March 02, 2025

Putin's Culture Guru, Now Head of Writer's Union


Putin's Culture Guru, Now Head of Writer's Union
Medinsky himself. Алексеев Дмитрий Евгеньевич, Wikimedia Commons

Vladimir Medinsky, known to some as "Putin's ghostwriter," has been named the head of the Union of Russian Writers, according to pro-democracy news outlet CurrentTime.tv.

The prolific author and former minister of culture was the only candidate in the organization's election. The previous head had recently stepped down. In his new position, Medinsky will oversee more than 3,000 writers from around the country.

Medinsky is known to be a very close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He served in Putin's cabinet as Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2020. He has also published multiple books, which feed into the Kremlin's narrative of Russian history. He has been on the forefront of historical justification for Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Most notably, he was one of the chief authors of a 2023 history textbook for Russian high schoolers that painted the invasion as necessary for the preservation of Russian sovereignty.

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