Smolin Mikhail

Smolin Mikhail Citizenship

Russia

Smolin Mikhail Professional field/official position

Deputy editor-in-chief of Tsargrad TV.

Smolin Mikhail biography

SMOLIN Mikhail Borisovich (b. 1971 in Leningrad) graduated from the History Department of St. Petersburg State University in 1996. In 1997, he became editor of the publishing section of “Moscow” magazine. In 1999, he took up the post of editor in the “Roman Journal of the XX century.” In 2004, he received a Kandidat degree in History. Later, he was the Deputy Director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (a subsidiary of the Presidential Administration, the former think-tank of the Soviet KGB and the Foreign Intelligence Service).

Currently, he is the head of the Orthodox Center for Imperial Political Studies, the executive director of the Imperial Renaissance Foundation, and the editor-in-chief of several Orthodox and ultra-conservative magazines. Since 2017, Smolin has been working as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tsargrad TV, an Orthodox conservative TV channel founded by Konstantin Malofeev, a sponsor of pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine.

Smolin Mikhail crimes

The example of Mikhail Smolin demonstrates the synthesis and even absorption of the official discourse in Russia by marginals and anti-Western fanatics. Smolin, calling himself a monarchist and propagandist of the Russian imperial (expansionist) ideology for several years, was the deputy director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISI). This institute was founded by President Yeltsin on the basis of the former Research Institute of Intelligence Problems of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR as the think-tank of the Foreign Intelligence Service Of Russia. It was later reassigned to the Presidential Administration, and work there is considered a state civil service. This institute became famous for declaring the ongoing AIDS epidemic in Russia a part of the information war of the West against Russia. Reuters journalists also claimed that RISI, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was behind developing a plan for “Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.”

In 2014, during the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s armed intervention in Ukraine, Smolin joined the official anti-Ukrainian hysteria by publishing the article “Ukraine is Russia.” In it, he openly denied the right of Ukrainians to self-determination, Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the inviolability of internationally recognized borders. In particular, he stated the following: “Ukrainian statehood is an association that survived within the borders of Soviet times quite by accident. As in the days of the Russo-Lithuanian state or the Commonwealth, entire regions that are civilizationally closer to Russia are already breaking away – and should break away. This process already has – and should continue to have – support in Russia under the slogan of “collecting the Russian land.” <…> “Ukrainism” is the revival of pagan savagery, multiplied by the steppe anarchy. <…> We need to take a tough stance that the South Russian, Malorossiya lands are an integral part of the Russian state.

Smolin wrote an article on Tsargrad TV’s website discussing the 2020 changes to the Constitution, which enabled Putin to remain in power at least until 2036. The article attracted a lot of attention. In it, Smolin openly criticized those who opposed the 'nullification' of Putin's presidential terms and the Constitutional Court's decision, referring to them as 'political whores.' He dismissed the opposition's objections as purely political and claimed that they were spreading negativity through social media. Smolin also accused the opposition of blindly following their leaders and disregarding the Constitutional Court's conclusions.

The author of the article found the Constitutional Court's decision 'very interesting' for both legal experts and non-experts. He criticized the judge Konstantin Aranovsky for not participating in the consideration of the amendments due to illness, suggesting that it was a political move.

It is worth noting that Smolin's article was initially published on the official website of the Constitutional Court, but was later removed after gaining attention from the media.

On March 16, 2020, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation issued an opinion on the presidential bill amending the Constitution. The judges stated that it did not violate the country's Basic Law. Two days prior, Putin signed the hastily prepared amendments, which included 'nullifying the presidential terms' and expanding the president's powers. These changes are seen as illegitimate and undemocratic by the Free Russia Forum, completing the establishment of Putin's dictatorship.