He’s spent years rewriting history in service of nationalism.
Russia has no more appropriate ambassador for this gross distortion of history than Vladimir Medinsky. The fact that he is lead negotiator is itself an aggressive sign of escalation. The last anyone heard publicly from Medinsky before his departure for the Belarusian-Ukrainian border was a provocative“in honor of Feb. 23.” This date is usually associated with Russia’s militaristic Defenders of the Fatherland holiday, but it is also the birthday of renowned Soviet artist Kazimir Malevich.
While Malevich was Ukrainian-born with Polish roots, Medinsky wrote in this post that he was actually a “Russian artist” born in Kyiv. It is equally possible that Medinsky is recasting Malevich’s heritage on purpose as it is that he believes this to be true. But in his world, that’s a distinction without a difference. Malevich is one of the most famous Soviet artists; therefore, heRussian. Medinsky is more interested in his own version of historical truth than objective reality.