Dismissal Due to Criticism of Singing the 'Allegiance to Putin' Anthem in Kindergarten

A local journalist in a remote area of Siberia was fired after criticizing in an Instagram post that she saw children performing an anthem demonstrating 'allegiance' to Vladimir Putin in a kindergarten. Aleksandra Trikova, a local reporter for the 'N-1' network, was dismissed on June 6 after Rinat Karimov, her news editor, told her, 'If you have political ambitions, you should go work for the independent TV channel Dozhd.' In response to a fact-checking inquiry by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ludmila Kozlova, the editor-in-chief of 'N-1,' confirmed that the news of Aleksandra Trikova's dismissal was accurate. Ms. Kozlova stated that the decision to dismiss this journalist had 'nothing to do with having a different political viewpoint' and was solely because the journalist violated the rules of the 'N-1' network. Ludmila Kozlova mentioned that the internal rules of their network are that 'no journalist should send a political message on air in the name of the network.' She emphasized that Trikova, as a mother, can take any public stance she wants, but is not allowed to do so under the network's name. Aleksandra Trikova made headlines on May 24. She posted a video on Instagram of children aged four to five singing the anthem 'Uncle Vova.' Uncle Vova, created by Yacislav Antonov, is an anthem praising Vladimir Putin. This anthem, which has faced criticism mainly for 'showing allegiance,' made headlines last year when a video of children in Volgograd singing it while wearing police uniforms was released. The mentioned video was produced at the request of Anna Kuvichko, Deputy Chair of the State Duma from the United Russia party. Parts of this anthem can be translated as: 'Although the earth should witness peace, if Uncle Vova, our Commander-in-Chief, calls us to the final battle, we will be with him!' Another part of the anthem states: 'Sevastopol and Crimea belong to us; we will protect them and hand them over to our children. We will take back Alaska, the port of our homeland.' Aleksandra Trikova, whose daughter Alisa sang this anthem at the kindergarten concert, sarcastically wrote along with the video on Instagram: 'For some reason, I do not want the Commander-in-Chief to call Alisa to the final battle.' Ms. Trikova told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: 'I opposed this performance; otherwise, I wouldn't have posted it. To me, this is purely like a generation of children loyal to Hitler. These divisive songs about our president and how Crimea belongs to us are fundamentally evil. These thoughts lack wisdom, and one must be very narrow-minded to circulate them. But some teachers and parents think there is nothing wrong with it.' She added: 'I will neither send my child to the final battle nor will I be present in it. Not for Uncle Vova nor for any other uncle in power. The text of this anthem could even be interpreted as an invitation to suicide.' The 'N-1' television network also published a poll on this matter, and many of those who commented were aligned with Aleksandra Trikova's statements. A user named Irina Fabritskaya-Popova wrote: 'Why involve children in politics?' Another user named Anastasia Khipank wrote: 'Children should only sing about mothers and the sun and topics like that.' Another mother, who wished to be referred to only as Irina, said: 'This anthem does not belong in kindergarten. It is too complicated, and children cannot even pronounce it correctly. Then, when no one understands the meaning of the text, it results in a confused and chaotic mix.' Aleksandra Trikova also stated that her daughter has no idea how to pronounce the word 'hegemon' in this anthem or what it means. Instead of this word, she used an equivalent that means 'hippopotamus' in Russian. Edmond Igushin, the head of the district education office, stated in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he agrees with the parents who were dissatisfied with this performance. He said: 'I think in this case, the music teacher and the parents should have considered the age limitations of the children. I agree with the parents who are not satisfied with the choice of such an anthem in kindergarten.'