‘I remember how she bragged’

Intervention by federal lawmaker leads to firing of long-time medical professor in St. Petersburg over anti-war comments

After 42 years working at Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University, Associate Professor Viktor Kornienko is out. He told journalists at RFE/RL that the school fired him based on a complaint from an old classmate who’s now friends with State Duma deputy Yana Lantratova. The former classmate accused Kornienko of discrediting Russia’s military and providing assistance to Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The conflict between the two former classmates began unexpectedly while Kornienko was trying to help his colleague leave Russia.

Sixty years old, Kornienko has lived in Germany since 2009 and taught classes remotely, though he still travels to Russia to meet with patients and conduct on-campus work with students. Throughout his long tenure, he received the university’s award for best instructor five times.

Yana Lantratova has a history of hostility against compatriots she deems unpatriotic. For example, she has lobbied on multiple occasions to cancel the performances of musicians she says support the Ukrainian military. On October 3, Lantratova wrote about Kornienko’s dismissal on her Telegram channel, noting that she’d received a complaint about the professor.

Kornienko later revealed that Lantratova was referring to an old classmate named Galina Zhorova who’d recently asked him over WhatsApp for help relocating to Germany. During one of their exchanges, says Kornienko, the war in Ukraine came up, and Zhorova declared, “All Ukrainians should be burned, young and old, men and women.” Kornienko admits that these remarks enraged him. “I said all kinds of things [in response],” he told RFE/RL.

Soon thereafter, Zhorova reported Kornienko to his employers. He says the university initially ignored her, but things changed when Zhorova involved her lawmaker friend, Yana Lantratova. “I remember how she bragged that they were pals,” recalls Kornienko.

The city prosecutor’s office began an investigation, interviewing Kornienko’s colleagues but never summoning him directly. Officials asked about his political views and the structure of his remote classes. Kornienko told journalists that the investigation turned up nothing questionable, but the university nevertheless encouraged him to resign voluntarily.

Kornienko describes Zhorova as “very brainwashed” by state television. Another classmate named Maxim Belotserkovsky told RFE/RL that he helped take Zhorova’s son to Serbia. He recalls that Zhorova was a good student in college, but she apparently didn’t waste time socially on anyone she didn’t deem promising professionally. “That is just what she was like,” says Belotserkovsky.

Zhorova also has a vindictive streak, Belotserkovsky told RFE/RL, describing how he helped her son find a job at the pharmaceutical company where he works. The son apparently struggled in the position and was later fired. Zhorova then reportedly started accusing the company of “poisoning people with expired drugs,” and several hit pieces against the company even appeared in the news media.

Zhorova refused to speak to RFE/RL, but she told the St. Petersburg Telegram channel Rotonda that she “applauds Lantratova” if the reports of Kornienko’s ouster prove true.