of the state.
He is married and 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 a research institute. In the last year of the university, 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 and became interested in V.V. Nabokov.
In 1968 he began to work in "Literaturnaya gazeta".
Since 1970 he worked as a correspondent for Literaturnaya Gazeta in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola and other places. He was one of the first in 1969 to describe in his report 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 publishing in the magazines "Young Guard", "Our Contemporary", as well as in the "Literary Gazette".
From 1989 to 1991 Prokhanov worked as editor-in-chief of the magazine "Soviet Literature".
I have never been a member of the CPSU.
In 1990 he signed the "Letter of the 74s".
In December 1990 he creates his own newspaper "Day", where he also becomes editor-in-chief.
On July 15, 1991, the newspaper published the "anti-perestroika" appeal "The 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 1993 events, after which it was closed by the authorities.
In 1991, during the presidential elections in the RSFSR, Prokhanov was the confidant of the candidate general Albert Makashova... During the August putsch he supports GKChP.
In September 1993, spoke in his newspaper against what he believed to be anti-constitutional actions Yeltsin, calling them a coup d'état and supported the RF Armed Forces. After the shooting of 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 issues of the communist newspaper "We and Time".
On November 5, 1993, the writer's son-in-law A.A.Hudorozhkov established and registered the newspaper "Tomorrow", of which Prokhanov became the editor-in-chief. Some organizations accuse the newspaper of publishing anti-Semitic materials.
During the presidential elections in 1996, Alexander Prokhanov does not hide his preference - he strongly supports the candidacy Gennady Zyuganov, the leader The Communist Party... Subsequently, he was attacked several times, and the identity of the attackers was never established, as was the reason for the attacks themselves.
In 1997 he became a co-founder Patriotic Information Agencies.
In 1999, after a series of apartment bombings, Prokhanov describes his version of what happened in an artistic style, blaming the Russian special services for the incident. His considerations are set out in a literary work "Mister Hexogen", for which Prokhanov in 2002 received the National Bestseller Prize.
From 2007 to January 2014 - a regular guest of the "Minority Opinion" radio program on the "Echo of Moscow" radio station. 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 since 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 "Towards the Barrier!"
Since 2010 - one of the regular participants in the television talk show "Duel" by Vladimir Solovyov.
2013-2014 - one of the leading columns "Replica" on the TV channel "Russia 24".
November 2014 - The court ordered Prokhanov to pay Andrey Makarevich 500 thousand rubles for a lie in a publication in the Izvestia newspaper, which claimed that Makarevich gave a concert in Slavyansk, " and this music was heard by the captive militiamen languishing in the basements, whose hands were crushed with bats and their eyes were gouged out with knives" Mikhail Barshchevsky representing the musician in the trial put pressure on the court.
Prokhanov is an extremely prolific writer: his novel is published almost every year. Many critics consider Prokhanov's style to be original, colorful, emphasized individual. " Prokhanov's language is replete with vivid metaphors, original, flowery epithets, the characters are written out 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". At the same time, there is another point of view among literary scholars who find his style" banal "," writing style - sugary, based on shameless lies and oversaturated with cheap adorning epithets".
Prokhanov is fond of drawing in the style of primitivism. Collects butterflies (there are over 3 thousand items in the collection).
Scandals, rumors
Prokhanov is credited with very close contacts with Berezovsky, during his London exile. In particular, BAB's interview to the chief editor of the newspaper "Zavtra" became 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 Aleksandr Prokhanov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Zavtra, 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 October 25 and 26, 2002. In their opinion " the terrorist attack would have been impossible without the blatant connivance and, possibly, complicity of certain government officials". "Russian President Vladimir Putin, from the very first hours of the tragedy, withdrew from participating in the settlement of the crisis. Neither he himself, nor his representatives offered any 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 less than three years of V. Putin's stay in power showed that today in the Kremlin there is no leader capable of protecting the citizens of Russia"- emphasized in the statement of Berezovsky, Prokhanov and Alksnis.
It is said that Alexander Prokhanov received $ 300,000 from Berezovsky in 2002 "for the development of his publication," tempting the exile with vague promises to become an opposition presidential candidate. No "development of the publication" happened: "to develop" A.A. Prokhanov decided his own dacha.
In 2003, the editorial office of Lenta.Ru received a statement from businessman Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Prokhanov, dedicated to the murder of a State Duma deputy Sergei Yushenkov... The authors of the letter claim that 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."