Putin’s chief ideologue: Media reveals who is rewriting history for Kremlin leader

In particular, sources of the Skhemy project claim that Medinsky knows how to craft the right phrasing for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Putin has his own ideas — for example, at the Bucharest summit in 2008, he already stated that the Ukrainian state does not exist. So these ideas were not new for Putin, but now Medinsky is helping to give them an ideological form," said a source close to Estonia’s security structures.

At the same time, investigators found that Medinsky, through the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), which he controls, is carrying out ideological initiatives in the occupied territories and supporting military units. Moreover, Medinsky is reportedly overseeing the imposition of Kremlin ideology on schoolchildren across the post-Soviet space and is involved in publishing history textbooks.

Medinsky and Crimea

In March 2014, just two weeks after the occupation of Crimea, then-Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky presented Putin with his ministry’s plans for the peninsula. Specifically, he proposed organizing theatrical performances based on Russian literary works, holding exhibitions dedicated to the Russian Empire, and supplying Crimean libraries with books from Russia. Since then, Medinsky regularly visited Crimea to oversee the implementation of these initiatives.

Six months later, he introduced a school textbook presenting the Russian interpretation of Crimea’s history. In the foreword written by Medinsky himself, it is emphasized that the involvement of the Russian Military Historical Society, which he heads, influenced the content of the publication — particularly the emphasis placed on military and political aspects. The text also claims that the "reunification of Crimea with Russia" allegedly enriches national historiography with "interesting and necessary works."

Occupied Crimea and Luhansk

In the temporarily occupied cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, the first branches of the Russian Military Historical Society began operating in 2022 — after the Kremlin announced their "accession" to the Russian Federation, a move that violates international law.

"Medinsky is uniquely valuable to Putin because he believes in what he says. Even 20 years ago, he sincerely believed that Russia was innocent and surrounded only by enemies — and he still believes that today. And Putin believes the same. In that sense, they’ve found each other," said a former Russian politician, speaking on condition of anonymity to Delfi, Estonian media outlet.

In December 2021, Putin established the Interdepartmental Commission on Historical Enlightenment and appointed Medinsky as its head. According to the presidential decree, the commission operates under the Russian president and coordinates government agencies, particularly on matters related to the "protection of historical truth and preservation of historical memory."

The commission has three main objectives:

• to unify the approach of state bodies to historical education;

• to analyze and counter the activities of foreign actors that harm Russia’s national historical interests;

• to propose counter-propaganda historical and cultural initiatives.

The Skhemy investigative project obtained the minutes of one of the commission’s meetings held in February 2025.

According to the document, under Medinsky’s leadership, the commission instructed Russia’s Ministry of Education to develop a "unified state textbook on regional history" for schools in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine. The textbook is to be titled The History of Novorossiya and Donbas, with completion planned by June 2025.

Earlier, we reported that the head of the Russian delegation in talks with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky, attempted to justify why a ceasefire was unnecessary for negotiations — citing a fabricated quote falsely attributed to Napoleon.