Alexander Rodnyansky is the most famous film producer and media entrepreneur in Russia and Ukraine. His films received four Oscar nominations. Alexander founded the first independent TV station in Kyiv, 1+1, and worked closely with the then actor Zelensky. He then headed the successful Russian TV channel CTC.
Born in Kyiv, Alexander lived in Russia the last decades, just like we did. His most famous movies, Leviathan in Loveless, he made in Russia, together with the Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev and with Russian actors. Leviathan was the official Russian entry to the Oscars and was awarded a nomination and a Golden Globe.
Ukrainian or Russian, it didn’t matter all those years. No one looked at your passport or your place of birth. Zelensky himself was also active in Russia as an actor and comedian. The borders did not seem to count, because the culture and also the language crossed borders.
Until the war. While businessmen and also artists of Ukrainian origin, but now settled in Moscow, had doubts, Rodnyansky resolutely sided with Ukraine from day one. That was certainly not appreciated in the Kremlin. Hadn’t he been producing films for years with the support of the Russian Film Fund?!
The Rodnyanskys had to flee. Alexander was labeled a ‘foreign agent’ by the Russian government – a qualification reserved for Russian journalists and activists. Another proof that the Kremlin felt betrayed by ‘their’ famous film director. The fact that his son had meanwhile been appointed Zelenksy’s top economic adviser will not have helped either.
Rodnyansky has a unique network on both sides through its history. When he visited us in Amsterdam this week, I was naturally curious regarding his view on the war.
“The self-confidence in Kyiv is very high,” said Rodnyansky. “There is a real feeling that the Ukrainian army is winning. Preparations for a new Ukrainian offensive are in full swing. No one – except, of course, the military staff – knows exactly where and when Ukraine will strike, but something is certain to happen. The coming months will be crucial. If Ukraine can deal another blow to the Russians, as it did at Kherson, then Zelensky will be much more confident in possible negotiations. If the counter-offensive fails, the war might go on for years.”
“And Bachmut, where not only the Russians suffer heavy losses, but also the Ukrainians,” I asked, “doesn’t that affect Zelensky’s popularity?”
“Every war has its symbols – Verdun, Stalingrad, Mariupol and now Bachmut. This is just as much a propaganda war, in which Zelensky trumps Putin every day. Western analysts have been predicting the fall of Bachmut for weeks, but Zelensky was still visiting this week, casually mingling with the troops. Those images are worth gold. Compare them with the staged images of Putin in Mariupol. Fortunately, the Russians now seem to have lost momentum in Bachmoet, a great boost for Zelensky.”
Rodnyansky came to Amsterdam to visit our editorial office of independent Russian journalists. “What you are doing here is very important. The press in Russia no longer exists, it is only propaganda. But to be honest, the Ukrainian press doesn’t write everything either. That is also very understandable, if you are under fire like that. That is why it is so good that you are giving an independent voice from Amsterdam with a team of journalists, many of whom, like me, were born and raised in Ukraine and grew up in Russia.”
Derk Sauer is publisher of The Moscow Times and a columnist at The parole. He is also founder of the Russian newspaper Knowledge and former publisher of RBK Gazeta.
