Vladimir Alexandrovich Kucherenko (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Кучере́нко; born December 21, 1966), better known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Maxim Kalashnikov (Макси́м Кала́шников), is a Russian writer, publicist, and political activist. His writings focus on praising the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and its political and economic system from a

Russian nationalist Russian nationalism is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence in the early 19th century, and from its origin in the Russian Empire, to its repression during early B ...

perspective, criticizing the

Russian government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russ ...

, and discussing the perceived

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(particularly American) threat to Russia and the likelihood that this antagonism will result in a

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

between Russia and NATO.

Ideology and criticism

Maxim Kalashnikov is a Russian nationalistic agitator. As an expert in Russian history, economics, and military, he criticizes modern Russia and praises the Soviet system, or more precisely what it was under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

and what it could have become without

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...

and Mikhail Gorbachev. He is an advocate of "a federated

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

" consisting of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

, parts of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

's breakaway

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which v ...

and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated popula ...

. He has described himself as a supporter of "dismemberment" of Georgia and creation of Russian-allied enclaves in its territory. Kalashnikov has often been criticized for lack of objectivity and abuse of sentimentalism in his writings. Kalashnikov targets primarily younger Russian. He has also been criticized for making numerous contradictions. For example, in some of his writing, Kalashnikov praises Stalin and the Soviet system, yet in other writings, he espouses sharp

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and th ...

arguments. In September 2009

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Dmitry Medvedev urged the government to study Kalashnikov's ideas for speeding the development of the country’s innovative economy posted at

LiveJournal LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, ...

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Major works

*Московский спрут ''The Muscovite Octopus'' (1993) *Москва — империя тьмы ''Moscow – the Empire of Darkness'' (1995) *Сломанный меч империи '' The Broken Sword of the Empire'' (1998/2000/2002) *Битва за небеса '' The Battle for Skies'' (2000/2002) *Гнев орка ''The Wrath of the Orc'' (in collaboration with Yuri Krupnov 2003) *Оседлай молнию ''Ride the Lightning'' (in collaboration with Yuri Krupnov 2003) *Вперед, в СССР-2 ''Towards USSR 2.0'' (2003) *Третий проект: книга-расследование в 3 тт. ''The Third Project: An Investigation Book in 3 Volumes'' (in collaboration with Sergey Kugushev 2005/2006) *Код Путина ''The Putin Code'' (2005) *Война с Големом ''The War Against the Golem'' (2006) *Сверхчеловек говорит по-русски ''The Übermensch Speaks Russian'' (in collaboration with Rodion Rusov, 2006) *Крещение огнём ''The Baptism of Fire'' (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalashnikov, Maxim 1966 births Living people 20th-century Russian journalists 20th-century Russian writers 21st-century Russian journalists 21st-century Russian writers Moscow State University alumni People from Ashgabat Russian bloggers Russian male journalists Russian male writers Russian nationalists Russian political activists Russian political writers Turkmenistan people of Russian descent Neo-Stalinists 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers