Play me the song of victory How Putin's propagandists make money from the war
They sing of victory and heroism, vilify Ukraine and threaten the "depraved West". A number of artists and journalists in Russia have discovered war as a business model.
22.02.2026, 21:09
dpa
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- Kremlin propaganda is sending numerous prominent faces from the worlds of art, culture and journalism into the war of disinformation.
- The main themes also include denigrating Ukraine and portraying the West as warmongers.
- The business-minded agitators in Putin's service earn a lot as war supporters - and get high-ranking positions in the apparatus of power.
The crowd cheers as the white-blonde-haired singer Yaroslav Dronov - known under the pseudonym Shaman - sings his hit "Ja Russki" ("I am Russian"). A huge Russian flag is shown on stage behind Dronov's back and he himself wears the tricolor as a bandage on both upper arms. Down in the audience near the city of Sudak on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Russia has annexed since 2014, they wave Russian flags and sing along enthusiastically.
Somewhere in the crowd, a child holds up a poster. "Victory will be with us" is written on it. It is an allusion to the war that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered against Ukraine four years ago - and which claims victims there every day, including civilians from infants to old age.
"I am Russian. I will go to the end. I am Russian. My father's blood in me. I am Russian. That is happiness. I am Russian. In spite of the whole world" sings Shaman on stage - and the audience joins in animatedly.
Career boost thanks to war
Shaman is a prime example of a career that has been boosted by Russia's war. The 34-year-old has been in show business for over ten years. He was unable to gain a foothold with his love songs until he switched to patriotism. One of his songs is entitled "Mein Kampf" (translated into German), another song is called "Wstanem" ("Let's rise up"). He released this one the day before the war began.
The song, which was originally dedicated to the memory of Soviet soldiers in the Second World War, quickly became the anthem of the new war. Around a dozen other, equally enterprising performers took part in an alternative version of the single - including well-known Russian pop stars such as Grigori Leps and Oleg Gasmanov, Sergei Lazarev, Nikolai Baskov and Nikolai Rastorguyev.
Kremlin uses celebrities for propaganda
They are all regular guests at the numerous concerts held by the Kremlin in support of the war. But it is not only singers who have allowed themselves to be used for Kremlin propaganda. Athletes, actors, presenters and journalists also appear at the mass events with sometimes hair-raising messages.
The actor Ivan Okhlobystin, for example, who became famous in Russia with a role as a cynical senior physician in a hospital comedy series based on Western models, called for a "holy war" against Ukraine and the West on Red Square in Moscow.
His colleague Mikhail Porochenkov was filmed back in 2014 firing a machine gun towards Ukrainian positions at the airport in Donetsk on the side of the Moscow-controlled separatists. He was wearing a helmet with the word "Press" on it, which is actually intended to distinguish media representatives from fighting soldiers.
Agitation brigades for combat morale
Porochenkov has been a member of the Kremlin administration's "agitation brigades" since the beginning of the war. Their task is to appear before Russian fighters in Ukraine in order to raise the fighting morale of the troops. The whole thing is financed by the construct "Integrazija", supposedly an NGO, which, however, receives its money from state and state-affiliated companies.
According to investigative journalists, the equivalent of hundreds of millions of euros flowed through this and other structures in 2023 alone. The money is used for various PR measures to justify the invasion, which violates international law. In addition to Porochenkov, rock singer Yulia Chicherina and his fellow actors Sergei Garmash and Sergei Besrukov are also on the payroll of the agitation brigades.
Irony of fate: Besrukov, who has made money with several pathetic war films in recent years, also took part in the satirical show "Kukly" ("Puppets") at the beginning of his career in the 1990s. High-ranking Russian politicians were made fun of there. The show was created by screenwriter Mikhail Shenderovich, who was labeled a foreign agent and forced into exile as an opponent of the war and critic of Putin.
Mikhalkov - from Stalin criticism to Putin worship
Nikita Mikhalkov should not be missing from the ranks of war propagandists. The now 80-year-old old master of Soviet and Russian cinema has always been known for his closeness to the powerful in Moscow. In the 1990s, he supported President Boris Yeltsin and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with the film "The Sun That Deceives Us", a drama criticizing the Great Terror under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
Under Putin, he became an ardent supporter of his policies. In his own program "Bessogon TV" ("Devil's Exorcist TV"), he spreads conspiracy theories and Russian fantasies of great power and incites hatred against liberals, minorities and the West in general. He justified the war against Ukraine as a "fight against Satanism". In return, he benefits from numerous bonuses and lucrative posts. For years, he has been one of Putin's confidants in the elections.
PR marriage in occupied Ukraine
Shaman has also earned this status in the 2024 presidential election. He recently changed his wife for the second time. While producer Yelena Martynova had previously driven his career forward and shaped his stage image, he married Ekaterina Misulina in November 2025.
Critics believe that this step was also taken for career reasons. Misulina is one of the most influential women in Russia. With her "League for Internet Security", which is financed by sources close to the state, she hunts down voices critical of the Kremlin online and is considered the face of denunciation in Russia. The wedding ceremony took place in the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, which is occupied by Moscow troops.
Shaman in a skirt
Shaman's rise has already inspired imitators. The best-known example is the singer Tatyana Kurtukova. In contrast to Shaman's rather brutal style, she relies on the soft sounds of Russian folk music, but her patriotic undertones cannot be ignored either - as in the currently very popular song "Matushka Zemlya" ("Mother Earth").
They performed together at a National Day concert in front of the Kremlin. The 32-year-old, whom mockers refer to as a "shaman in a skirt", is clearly very much drawn there. According to reports, she hopes to become Minister of Culture one day. She is now studying administrative sciences in order to meet the demands of a political post, as she has already said in an interview.
