Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44) as a guest at a Russian New Year’s show. What sounds unimaginable today was reality ten years ago. The ex-comedian moderated the traditional New Year’s program ‘The First New Year’s Eve’ on Russian TV together with colleague Maxim Galkin (46), who was known for Putin parodies and has since fled to Israel.
Recordings from 2013 show Zelensky in a good mood on stage, while Putin’s chief propagandist Vladimir Solovyov (59) is in the audience and clearly having fun. Meanwhile, the Russian regularly campaigns against the West and Ukraine. “As a comedian, Zelenskyi was extremely popular with the Russian public,” writes journalist and former Moscow correspondent Julian Hans on Twitter. Later in the show, he is said to have made fun of his “guest worker” role.
But a year later he was no longer invited. The reason for this was the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Moscow accused Zelensky, who was a well-known comedian at the time and well-earned, of financially supporting the Ukrainian army in the fight against the Kremlin-controlled ‘separatists’.
“Surreal and creepy”
On this New Year’s Eve, ten years after Selenski’s appearance, the tone of the latest TV show was completely different. Not a cheerful comedy, but dark propaganda. In a red coat, a man recited a New Year’s poem: «Last year, the West has tried to destroy Russia. They did not realize that Russia is the main structure in the composition of the world. Yes, gentlemen. Like it or not, Russia is expanding.”
After each sentence, people in the audience grinned and applauded. Danish peace researcher Hans Kristensen (61) is disturbed on Twitter: “This Russian New Year’s TV program is surreal and scary.” Vladimir Solovyov, Putin’s chief propagandist, was also present, but this time, probably a sign of the times, at a table of uniformed men.
However, it has not been said whether these are real soldiers: Vladimir Putin (70) addressed alleged soldiers who were exposed as extras who were loyal to the party in his New Year’s speech.
Ukrainian national anthem blacked out
The New Year’s Eve show also featured a wide variety of musical elements. Men and women in colorful dresses sang Russian songs. Meanwhile, a group danced on stage – also to a Ukrainian folk song “Chervona Ruta”. However, this would have been made illegible, as the “image” writes.
New Year’s Eve is very important in Russia. There are gifts, trees are decorated – similar to Christmas in the West. The Christmas of the Russian Orthodox Church does not follow until January 7 and is a purely religious celebration without gifts and celebrations.