Actor Artur Smolyaninov, hero of the film The 9th companyhighly prized by Vladimir Putin, is now considered a “foreign agent” in Russia, because of his support for Ukraine.
The “Russian Rambo” went over to the enemy. Russian actor Artur Smolyaninov, muscular hero of films like The 9th companyabout Russian soldiers trapped in Afghanistan in 1988 – a film that is among Vladimir Putin’s favorites – is now persona non grata in Russia.
Since the actor showed his support for Ukraine on January 9, the Russian justice ministry has considered him a “foreign agent”. A Russian MP even offered to open a criminal investigation and “revoke his passport”, according to Novaya Gazeta.
Considered “a traitor”, the actor now risks prosecution. The head of the Russian Investigative Committee demanded as early as January 9 that criminal proceedings be opened against Smolyaninov.
“A traitor”
“No one in the Kremlin thinks anything good of this actor. But in this particular case, it is more important to know what our competent agencies think of these remarks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Another deputy suggested that the actor could no longer act in state films. In addition, anything created by “foreign agents” is now considered harmful to the health and development of children and marked as adult content.
“I only feel hatred towards the people on the other (Russian) side of the front line. And if I was there on the ground, there would be no pity,” Artur Smolyaninov said in a video interview at Novaya Gazeta Europerelayed on Twitter.
“We are brothers whether we like it or not,” he said in the same interview, referring to the plight of Ukrainians. “For me, it’s not even being on the side of Ukraine, it’s the side of my brothers who were attacked by my other brothers for no reason, to kill them”.
“The Russian night has reached schools and hospitals”
Very critical of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, the actor also re-recorded last December a song from a Soviet era filmdating from 1943, modifying the lyrics, as reported CNN.
“Look, occupier, how the maternity wards are without electricity, how the children are sitting in shelters. And how the books are drowned. The Russian night has reached schools and hospitals”, does he sing in this new version.
Outraged The 9th companyArtur Smolyaninov played in 2020 in a biopic of Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47, but also in science fiction films (The Darkest Hour), romantic comedies, a historical detective series (Za chas do rassveta) and even a hospital series (samara).
When The 9th Company was released in 2005, Vladimir Putin enjoyed the film so much, CNN still mentions, that he invited the team, actors and director to his residence outside Moscow for a private screening. The Russian leader then declared that the film “takes the soul”, and that we were “immersed” in it.
