History is written by the Presidential Administration

The Commission under the President of the Russian Federation to counter attempts to falsify history to the detriment of the interests of Russia - this is the ominous name of the new government body established by decree of Dmitry Medvedev. Thus, the statement of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu about the inadmissibility of doubts about who won the Great Patriotic War, a statement many laughed at, received a more than serious continuation. No laughing matter.

Head of the Presidential Administration Sergei Naryshkin was appointed chairman of the commission, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Isaac Kalina and Assistant Head of the Presidential Administration Igor Sirosh were appointed as deputies, and Ivan Demidov, a prominent TV patriot and now head of the presidential department for internal policy, was appointed executive secretary. In addition to them, the commission includes representatives of the Ministry of Defense (First Deputy Minister and Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Deputy Minister), the FSB (head of the department), the SVR (head of the service), the Presidential Office for Foreign Policy (deputy chief) and the Security Council (deputy secretary ), executive secretary of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Protection of State Secrets Vladimir Dergachev (that’s who our main historians are), as well as the Duma (first deputy chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin and deputy chairman of the Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations Sergei Markov), Ministry of Regional Development (department director), Ministry of Justice (deputy minister), Ministry of Culture (deputy minister), Public Chamber (TV journalist and author EZH Nikolai Svanidze), Rosarkhiv (head Vladimir Kozlov), Rosnauka (deputy head), Rosoobrazovanie (deputy head), Rosmolodezh (deputy head ), Rospechat (deputy head), head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries Sergei Vinokurov, head of the Presidential Reference Yaroslav Shabanov, well, and to the heap of the Russian Academy of Sciences (active soil scientist, director of the Institute of Russian History Andrei Sakharov and director of the Institute of World History Alexander Chubaryan) and the Foundation for the Study of Historical Perspective (president Natalya Narochnitskaya). There are 28 people in the commission in total.

The main tasks of the commission are defined as “summarizing and analyzing information about the falsification of historical facts and events aimed at belittling the international prestige of the Russian Federation, and preparing relevant reports to the President of the Russian Federation.” In addition, the commission will develop a strategy to counter attempts to falsify historical facts and events and prepare appropriate proposals to the president for implementing specific countermeasures and adequately responding to attempts at falsification and neutralizing their possible negative consequences.

Now you need to understand what the commission will consider falsification. Any information that portrays the Soviet army in a bad light, and individual German soldiers as ordinary people without a tendency to commit atrocities? Or, perhaps, on the contrary, the commission will pay attention to the fact that myths like the story of the 28 Panfilov heroes, which have long been recognized as fiction, are still being replicated everywhere? What will happen to Stalin’s repressions and the role of Stalin in general? And will, say, journalists be allowed to examine archives, or will they have to necessarily coordinate their actions with the new Commission so that, God forbid, they don’t accidentally falsify something?