They sing about victories and heroism, slander Ukraine and threaten the "rotten West". For many singers, artists, filmmakers and journalists in Russia, war has become a successful business model that makes good money.
When the white-haired singer Yaroslav Dronov, known as Shaman, sings his song “Я русский“ (“I am Russian“), the audience always welcomes him enthusiastically. A huge Russian flag flies on the stage behind him, and he himself also wears a tricolor on his sleeves. During the concert in the city of Sudak, on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, the audience also waved Russian flags and cheered enthusiastically, reports the German media network RND. A child in the audience waved a poster that read “Victory is ours“ - regardless of the victims that the war has been causing for four years.
"I am Russian. I will go to the end. I am Russian. My father's blood flows in my veins. I am Russian and that is happiness. In defiance of the whole world," Shaman sings, and the audience completely agrees with him.
How war helps a career
Shaman is a classic example of a career built thanks to war. The 34-year-old performer has been in show business for over a decade, but he didn't have much success with his love songs before he emphasized patriotism. One of his hits is called "My Struggle", another - "We Will Rise". The second was released just a day before the start of the war.
The song, which was supposedly dedicated to the memory of Soviet soldiers who died during World War II, quickly became an anthem of the new war and was sung by many other Russian pop stars who showed the same business acumen, the German media describes the situation.
The Kremlin uses pop stars for its propaganda
Artists such as Grigory Leps or Oleg Gazmanov, Sergey Lazarev, Nikolai Baskov and Nikolai Raztorguev are regular participants in the concerts organized by the Kremlin in support of the war. And they are by no means the only ones who support the cause – This is also done by athletes, actors, TV presenters and journalists, who often send very shocking messages to the masses.
Among them is the artist Ivan Okhlobystin, who became famous in Russia for his role as a cynical chief doctor in a Western-style comedy series - he called from Red Square in Moscow for a "Holy War" against Ukraine and the West.
His colleague Mikhail Porechenkov was filmed in 2014 shooting at Ukrainian positions with an automatic rifle, siding with the Moscow-controlled separatists at the Donetsk airport. He was wearing a helmet with the words "Press", which is intended to distinguish only representatives of the media, writes the German news agency DPA.
Agitation brigades raise morale
Since the beginning of the war, Porechenkov has been part of the "Agitation brigades" of the Kremlin administration. Their task is to appear before Russian fighters in Ukraine in order to raise their fighting morale. All this is financed by the organization "Integration", which is supposedly non-governmental, but in fact receives money from state and state-affiliated companies.
Hundreds of millions of euros have flowed through this and other similar structures in 2023 alone, according to information from investigative journalists. The money is intended for various PR measures to justify the invasion, which is contrary to international law. Along with Porechenkov, rock singer Yulia Chicherina and artists such as Sergei Garmash and Sergei Bezrukov have also benefited from them.
Ironically, Bezrukov, who in recent years has become "famous" for his pathetic war films, at the beginning of his career in the 1990s also participated in the satirical show "Dolls", which was not afraid to criticize high-ranking Russian politicians. Its scriptwriter was Mikhail Shenderovich, who is today labeled a "foreign agent" and a critic of Putin, which is why he had to leave Russia.
Mikhalkov - from criticizing Stalin to praising Putin
A special place among military propagandists is occupied by Nikita Mikhalkov - the famous director, who is 80 years old and has always maintained close ties with those in power in Moscow. In the 1990s, he supported President Boris Yeltsin and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for his film Burnt by the Sun (a critique of the terror under Stalin).
Mikhalkov then became an ardent supporter of Putin's policies. He hosts a TV show called "Besogon", in which he spreads conspiracy theories and fuels Great Russian ambitions, while sowing hatred against liberals, minorities and the West in general. He justifies the war against Ukraine as a "fight against Satanism", for which he is thanked with numerous bonuses and lucrative positions. As the DPA agency points out, he has been one of Putin's closest confidants during elections for years.
Wedding in occupied Ukraine as a PR move
The singer Shaman also earned such status in the 2024 presidential elections. He has since married for the second time, with critics believing that he took this step for career reasons. His current wife, Ekaterina Mizulina, is one of the most influential women in Russia. With her "Internet Security League", which is funded by sources close to the state, she organizes the persecution of critical voices of the Kremlin on the Internet and is the embodiment of whistleblowing in Russia. The wedding took place in Donetsk, which is occupied by Russian troops.