Putin’s Russia and a novel set in his hometown
Just over two years ago, I was sitting in Pyshechnaya, a donut shop in Saint Petersburg with my wife-to-be, Alison. I was explaining my idea for a novel set in the city, inspired by its status as ‘hero-city.’
The Siege of Leningrad was arguably history’s most horrific military operation. For 872 days, the city was cut off from the world, with more than a million of its citizens losing their lives, primarily through starvation, disease and hypothermia, but also the heavy bombing that was inflicted in the early stages.
Amongst the dead was a young child named Viktor Putin. Viktor died of diphtheria in the early stages of the siege, just a couple of years after his brother Albert’s death in infancy. The family was more protected from the horrors the city faced than most. Viktor’s grandfather Spiridon worked as a cook for Joseph Stalin having previously worked for Vladimir Lenin. Viktor’s father, Vladimir senior, worked for the NKVD, a forerunner of the KGB. Rations for such people were not the same as what the general population faced. Although they lost their child, the senior Putin’s were kept safe. In 1952, with the city of Leningrad having begun it’s extensive rebuild, the Putin’s had another son, Vladimir.
More than most of the Soviet Union, Saint Petersburg had an enormous rebuild necessary in the post-war era. Young Vladimir Putin had an impoverished upbringing, his father no longer an NKVD agent after serious injuries during the war. The lessons of childhood were clear. Surviving and thriving were the objectives, at any cost. During the siege, cannibalism had been rife as the only means of survival. The mindset that had led to this continued in slightly less distressing ways, but the willingness to fight for everything was deeply entrenched. In young Vladimir, this ruthlessness became fixed; if it was needed, it was done whoever suffered along the way. Ideally nobody suffered, but if so it didn’t matter. When all was analysed, you prioritised your own needs. The attitude of the teenager became the attitude that he has carried through his time in public life.
Putin’s approach has been one of constant building. He has continually focused on building both his power base and his net worth. Putin’s wealth is hidden through many layers and is impossible to accurately calculate. It is believed that he controls 37% of Surgutneftegaz and 4.5% of Gazprom which take him a long way towards the position of the wealthiest man in the world. Building this wealth is significantly easier when holding such enormous power. He was forced to stand aside as president after two terms, moving into the role of Prime Minister while having colleague Dmitry Medvedev serve as puppet president. He then worked on changing the constitution to ensure he could spend far longer in the role of president when moving back into it in 2012. Eventually, continuing to build the power base meant expanding beyond the borders of Russia. Like many of his generation, he never believed the dissolution of the Soviet Union was right. For nations like Ukraine, whose history has been so connected to Russia, this was always going to stay on Putin’s radar.
More than any country, the Soviet Union was responsible for winning World War II. This ‘victory’ came with the cost of more than 25 million of its citizens dying, or nearly 15% of its entire population. Attacked by Germany, there was no choice regarding Soviet involvement. The current situation is a question of choice. Since 2014, Ukraine and Russia have been at war, primarily based around the Crimea region. In this time, more than 5,000 of his citizens have been killed. Collateral damage to Putin. Thousands or millions, they remain incidental. What is his power base, and his financial standing at the end of the war. These are the measures he will operate on.
Freedom in Russia is something that can’t be taken for granted in Russia the same way as in the west. Since the incursion into Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russians have marched in the major cities protesting their nations action. More than 2,000 people have been arrested, and in Russia the capacity exists for them to be tried for treason. The risk that these people take when they protest the government is severe, yet they proceed. This war does not speak for the citizens of Russia. This is the decision of an authoritarian government and one that is under the complete control of an all-powerful man who rules like the tsars from centuries gone by.
There are two sides to every story and in most cases, the truth lies somewhere between these. Across the world we have seen strong condemnation of Russia for its actions. Similar invasions of sovereign nations by western countries have never seen the same form of unity in sanctions. In some cases the narrative may have been that those invasions were to liberate the people, whereas Russia’s intent is the opposite. Intent is subjective. In any situation, a foreign power invading a sovereign nation is an act of war, and history condemns the aggressor each and every time. War is never the answer, and there is no better place than Putin’s hometown to demonstrate exactly why that is the case.
When the Russians moved into Ukraine, I decided to abandon my plans to release ‘Survival in Saint Petersburg‘ later this year. In travel fiction, the location works as a key character, and in the current climate, it is a character that people may not appreciate. As time has passed, I’ve seen this is not the right decision.
‘Survival in Saint Petersburg‘ is not designed to celebrate the Russian nation, and most certainly not it’s government. The story is one of a person who has had her hometown invaded. It is a story of the horrors of war. The current scenario in Ukraine makes it all the more relevant. The aim for an author should be to tell stories than need to be told, and I believe in the current climate, this story needs telling.