Vladimir Pozner: biography, personal life, family, wife, children - photo. Vladimir Pozner on Putin's foreign policy: “He does pretty good things” Personal life of Vladimir Pozner

Maxim Kalashnikov: a certain Pozner, who received the status of some kind of sage in the Russian Federation, actually has no right to teach us. Does he look wise? Well, we can all do it. If you study the biography of this talking telehead, then we have a very unattractive type.
I am posting an article by Yura Nersesov (APN North-West), written three years ago, but still relevant. It shows very well what the "patriotism" of the current government is worth.

Yuri Nersesov
Press Secretary of the World Regional Committee
It’s not the first time for Vladimir Pozner to catch a cold at the funeral of those who want to expel him from the air ...

“I don’t consider these streets my own. - He confessed to the correspondent of Moskovsky Komsomolets. – Only my work keeps me in Russia. I am not a Russian person, this is not my homeland, I did not grow up here, I do not feel completely at home here - and I suffer a lot from this. I feel like a stranger in Russia.”

Son of Agent Callistratus

To understand what a person does on the state channel who does not hide his alienness to this state, and why he is absolutely unsinkable under all Kremlin regimes, it is worth studying his biography more carefully. For the first time, it was told in a rather distorted form in 1989 by the émigré writer Eduard Topol, deducing Posner in the novel “Tomorrow in Russia” under the name of Zinovy ​​​​Gorny.

“The son of American communist idealists, Zinovy ​​Gorny, was born in San Francisco, but during the McCarthy era, his parents fled to the USSR and ended up in a Siberian camp right from the steamer - now as American spies. In the camp, young Gorny not only learned Russian, but also went through a good school of survival among criminal prisoners. Therefore, in 1957, when the Gorny family was released from the camp and even rehabilitated, he immediately joined the party, graduated from university and got a job as an announcer on Moscow International Radio, in the broadcasting department for the USA. There was a warm little company of Preferans who officially called themselves "Americanists."

They knew very well that in the USA they are listened to by exactly one and a half idiots and two more censors look through their "scripts" here in Moscow before going on the air. Therefore, they did not hesitate to broadcast any rubbish, fluently translated from Pravda, for eight hours a day, and then went to the beer bar of the House of Journalists or to someone's apartment, so that, under the voices of their competitors - "Bi-Bi -Si", "Free Europe" and "Voice of America" ​​- to complete the night for preference. Of course, that was not life, but a continuous vegetative existence in the same letter jacket and trousers bubbling at the knees for years.

And suddenly - "glasnost", "teleconference", "night line". The International Department of the Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Central Television urgently needed a dozen people who could sell the new “image” of the Kremlin to the West in English. Gorny got to one of these shows as an interpreter, and then his finest hour came.

Still - a natural American in the role of a Soviet commentator! Even the Californian accent worked for Gorny, it gave his most hard-line communist tirades some special flair. And most importantly, unlike all the other Russians, who during the interview internally assumed a wrestling stance and met each question like a rocket fired at their homeland, unlike them, Zinovy ​​Gorny, even “planting complete bullshit”, behaved in front of a television camera with an American freedom… Well, how can one not introduce such a necessary Jew into the circle of the closest ones?”

In fact, the reason was not only in the manner of communication, but also in the experience of conducting polemics with a Western opponent, which those who were accustomed to reading from a piece of paper about the increase in milk yield were completely unable to do so. Poplar completely distorted his biography. Neither Posner's Jewish father nor his mother, a Frenchwoman (according to other sources, half German Jew) Geraldine Lutten, have never been in any camps. On the contrary, Posner Sr., having fled from France to the United States, worked hard for Soviet intelligence, listed there under the name Kallistrat. It may have started in France. Pozner's father's cousin who lived there, a member of the most famous Soviet literary association of the 1920s, the Serapion Brothers group, also Vladimir Pozner was well acquainted with the French communist writers Louis Aragon and Elsa Triolet, as well as with the eldest who periodically came to Paris Triolet's sister, Vladimir Mayakovsky's mistress and Lilya Brik, an employee of the authorities.

Among the French left-wing intellectuals, Moscow's agents felt like fish in water, and perhaps it was Vladimir Solomonovich Pozner who dragged his younger brother into espionage activities. In any case, information from that one went to Lubyanka, and the clerical authorities, in turn, ensured that Posner Jr. entered the institute, and helped to get settled in controlled publications, and Herr Studnitz settled the issue with chatter.

Moses and Pharisee

Recognizing the assistance of the Lubyanka generals to his family, Vladimir Vladimirovich swears that his father was almost imprisoned, and only Stalin's death saved him from arrest. But what are the words of a man who, by his own admission to the Kirov newspaper Business News, constantly lied when he was a Soviet propagandist, and now he is also lying about the horrors of life in the USSR. It is as if the real hundreds of thousands of people shot in the 30-50s are not enough for him, and he fills the pages of his memoirs with fictitious victims. For example, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, Lavrenty Beria, not only raped half of the Moscow beauties, but also took away a bra from each, before interrogating a certain Georgian composer, gouged out his eyes so that the interrogated person could not see him, and then pierced his ears with nails so that he would not hear ...
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As an 18-year-old young man, he first came to the Soviet Union, and before that he spent most of his youthful life in the United States. He was lucky to work as a literary secretary for S. Ya. Marshak and conduct television bridges that were new to the Soviet audience in terms of the technical possibilities of transmission. He is fluent in 3 languages ​​and has the same number of citizenships. At 82, this man continues to amaze with his appearance. All of the above are facts that include the biography of Pozner Vladimir Vladimirovich.

Paris, childhood, parents

The Frenchwoman Geraldine (Lutten) from a family that belonged to the baronial title, and a Russian boy from Vladimir with Jewish roots met in the thirties of the last century. The couple was brought together by a common profession related to film production. As a result of the existing relationship, in 1934, the future fighter for "freedom of speech" Vladimir Pozner was born in Paris. The biography and TV presenter began its opus from the date of April 1 - the birthday of Geraldine, Vladimir's mother.

They christened the child in the Catholic faith Vladimir Gerald Dmitry Pozner. All names were given in honor of relatives and close people - father, mother and father's basketball friend.

When the baby was three months old, the mother moved with the child to the United States, leaving the father to enjoy trouble-free youth. At that time, Vladimir's grandmother and aunt lived in America. So, in the USA, the biography of Pozner V.V.

Family reunification and relocations

Having moved to live in America, Vladimir's mother got a job at a well-known film studio as an editing director. For five years, she raised her son alone, trying to feed not only the two of them, but also her sick mother. In 1939, the boy's father arrived in the United States, and he and Geraldine officially signed.

A full-fledged family in the spring of 1939 moved to live in France, and in the autumn the government of this country declared war on Germany. Posner Sr. volunteered for the French army, and when the northern part of the country was occupied by the Germans, the Gestapo became interested in his father's biography. The family moved to the French Free Zone, from where they returned to America.

Studies

Vladimir Pozner, whose biography has been marked by several countries since childhood, received his primary education in the United States. From 1941 to 1946, he studied at a private school, where the children of wealthy parents stayed. "City and Country" - that was the name of this educational institution. Vladimir Vladimirovich described in his book the years spent at this school as the happiest, and the way of transferring knowledge to children was harmonious. The guy, who was ahead of his classmates in development, was not averse to solving disputes with his fists. This issue was diplomatically resolved by the director of the school. She transferred Vladimir from the eighth grade to the tenth grade, where the guys studied physically larger. After that, the boy's aggressiveness decreased.

Stuyvesant High School was the next institution where Vladimir Pozner studied. Biography, during these years, the young man was filled with events. Brother Pavel was born in 1945. Father, working in a film corporation, received 25 thousand dollars a year, which allowed the family to live in a luxurious house. Vladimir had his own bedroom, playroom and even a private bathroom. And when the guy turned fourteen, he was overtaken by the first feeling of love.

New York: first love and first job

Posner's biography at the time of his residence in New York reflects those great feelings that a person remembers for a lifetime. Vladimir happened to a woman much older than himself: he is fourteen, she is well over thirty. Her name was Mary, and she was Irish-American. Their relationship developed at a full-fledged adult level: they visited the cinema, restaurants together, met at her house. These meetings remained in Vladimir's memory with tender feelings and memories.

Newspaper peddler is the first job for which Vladimir Pozner received pocket money. The biography, the personal life of a young man in the city of contrasts was of an independent nature. In general, in America, parents do not just give money for their own needs to their children. They have to be earned. Vladimir received from his father 5 cents a week for cleaning the shoes of the whole family on Saturdays and for laying the table, followed by cleaning after the meal. But the appetite grows while eating, so the young man got a job as a paperboy to replenish his personal budget.

Departure from the USA

When the policy of McCarthyism began in America (aggravation of anti-communist sentiments), Posner Sr. was summoned by his boss and invited him to renounce Soviet citizenship, and as a reward he promised to give a one-time annual salary. But Vladimir Alexandrovich, with a communist outlook, refused this deal. He began to earn less, and then completely lost his job. In 1948, the family left America, leaving to live in Germany occupied by Soviet troops.

There Vladimir was restored to the German-Russian school. In 1951 he moved to the evening Soviet school for sergeants and officers in order to obtain a matriculation certificate. He was a ticket to the USSR - the country that Posner Sr. was so raving about.

Vladimir Pozner, whose biography is marked by constant moving, at the end of 1952 for the first time came to the Soviet Union. Due to the foreign past and Jewish roots, the family had a hard time at first: the parents did not work, they lived in a hotel for their father's savings, which were rapidly melting away. After Stalin's death, Vladimir Alexandrovich managed to get a job at Mosfilm, and later the family was given an apartment.

Throughout the spring and summer of 1952, the biography of Posner Jr. was marked by constant cramming. Vladimir was preparing at Moscow State University for the Faculty of Biology and Soil. Most of all, the guy was worried about the lack of perfect knowledge in the Russian language. During the entrance exams, after scoring 24 points out of 25, he was initially denied admission to the ranks of students. Confidentially explaining that the Jewish surname "Pozner", a biography, the young man's family does not meet the hidden requirements for MSU applicants. But the father, having learned about such injustice, went straight to the Central Committee of the CPSU. As a result, Vladimir was enrolled in the university.

After graduating from Moscow State University, the young man began to earn a living by scientific and literary translations. S. Ya. Marshak noticed the talented work and invited the young man to work as a literary secretary.

TV journalist and presenter

Work on television was preceded by editorial work in a magazine distributed in the United States. In 1970, Vladimir served as a commentator in the USSR Radio Broadcasting Committee. For fifteen years his programs were broadcast in England and America. At the same time, he flew to shoot an American talk show where he justified the actions of the Soviet government.

Vladimir Vladimirovich gained popularity among the audience of the USSR after the television bridges he hosted appeared on the blue screens. These were online meetings with American presenters where political issues were discussed. A successful debut in the group form of telecommunications led V. V. Pozner to Central Television as a political observer. Then again America and television work abroad. In 1997, he returned to Moscow and became a TV presenter on the talk show Vremena. Since 2008, Vladimir Vladimirovich has been hosting an author's program on Channel One. To this day, he shoots tourist-educational films. The last of these works is "Jewish Happiness".

Posner: biography, wife

The first wife of Vladimir Vladimirovich was the Russian philologist Valentina Chemberdzhi. The marriage lasted 10 years, and in the course of family relations, a daughter, Catherine, was born. She now lives in Berlin. V.V. Pozner has two grandchildren along this line: Maria and Nikolai.

The second wife (from 1969 to 2005) was the director of the School of Television Excellence, which was founded by the master of television Pozner, Ekaterina Orlova. In their life together, the couple raised Catherine's son Peter. Along this line, Vladimir Vladimirovich has a non-blood grandson Georgy.

Since 2008, Pozner has been in official relations with Nadezhda Solovieva, who is the founder of the well-known company Sav Entertainment.

V. V. Pozner (biography, photos are presented in our article) is the author of the book “Farewell to Illusions”, which includes interesting life stories of a creative person. It was originally written in English (in 1990), and in 2012 Vladimir Vladimirovich introduced it to the Russian reader.

Mother - Geraldine, nee Lutten, Posner (04/01/1910 - 05/28/1985). Birthplace: Arcachon, France

Father - Vladimir Alexandrovich Pozner (10/24/1908 - 07/31/1975). Place of birth: St. Petersburg, Russia.

Contrary to popular belief, Vladimir Pozner's father had nothing to do with literature, although he is often confused with the French writer, publicist and screenwriter Vladimir Pozner (born in Paris in 1905).

1934 - moving with his mother to the United States of America.

1939 - Arrival of the father in the United States of America. Official registration of marriage of parents.

Spring 1939 - moving to France with parents.

1940 - moving to the United States of America with his parents.

1945 - Birth of brother Pavel.

1941-1946 - Studying at the City and Country School.

1946-1948 - Studying at Stuyvesant High School.

December 1948 - moving with parents to the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany (East Berlin). From 1949 to 1951 - studying at a special secondary German-Russian school for the children of German political emigrants who fled at one time from Hitler to the Soviet Union.

1951 - studying at the Soviet evening school at the field post - a school created for Soviet officers, foremen and sergeants, whose studies were interrupted by the war. Obtaining a matriculation certificate.

December 1952 - moving to the Soviet Union.

1953 - admission to the Faculty of Biology and Soil at Moscow State University.

In 1958 he graduated from the biology and soil faculty of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov with a degree in human physiology. After graduating from the university, he earned a living by scientific translations from English and into English, was fond of literary translations of English poetry of the Elizabethan period, which attracted the attention of Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak. At the invitation of Marshak, he became his literary secretary and worked for him for two years (1960-61). Some of his prose and poetry translations began to appear in print.

In October 1961, he joined the APN, then in 1970 he moved to the Committee on Television and Radio Broadcasting (later the USSR State Television and Radio Broadcasting) as a commentator on the main editorial office of radio broadcasting in the USA and England. Until the end of 1985, he conducted his radio broadcast daily. For his work on the coverage of the Olympic Games in Moscow, he was awarded the medal "For Labor Valour". 1967 - entry into the CPSU.

In 2009, a series of programs about France "" took place. After that, a book of the same name was published.

On April 8, 2012, the premiere of the program "" on the Dozhd TV channel took place, where two journalists discuss the most striking, in their opinion, events in the world over the past week. Faced with the need to choose between further work on Channel One or on the Rain channel, Posner opted for Channel One.

2011 - shooting a series of programs about Italy "", aired on Channel One in July 2012.

Vladimir Pozner, together with his brother Pavel, opened the Geraldine French restaurant in Moscow, named after the mother of the Pozner brothers. The restaurant belongs to the brasserie type, popular in France.

In February 2012, the supplemented autobiographical book Farewell to Illusions was published in Russian.

In the fall of 2013, Channel One aired an eight-episode documentary film by Vladimir Pozner “”, which tells about modern Germany and its past in the context of the question of what the Germans are. Vladimir Pozner: “It was the most difficult film for me. Incomparably more difficult than all the others.”

At the beginning of 2015, another documentary film by Vladimir Pozner and Ivan Urgant “” was shown

In January 2016, Vladimir Pozner's film about Israel ““ was shown on Channel One.

At the end of 2016 or at the beginning of 2017, it is planned to show the next film-journey of Vladimir Pozner about Spain called "".

2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. In June 2016, Vladimir Pozner starts filming a film about the great Englishman. Movie title " ".

In January 2019, Channel One showed another documentary by Vladimir Pozner about the countries of Scandinavia and Finland, “The Most. The most. The most."

A family

First wife (from 1957 to 1967): Valentina Chemberdzhi.
Daughter from his first marriage, Ekaterina Vladimirovna Chemberdzhi (b. 1960), lives in Berlin, composer and pianist.
Grandchildren - Maria (1984), Nikolai (1995).
Second wife (1969-2005): Ekaterina Orlova (director of the Pozner School).
In 2008, the official registration of marriage with Nadezhda Solovyova, the founder of the SavEntertainment company.

Awards

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV degree (November 27, 2006) - for his great contribution to the development of domestic television and radio broadcasting and many years of fruitful activity.
Order of Honor (December 3, 1999) - for services in the field of culture and in connection with the 75th anniversary of radio broadcasting in Russia.
Order of Friendship of Peoples (March 29, 1994) - for fruitful creative work on television and radio broadcasting, a great personal contribution to the development of democratic processes in Russia and the strengthening of friendly ties between peoples.
Multiple winner of "TEFI" (see above), in 2009 he was awarded "TEFI" "For his personal contribution to the development of Russian television."

Vladimir Pozner entered the top 20 popular TV presenters in 2009 according to TNS Gallup Media.

According to the results of 2010, he entered the top 15 popular TV presenters in Russia according to TNS Russia.

Biography agreed and corrected by Vladimir Pozner
Detailed biography in the book "Farewell to Illusions"

- You once gave an interview, and said that there are a lot of young people around at meetings. I have a question: why are so many young people in Russia interested in you? What is it, what do you think about it?

“Well, I don't think it's just the young ones.

- About two months ago you came here from the Tver region and then you said that you were amazed at the fact that there are so many young people. I came from the Krasnodar Territory, 1200 kilometers, and I would like to ask you for permission to hug you. (Everyone laughs.)

Let's do it later, I don't mind at all. I want to answer you.

You see, well, look, I'm not coquettish, believe me. I generally know my worth. That is, I know that I am an educated person, a knowledgeable, quite intelligent person. Decent person. I'm not lying, I try to think about others - I know all this. But I don't understand, so I was talking about meeting Elton John. Anton Krasovsky said - do you know how many people watched your speech on Dozhd about AIDS? Four millions! Nobody even came close to it. Four millions! I say, I didn't say anything. Well, he says, like this - he said, he didn’t say. Chubais was there, and many others, but I was four million in a week. This is a lot, agree.

I speak publicly, and indeed, in a hall where there are 1000 people, 1200 people, a huge number of young people. I'm happy! I try to understand why? I'm not exactly a young man. I don't have that language, I don't like the music that young people love - I definitely don't. These groups are somehow strange, which do not interest me at all. Here it is forever sitting on the phone - no. "Check in" - no. Selfies - well, only at the request of the workers - that is, not at all. Why, what, what do they see? I'm really curious about this. You see, I am terribly happy, it is a great joy that the future is coming. And I'm really interested in it.

I'll take it to the other side. I don't know if you saw, some time ago on Channel One, of course, they showed a film late, which was made by a young American. It's called the Red Army. Well, of course you don't watch such things... This is a film about our hockey players of that time, and the main character is Fetisov. Well, there are a lot of things, but at some point they talk about that Detroit Red Wings team, where our five were, they won the Stanley Cup in a row, and the coach was this Scotty Bowman - a very famous Canadian coach who said that show how they play ... well, that's all, if someone loves sports - this is ballet on ice! And they know each other exactly - where who will be, how and so on. The beauty! And he tells them - guys, I don't know how you play, but nothing needs to be changed. So maybe this is it – I will do what I do. As it turns out - so it turns out.

- I have a question about nationalities, do you think that nationality leaves an imprint on a person? Do you feel like a Jew?

- I should start by saying that I do not think that a Jew is a nationality. Unlike what happened in Soviet times, and in particular under Stalin. I understand what an Israeli is. In general, what is nationality - in the whole world, well, not in everything, in the one that I know well, this is not the case. There is citizenship. I am an American - I have an American passport. Ethnic origin in this sense is secondary, tertiary, and so on.

Are there national traits? Of course there is. The British, the Swedes, the Russians. Of course have. They are very difficult to describe. Because as soon as you say - that's the sense of humor, the British. And others - what, it is not? Georgians, you know, are very hospitable. And others don't? That is, it is very difficult to isolate. There are some things, well, for example, the ability to move from delight to depression - I think that this is a Russian trait. But it's the same with the Irish. The Irish for sure. I think that Russians and Irish people are similar in this sense. They love to drink - both. Get drunk - both. Fight - both. They have a colossal literary gift. After all, the best English literature was written by the Irish. Well, apparently yes. Yes, but it is very difficult to determine.

At the same time - is there a concept of "Russian people"? Of course have. Is there a concept of "French"? Of course have. But what a “Jew” is is already difficult to understand. Because a Jew who was born and raised in Israel is not at all the same Jew who was born and raised in Russia. Or somewhere else. This is different. He behaves differently, he has a different character, he is a warrior - unlike those, you understand? Here you have to be very careful. But returning to the question - yes, of course, belonging to some ethnic group imposes certain features.

As for me, I'm a mongrel. I'm not a purebred, I'm a mix. My dad is Pozner, this is a Jewish surname, this is a Jew from the city of Poznan in Poland. Very often Jewish surnames are associated with a place. But my dad said that he was not a Jew, that he was a Russian intellectual. He was an absolute atheist, and yes, he is a Russian intellectual. My dad, or rather his family, was friends with the family of Korney Chukovsky. Absolutely Russian environment - Akhmatova and others. But at the same time, he is still a Jew. Surname Posner - you can't get anywhere. And how did it affect him? Don't know. But I have it, and it's okay. And my mother is French, and I have it too. And I grew up in America, and this is also there. See, so it's a complicated thing. The answer is yes, and then a lot of additions.

This person does not need to be introduced in detail. Everyone knows Vladimir Pozner. He's been on TV for decades. Now he is 82 years old, but he is still active and ubiquitous. Parisian by birth, American and Russian by life and career, he is without a doubt the world's most famous Russian-speaking journalist and TV presenter. On his next visit to America, Vladimir Pozner kindly agreed to answer the questions of VNS.

- Vladimir Vladimirovich, did Trump's victory come as a surprise to you?

– I can’t say that I believed that he would win. Of course not. I thought that Hillary had some advantage. And in this I was mistaken. Although I was not sure that she would win. Still, she received more votes in absolute terms than Trump, and in any other democratic country she would have been the winner. But thanks to the Electoral College system, Trump won. This victory is somewhat strange. It corresponds to the traditions and principles of this country, but does not correspond to my ideas about democracy. The Founding Fathers of more than two hundred years ago did not seem to have much confidence in the people. And we decided to create a tool that can correct the choice of people who are not very versed in politics. This is where the electoral institute came into being. I hope it gets canceled someday. In my opinion, it is contrary to the spirit of democracy.

“Half of America rejoices and rejoices, the other half mourns and resents. Trump said that he intends to consolidate the nation, unite it with some common values. Do you believe him?

- I don't believe him at all. He is not truthful. And she (Clinton) did not always tell the truth. I treat politicians with great skepticism and very rarely believe what they say. Regardless of the country and system. The very profession of a politician presupposes cunning, hiding the truth. No, I don't trust him at all.

- One of Hillary's trump cards during her election battles with Trump was the assertion that he was a kind of mishandled Russian Cossack, a friend of Putin, who has serious commercial interests in Russia. Can you, as a well-informed person, confirm the truth of these statements?

- In my opinion, this is an absolute lie. As far as I know, he has no financial interests in Russia. It was not a very elegant attempt by Hillary to compromise Trump. As we can see, the attempt did not work. Trump is Putin's man? Any sane person understands that this is absolutely not true. All this talk that Putin has been lauding Trump is based on nothing. When asked what he thinks of Trump, Putin said that Trump is a "bright person." In English, the word "bright" was translated as "brilliant", which means "brilliant". In relation to a person, the word "bright" is more appropriate to translate as "flamboyant", but not "brilliant". Idle talk that they sympathize with each other is from the realm of political games that have no basis.

- A few years ago, I think in 2010, you interviewed Hillary Clinton. She, in particular, said that the States are not interested in weakening Russia. Here, I think, it is appropriate to recall both the concept of containment and Reagan's role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Do you think that America, due to its role in the world, can be interested in a strong Russia in principle?

– Look, when the Soviet Union, having suffered a defeat in the Cold War, ceased to exist, the Wolfowitz plan arose in America. Its essence is to prevent the appearance in the world of a country that could threaten the national interests of the United States. This plan stipulated that Russia, having practically become a minor power, would never "emerge" again. This approach is understandable, but deeply flawed. It was he who made Russia what it is today. The American establishment does not want Russia to be a strong country that can compete on equal terms with the United States. When Clinton said the opposite in my program, it was the time of the "reset", the president then was not Putin, but Medvedev, and she, being the secretary of state, carried out a certain political assignment of her government.

– As you well know, after the annexation of Crimea and the well-known events in Ukraine, relations between the United States and Russia went downhill. This slope is long, the slide continues, and, as many believe, such a bad relationship has never been seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In your opinion, what should happen and on whose initiative to improve these relations?

- First of all, you need to understand why this happened. Relations began to deteriorate long before Ukraine, before Crimea. Back in 2007, when Putin gave a speech to the G20 in Munich, he spoke of his disagreement with Western policy toward Russia, disagreement with a unipolar world dominated by the United States. You can't treat us like we're a second-rate power, Putin said. We must take into account our national interests, which exist on a par with yours. We state this quite definitely and firmly. From that moment on, a sharp deterioration in relations began, and the demonization of Putin himself began. We can also recall earlier events: the war in Yugoslavia, the US unilateral decision to bomb Belgrade, because it was not a UN decision. NATO began to advance to the East, despite a verbal promise not to do so. The Russian leadership has a question: why is NATO moving towards our borders? There is no Soviet Union, there is no Warsaw Pact, we do not threaten anyone. This happened before Georgia, before Ukraine. And, of course, NATO is viewed by the Russian leadership as a threat, not as a defensive organization. And if Ukraine becomes a member of the Western world, will not NATO troops be on the southwestern borders of Russia, and not the Russian, but the American Sixth Fleet will be based in Sevastopol. Won't this become the same threat to Russia as the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba was for the United States? Such a complex tangle of questions. Despite the fact that I am not a supporter of Putin, a supporter of many of his political decisions, but in this case, I believe that the initiator of the deterioration of relations is not Russia, but the United States. For those interested, I would refer Thomas Friedman to The New York Times on May 2, 1998, in which he discusses with one of America's most brilliant political minds, George Kennan, what he thinks about NATO expansion. Kennan says: this is the beginning of a new cold war, this is a tragic mistake, this will lead to a change in Russian policy, we do this without any need, no one threatens us. Kennan looked into the water.

– You mentioned that you are not a supporter of Putin. Can you explain why you don't support it?

- In the field of domestic policy, I disagree with him on many things, primarily in tightening authoritarianism, the so-called vertical of power, with the help of which he wanted to "collect" the country after Yeltsin. But this led to the fact that the media ceased to enjoy independence. Elections of governors were canceled, elections of mayors of cities were severely limited. Laws were passed that I consider anti-democratic, in particular, laws on NGOs, on protecting the feelings of believers, on extremism, which can be turned in any direction, and many other things. First of all, this concerns domestic politics. As far as foreign policy is concerned, I think he is doing pretty good things.

– In a recent interview with NPR radio, you explained Russia's policy in Syria in detail. In another interview with the American media, you commented on allegations of attacks by "Russian hackers" on computer networks in the United States. This genre of “explaining” reminded me of what you did many years ago when you explained to the Western media why the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and why the Soviet military shot down a South Korean passenger Boeing. Did you do and are doing this out of necessity, to maintain your official status, or out of vocation?

– I understand your question well, but we are talking about two different approaches. “Many years ago,” as you say, I was a propagandist. I have repeatedly admitted this, I do not hide it at all. Propaganda does not involve truthfulness and objectivity, or clarification, it involves "breaking through" a certain point of view. I was brought up by my father in a very pro-Soviet spirit, I came to the Soviet Union when I was almost 19 years old. I was not going to engage in propaganda at all, I wanted to become a biologist. But it happened so - he began to engage in foreign policy propaganda. Moreover, I note that inside the country I was not given the opportunity to go on the radio and on TV. In hindsight, I think it's good. For a long time, I propagandized the Soviet Union in every possible way on Foreign Broadcasting. The same "Voice of America", only on the contrary. Gradually, I began to realize that I was telling half-truths, and it was like a lie, that I was doing a bad deed. It was not easy to think about it, to realize it, to squirm, as it were. In the end, he put an end to it - he left propaganda. And I swore to myself that I would never again be a member of any party, that I would never again work for any state, for any authority, that I would never work on the staff of any organization. And I will try to be as objective as possible in my journalistic work, to tell only the truth, although, of course, anyone can be mistaken. And to represent all opinions so that my audience can draw their own conclusions. This is what I do.

– One of your incarnations is the creation of travel documentaries. For one of these films, "Jewish Happiness", about Israel, you were criticized in the press. Say, you feel like a Russian, a Frenchman, an American, but not a Jew. What do you say to that?

- Feel like a Jew? First, it is a matter of faith. I am an unbeliever, an atheist, and the Jewish faith does not touch me. When I was first allowed to leave the Soviet Union - and I was banned from leaving the country for 34 years - I ended up at the Forum in Rome. August, African heat. Surprisingly quiet and deserted. I wandered among the ruins, fallen columns, and suddenly I felt with extraordinary strength: this is where I come from, this is Europe. I am a European person, I feel it with every fiber of my soul. When many years later I stood in Jerusalem at the Wailing Wall, I understood the enormous significance of this place, but I did not have a sense of personal belonging. What to do? It can't be done specifically for oneself. Of course, I admire Israel, what this country has achieved over the decades of independence. Planting 250 million trees is crazy! Turn the desert into a blooming garden! All this is admirable.

- At your rather respectable age, you do not slow down - you host an author's program, make films, travel around the world. What helps to maintain tone?

– Seriously speaking, the role of genes is important. I love my profession, it brings me great joy. I am happy in my children. I am happy in my personal life. And speaking jokingly, quite a long time ago I met with Woland, and we agreed with him.

- With whom!?

- With Woland.

So you signed a pact with the devil?

- Well, of course.

– That explains a lot (general laughter).