Mikhalkov, Yeltsin and "our everything"

The Yeltsin Center is discussing the possibility of filing a lawsuit against filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. Radio Liberty was confirmed by the Deputy Executive Director of Yeltsin Center Nikita Sokolov. Mikhalkov, speaking on December 9 at parliamentary hearings in the Federation Council, accused the Yeltsin Center of "destroying the national self-awareness of people." After that, a fascinating correspondence ensued between the director and the widow of Yeltsin Naina, users of social networks, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky and other officials picked up the topic.

The Yeltsin Center first reminds that such statements from Nikita Mikhalkov are not the first to sound. The art critic and a film historian from Yekaterinburg Andrei Kulik is outraged that Mikhalkov says what he has not seen and misinforms people

It is one thing just a television program, but he officially comes to people of power and demands actions from them

-After all, he has not been making his programs to Besogon-TV for several months, but at the same time he refuses to come to Yekaterinburg in order to go to the Yeltsin Center himself. It’s just disgusting to me that a person has no idea even about how the center works. In the first gear, he put an equal sign between the Yeltsin Museum, which is a small part of the Yeltsin Center and the Yeltsin Center itself. And many people who do not live in Yekaterinburg said to me: "What is going on? For 7 billion, the Yeltsin museum was drunk!" I say that this is not the Yeltsin Museum, but the Yeltsin Center, in which there is also the Yeltsin Museum. They: "We watched Mikhalkov. He said." Television is a great power.

- Why did all these programs not cause such a reaction?

-"Yeltsin Center" reacted. When the next “Besogon” came out, where he said that it was an abomination, the “fifth column”, which is preparing a Maidan, a color revolution, it must be destroyed, Lyudmila Telen wrote on Facebook: “Nikita Sergeyevich, please come, conduct you a personal excursion so that you even know what you are talking about!” But somehow there was no resonance. We chuckled and that's it. But when a person comes to the Federation Council and says that it is necessary to destroy the Yeltsin Center in its current form, it is clear that this is an exit to another level. It’s just a TV show, but he officially comes to the Federation Council, appeals to the senators. This is an official complaint that they must consider. Mikhalkov comes to people of power and demands actions from them. Apparently, that's why it somehow hooked us all.

The Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky called the “low-grade whip” because of Mikhalkov’s statements. In his article on the website "History of Russia" Medinsky actually supported Mikhalkov.

Naina Yeltsin in "Yeltsin Center"

Mikhalkov’s performance made the usually restrained Naina Yeltsin speak out . The widow of the first president of Russia called Mikhalkov’s statements “false” and reminded the film director that he was once a confidant of Boris Yeltsin.

The first vice-speaker of the Federation Council Nikolai Fedorov addressed an open letter regarding the criticism of the Yeltsin Center. He suggested that the director "overdid" in his exposures. Fedorov, who under President Yeltsin was the Minister of Justice, became almost the only Russian official who criticized Mikhalkov.

The Yeltsin Center’s opponent camp by Monday evening was replenished with the leader of Antimaydan Nikolai Starikov .

Nikita Sokolov

About his understanding of the causes of what is happening is told by the Deputy Executive Director of the Yeltsin Center, historian Nikita Sokolov:

- Our authorities chose another genealogy than the one that they really have. Of course, modern Russia, modern power comes from August 1991, but they do not like this kinship. They want to reproduce our society of the victorious people in the Second World War. This is such a rather strange, in my opinion, story, but it is quite successfully completed. Therefore, victory is our everything, this is what unites us, and the 90s, where we really come from, they are some kind of dirty, black and terrible. In the public consciousness of 10 years, the whole era and the image of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin are associated exclusively with the negative, exclusively with negative connotations, mention exclusively negative facts associated with this time and this person, although there are a completely different series of facts. The Yeltsin Center presents a significant part of these positive facts, not evading the controversial and negative dark sides of this era.

"Yeltsin Center"

- "Yeltsin Center" in Yekaterinburg, according to eyewitnesses, the place is very popular. And he did not need additional advertising. Why is it all Mikhalkov?

- I do not really understand what Nikita Mikhalkov achieves. Does he want him to be dared? The Yeltsin Center consists of several different weights of institutions. The central place is the Museum of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, which is very good, very modern in terms of museum design. This is such a very powerful, very modern message. This is a message that Yeltsin strove for freedom and wanted Russia to provide this freedom. What can be redone here and why this contradicts some historical knowledge-I do not understand.

Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov in Yekaterinburg is waiting more than Santa Claus

In August of this year, Mikhalkov advocated the creation of the "Ministry of Childhood", which will block the stream of "false information" about Russia for children. Supervisory experts note that for the film director, the theme of children, their upbringing and education has become almost the main one.

In Yekaterinburg, in Yeltsin Center, Mikhalkov is waiting for the dispute and communication with a different audience to move from correspondence to full-time, says Alexander Drozdov, Executive Director of Yeltsin Center.

- According to the observations of my Yekaterinburg colleagues, Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov in Yekaterinburg is waiting more than Santa Claus. I do not know in what image it arises in the heads of our today's children, I’m not sure what they know about Uncle Stepa. Let him come for me by Uncle Stopa or Santa Claus. Actually, he says that something is done here with children. And if you proceed to the serious, then he has a great opportunity-to come on New Year's Eve, to chat with the children's audience, take someone's hand, spend the halls, talk and, if he wants to argue with us, said Alexander Drozdov.