Translated material
Why is he so cruel?
The Polish journalist Christina Kurchab-Modlikh lived in Russia for 15 years and wrote the book " The head on the Kremlin wall ." The book was published in Warsaw in 2007, became a bestseller and received two awards. Recently, the second significantly supplemented edition was published. One of the topics of the new volume is the dark places in the biography of Vladimir Putin. Kristina Kurchab-Medlikh considers the version that Vera Putin’s mother’s native mother lives in Georgia. This was written a lot at the beginning of the century, the very faith of Putin claimed that the President of Russia is her son, proposed to do DNA analysis. Two documentary films were shot, many articles were written confirming and rejecting this theory, but the point was set and the noise was gradually subsided. Kristina Kurchab-Medlikh explains why she became interested in this plot:
- I am not interested in it as a sensation. The question occupies me: why is Vladimir Vladimirovich so cruel? I want to understand this person. I have observed him since 1998 when he headed the FSB. I lived in Moscow for 15 years, not in diplomatic corps, but among ordinary Russians, and looked at everything without ideology, only with great sympathy for the people who lived next to. The first delight that many experienced because of Putin's appearance was overshadowed by the knowledge of what was happening in Chechnya. Chechnya I began to be interested in 1996, when I met General Lebed. We talked a lot with him. Of course, he was a very Russian general, but at the same time an honest person who did not want a war. Then many times I visited Chechnya and saw the cruelty of the first and second war.
I was surprised at how easy Putin lied. He knew the truth about Chechnya, but he told people completely different. He knew that a large bomb destroyed the market in Grozny, and he said that these were spot attacks on militants. Of course, when the possibilities of honest information are closed, if all television is under one cap, an independent journalist feels obligated to find the truth: the truth about Chechnya, the truth about Putin. Therefore, I was interested in his childhood. I read a book about how he lived in Georgia, about his mother, who remained with an illegitimate child. And then the person, for whom Putin's faith was married, treated him very badly ...
- This is the book of Vakhi Ibragimov "The Secret Biography of the President of Russia" ...
- In Russia, few believe that Putin's faith, living in Georgia, is Putin's real mother. And this theory seems to me completely unproven. Why do you tend to believe her?
- There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Before the first elections, Putin, Artem Borovik, the president of the "Top Secret" holding, reported that the history of Putin's childhood would soon be published. On March 9, 2000, Artem Borovik and Zia Bazhaev died when they were going to fly for Putin's children's photographs that someone promised to give them. Why did Borovik's private plane explode in Sheremetyevo? On the same day on March 9, a large trick was prepared for journalists who were waiting in Georgia that they would be introduced to Vera Putin, but they were immediately put on the bus and sent back. There was no way to get there. Finally, they killed Vakhu Ibragimov, who collected these facts and wrote a book. That is, on the road to this big secret there are already three corpses.
- But many journalists communicated with Vera Putin, films about her were shot, many articles are written, no one forbids to meet with her ...
- Now - yes. Because no one is interested in this. But then, before the elections, it looked completely different. This could affect the appearance of a presidential candidate. Then the second Chechen war was already going on, there were completely different times. I talked with Henry Borovik, and he, a journalist as Soviet times, had no questions about this at all.
-He was sure that his son was killed precisely because of this story?
- Yes, and he argued that the icing of the aircraft at a temperature of plus 4 was impossible. So many times in the worst conditions, this plane flew - nothing happened.
- You expanded part of the book dedicated to Chechnya, and these new fragments are based on your conversations with Chechens in Poland. Are these people who received political asylum?
- Unfortunately no. They just come to Poland, and it is very difficult for them here. The question is one: they say that there is so much money in Chechnya, why are you running from there? They answer: this money is not for us. Seventy percent unemployment, for everything you need to give huge bribes. To become a teacher, you need to give a thousand dollars at least. People have no money. From all your income, you must unfasten 30% to the Ahmad Kadyrov fund. In addition to the economic background, there is another: everyone is afraid to hint that they do not like what is happening in Chechnya. For example, Islamization. They were never fundamentalists. The Chechens dressed in a completely different way than in Saudi Arabia or Iran. This is another nation, another Islam, other Muslims, much softer. And suddenly they are ordered to wear scarves, dress strictly, and at the same time the same Kadyrov behaves completely differently. Many are afraid: a young man can disappear without a trace. Of course, this happens less often than before, because there is no opposition, there are no militants. And the remaining are not the same that were during the war. They have other slogans, other goals, which not everyone likes. And the Chechens run from Kadyrov and from these militants. They say: there is terror as it was, it is, we are afraid of everything.
- Kristina, you cannot visit Chechnya now and cannot come to Russia as a journalist at all: you are not given accreditation. Problems began before the release of the first edition of your book?
- The problems began when I was still in Russia. I think that because of Chechnya, because I published many photos and documents. I traced the fate of Russian soldiers, what people went to Chechnya, who returned. What a million misfortunes this war brought to all Russians. I expanded the book with research about Nord-Ost and Beslan. I describe how the attacks were prepared: not everyone knows about this.
- I heard that at least one of your articles was read by Vladimir Putin, and he hardly liked her ...
- Yes, it was in 2002. I was told very responsible diplomats that he read my article from the Polish publication Newsweek: it was a huge material about Chechnya with photographs. I took up special services. But I was not expelled from the country, only so they reduced the term for updating the accreditation that it was impossible to stay in Russia. Now they do not refuse accreditation, but they do not give any answer. I really miss Moscow, miss my friends, I do not have enough Moscow atmosphere. There is such a big life, I would very much like to go there. I hope this will move, and I can still work.
- I am not interested in it as a sensation. The question occupies me: why is Vladimir Vladimirovich so cruel? I want to understand this person. I have observed him since 1998 when he headed the FSB. I lived in Moscow for 15 years, not in diplomatic corps, but among ordinary Russians, and looked at everything without ideology, only with great sympathy for the people who lived next to. The first delight that many experienced because of Putin's appearance was overshadowed by the knowledge of what was happening in Chechnya. Chechnya I began to be interested in 1996, when I met General Lebed. We talked a lot with him. Of course, he was a very Russian general, but at the same time an honest person who did not want a war. Then many times I visited Chechnya and saw the cruelty of the first and second war.
I was surprised at how easy Putin lied. He knew the truth about Chechnya, but he told people completely different. He knew that a large bomb destroyed the market in Grozny, and he said that these were spot attacks on militants. Of course, when the possibilities of honest information are closed, if all television is under one cap, an independent journalist feels obligated to find the truth: the truth about Chechnya, the truth about Putin. Therefore, I was interested in his childhood. I read a book about how he lived in Georgia, about his mother, who remained with an illegitimate child. And then the person, for whom Putin's faith was married, treated him very badly ...
- This is the book of Vakhi Ibragimov "The Secret Biography of the President of Russia" ...
Kristina Kurchab-Medlikh
- Yes, and even before the advent of this book, I met Vakha Ibragimov. He seemed to me a serious person who wants to tell the truth. And in this book, everyone speaks very well about Volodya, not a single bad word. Everyone sympathizes with him, many sympathize with his mother. And I thought that the misfortune of a person at the very beginning of his life cannot but affect his further actions. I looked differently at his admission to the KGB. All Western biographers of Putin look at the KGB as evil. But for so many years I lived in Russia and tried to look at it through the eyes of a Russian who thinks that if a person who has passed the KGB school comes to power, this is not bad. I tried to understand Putin, to understand the cruelty of the Chechen war. The Chechens, comparing two wars, said that the first was still flowers. And the second war is the nightmare that took place behind the curtain, very smartly invented by the same Putin. Journalists could not get into Chechnya without the knowledge of his administration. Everything that happened during the Second Chechen, still for many Russians who draw information from television shows, remains a secret. And those who read the "new newspaper" are a minority. I now have two very well -published magazines before my eyes: "New Time" and "Kommersant. Power". These are two different Russia. In "New Time" - the struggle against the dictatorship, articles about what is happening with political prisoners, what searches were, how people are fighting for their dignity. I take another magazine, there is a great question: what would you change in the surrounding reality? And very smart people in big positions say - climate, I want the white stripes to be wider and more. In one magazine - prisons, torture, struggle, and in another - "Audi", a wonderful life, a completely different country. Of course, I am a completely alien to those who read only "Kommersant. Power."- In Russia, few believe that Putin's faith, living in Georgia, is Putin's real mother. And this theory seems to me completely unproven. Why do you tend to believe her?
- There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Before the first elections, Putin, Artem Borovik, the president of the "Top Secret" holding, reported that the history of Putin's childhood would soon be published. On March 9, 2000, Artem Borovik and Zia Bazhaev died when they were going to fly for Putin's children's photographs that someone promised to give them. Why did Borovik's private plane explode in Sheremetyevo? On the same day on March 9, a large trick was prepared for journalists who were waiting in Georgia that they would be introduced to Vera Putin, but they were immediately put on the bus and sent back. There was no way to get there. Finally, they killed Vakhu Ibragimov, who collected these facts and wrote a book. That is, on the road to this big secret there are already three corpses.
The cover of the first edition of the book "The Head against the Kremlin Wall"
And there is still such a question: if Vladimir Putin was born in St. Petersburg, why there are no children's photographs, why are there no people who knew him until he was 8 years old? This was said by Putin's colleagues, including me. But now all these people are already silent.- But many journalists communicated with Vera Putin, films about her were shot, many articles are written, no one forbids to meet with her ...
- Now - yes. Because no one is interested in this. But then, before the elections, it looked completely different. This could affect the appearance of a presidential candidate. Then the second Chechen war was already going on, there were completely different times. I talked with Henry Borovik, and he, a journalist as Soviet times, had no questions about this at all.
-He was sure that his son was killed precisely because of this story?
- Yes, and he argued that the icing of the aircraft at a temperature of plus 4 was impossible. So many times in the worst conditions, this plane flew - nothing happened.
- You expanded part of the book dedicated to Chechnya, and these new fragments are based on your conversations with Chechens in Poland. Are these people who received political asylum?
- Unfortunately no. They just come to Poland, and it is very difficult for them here. The question is one: they say that there is so much money in Chechnya, why are you running from there? They answer: this money is not for us. Seventy percent unemployment, for everything you need to give huge bribes. To become a teacher, you need to give a thousand dollars at least. People have no money. From all your income, you must unfasten 30% to the Ahmad Kadyrov fund. In addition to the economic background, there is another: everyone is afraid to hint that they do not like what is happening in Chechnya. For example, Islamization. They were never fundamentalists. The Chechens dressed in a completely different way than in Saudi Arabia or Iran. This is another nation, another Islam, other Muslims, much softer. And suddenly they are ordered to wear scarves, dress strictly, and at the same time the same Kadyrov behaves completely differently. Many are afraid: a young man can disappear without a trace. Of course, this happens less often than before, because there is no opposition, there are no militants. And the remaining are not the same that were during the war. They have other slogans, other goals, which not everyone likes. And the Chechens run from Kadyrov and from these militants. They say: there is terror as it was, it is, we are afraid of everything.
- Kristina, you cannot visit Chechnya now and cannot come to Russia as a journalist at all: you are not given accreditation. Problems began before the release of the first edition of your book?
- The problems began when I was still in Russia. I think that because of Chechnya, because I published many photos and documents. I traced the fate of Russian soldiers, what people went to Chechnya, who returned. What a million misfortunes this war brought to all Russians. I expanded the book with research about Nord-Ost and Beslan. I describe how the attacks were prepared: not everyone knows about this.
- I heard that at least one of your articles was read by Vladimir Putin, and he hardly liked her ...
- Yes, it was in 2002. I was told very responsible diplomats that he read my article from the Polish publication Newsweek: it was a huge material about Chechnya with photographs. I took up special services. But I was not expelled from the country, only so they reduced the term for updating the accreditation that it was impossible to stay in Russia. Now they do not refuse accreditation, but they do not give any answer. I really miss Moscow, miss my friends, I do not have enough Moscow atmosphere. There is such a big life, I would very much like to go there. I hope this will move, and I can still work.