Sometimes the Kremlin’s propaganda machine does such a clumsy job that one can only ask one question: Did one of the propagandists involved actually believe at some point that someone could buy his work? This question also comes to mind when listening to Nikolai Peskov’s new fable.
The 33-year-old is the son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. So far he has only excelled in a number of crimes in Britain, where he went by the name of Nikolai Choles (his stepfather’s surname) and stole away the time. Now he wants to be a war hero – or what Kremlin propaganda understands by that.
In an interview with the propaganda newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, Peskov Junior said he had fought for the Wagner mercenary army in Ukraine for six months – thanks to the active support of his father. When he decided to take part in the war, he didn’t know how to do it. “I asked him how to properly contact the private military organization. And he helped me,” Nikolai said. He went into battle because he felt it was his duty. His family welcomed his decision. “Forward” was her advice.
In Ukraine he waged war under a false name, Nikolai continued. “When I was there, I had to change my last name. Nobody knew who I was.” But Nikolai did not reveal under what name he claims to have fought in the Wagner troops. Not even what he is said to have received a medal “For Courage”. “My whole team did a heroic deed. We had an interesting trip. That’s all I can say,” he explained nebulously.
Peskow Junior did not provide any evidence of his alleged commitment. Instead, Vladimir Solovyov, the central TV face of Kremlin propaganda, presented footage of a hooded figure. In conversation with the chief hetzer, the masked man introduced himself as an artilleryman from the Wagner mercenaries. He comes from the Russian city of Cheboksary and ended up at the front without any military experience. Solovyov claims the picture was taken in late January in the Ukrainian city of Soledar. And it should show no one else than Nikolai Peskov.
However, the first to circulate the fable story was Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. Dmitri Peskov personally asked him in the summer of 2022 to place his son with the mercenaries as a simple artilleryman, Prigozhin claims. He also did this. Nikolai was taken on by Wagner with false documents and under a different name.
On that occasion, Prigozhin could not resist another jab at the Russian Defense Ministry. The Wagner boss has been engaged in a desperate power struggle with Sergej Schoigu’s authority for months – in which he threatens to go under. That’s where Peskow Junior comes in handy with his heroic fairy tale. He advised Peskov not to send his son to work for the Defense Ministry under any circumstances, says Prigozhin. There Nikolai would either have gone sour in the staff or would have met his end as cannon fodder.
But apart from empty allegations and the usual insults against his archenemy, Prigozhin did not provide any evidence of Nikolai’s stay at the front – not even for a short day trip, let alone for half a year in the war.
The so-called political scientist Sergei Markov thought one step further – and hastened to present an alleged proof. On his Telegram channel he published a picture of a young man in uniform. “This is a photo of Peskov’s son taking his oath,” he wrote. “Also, witnesses appeared who served in the Wagner squad along with Nikolai Peskov. So Dmitry Peskov was telling the truth. His son fought at the front in the Wagner ranks against the fascists,” Markov repeated the Kremlin mantra , which he also gives in all other propaganda shows for the best. “This is now becoming popular among the Russian elite,” he predicted.
It’s just unfortunate that the picture doesn’t even show Nikolai Peskov – but of all things the son of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The politician himself can be seen behind his son’s right shoulder in the picture. Markov has since deleted the post, but as we all know, the internet never forgets.
In the case of Nikolai Peskov, too, the Kremlin propaganda works according to its classic motto: Nobody saw it, but everyone should believe it. The same tactics were used when Vladimir Putin allegedly had himself vaccinated against Corona with Sputnik; or when he is said to have visited the front.
Meanwhile, the evidence against Peskow Junior’s fable is growing. The Tesla, which belonged to him until the end of March 2023, was apparently flashed in Moscow on July 24 and November 6, 2022. Footage from a surveillance camera has been published on Telegram to document the speed limit being exceeded. At this time, however, Nikolai claims to have been at war.
Current and former Wagner mercenaries also testify that they did not see Nikolai in Ukraine – not even in Soledar, where Vladimir Solovyov wants to have him masked in front of the camera, reports the Telegram channel ВЧК-ОГПУ. Acquaintances of Nikolai would also say that he has not disappeared anywhere for a long time and has no plans to change his lifestyle.
Nikolai made the same statement himself last September. At that time he fell for a prank by Alexei Navalny’s comrades-in-arms. They rang through to him and posed as military commissars looking for volunteers to serve in the war. Under this guise, they asked the son of the Kremlin spokesman to come for an inspection the next day at 10 a.m.
“I will certainly not come at 10 a.m. If you know that I am Mr. Peskow, then you must also understand how wrong it is that I will be there. I will solve it on a different level,” explained Nikolai full of arrogance.
Neither he nor his father, the Kremlin spokesman, denied the authenticity of the call.
With the Wagner fairy tale, Nikolai probably not only wanted to help himself, but also Prigozhin out of the image jam. Instead, both pleaded guilty to one crime: document forgery. In theory, it means up to a year in prison. But different laws will apply to Dmitry Peskov’s son.
