Aleksandr Pankratov-Cherny is a Russian actor and film director. Honored Artist of Russia (1998). Born on June 28, 1949, in the village of Konevo, Altai Krai, RSFSR.
The position of Pankratov-Cherny on the war in Ukraine
Support for the annexation of Crimea and war in Donbas
In March 2014, he signed a letter in support of Vladimir Putin's policies regarding Russian military intervention in Ukraine. He also stated that he would gladly have signed not only that petition, but also a letter on the «accession of Ukraine to Russia».
After visiting the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Pankratov-Cherny stated:
Ba(..)rites and 20 years of propaganda will last a long time. They will not calm down. The most interesting thing, where the tragedy lies: these Ba(..)rites coming out onto the squares with torches, with fa(..)ist slogans — they do not want to work. They desire to have sl(..)es at whose expense they will live. That is fa(..)ism. That is a horrifying phenomenon. And they will not calm down until they are destroyed. Just like in World War II, when they marched to Berlin and captured Berlin.
In March 2017, he was entered into the Myrotvorets database for conscious violation of the state border of Ukraine in order to enter occupied Crimea, and participation in Russian propaganda events against Ukraine.
Support for the full-scale invasion
Aleksandr Pankratov-Cherny called Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a correct decision, justifying it as the "defense of Donbas":
It was high time for Russia to stop Ukrainian nationalists. How much the people in Donetsk and Luhansk suffered; after all, I've been there more than once.
In an interview with Ekaterina Strizhenova on the program «Samoe Vremya», the actor explained that he had always spoken out in support of Donbas residents and personally visited occupied Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, met with Russian military personnel, and visited wounded soldiers in hospitals:
A week ago I was at the N. N. Burdenko Academic Hospital, where I met with the guys. I've been to Donetsk three times, twice to Luhansk, and I tour hospitals in Rostov-on-Don. The military men are glad they are remembered. You walk into the ward, and they smile. That's the most important thing.
Pankratov-Cherny stated that he was friends with the late head of the DPR, Aleksandr Zakharchenko. According to him, they visited the destroyed Donetsk airport, the destruction of which he blamed on the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
