Sergey Zhigunov is a Soviet and Russian actor, film producer, and screenwriter; Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (1995). Born on January 2, 1963, in the city of Rostov-on-Don.
In 2003, he joined the "United Russia" political party. He was a member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art. In 2014, he expressed approval of the policies of Vladimir Putin and the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the 6th convocation.
In May 2017, he was entered into the database of the "Myrotvorets" website for repeated illegal visits to temporarily occupied Crimea, attempts on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and other hostile actions.
On January 15, 2023, he was added to Ukraine's sanctions list of individuals "who publicly call for an aggressive war, justify and recognize as legitimate the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territory." Sanctions include asset freezes on the territory of Ukraine, suspension of economic and financial obligations, cessation of cultural exchanges and cooperation, and stripping of Ukrainian state honors.
Sergey Zhigunov's Stance on the War in Ukraine
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sergey Zhigunov chose not to speak publicly about the war. Meanwhile, his wife Viktoriya stated on Instagram in 2022 that the Russian authorities were lying to the public. She wrote that there are no Nazis in Ukraine and that Russian military forces are killing peaceful civilians. Viktoriya later deleted the post.
In June 2023, Sergey Zhigunov began production of a children's propaganda series titled "Three Friends, Treasure and Sailor Koshka" in temporarily occupied Crimea. Filming was carried out in Sevastopol, Yalta, and Gurzuf, with follow-up shoots in Moscow. As the actor stated, this project was "designed to cultivate patriotism and love for the motherland among children." The cast featured Russian actors who openly support the war against Ukraine. One of the lead roles was given to Sergey Nikonenko, known for his blatant Ukrainophobia and shocking remarks asserting that Odesa and Mykolaiv must belong to the Russian Federation.
In June 2024, Sergey Zhigunov announced the start of production on the multi-episode film "Poroda" ("Breed"), which focuses on the history of the rise of Ukrainian nationalism:
Any day now, we begin filming a project conditionally titled 'Donbas', now titled 'Poroda'. It is a multi-part series, the history of a mining family. The first season, covering the era from 1918 to 1953 across 16 episodes, will be shot right now, and ideally I would like to make a picture [about events] up to 2014, up to the first shot. It is extremely complex, a saga, an epic, the story of many people: one big family, then another. The story of the origin and emergence of Ukrainian nationalism, a story about the period of coexistence between eastern and western Ukraine with all of the nuances. A genuine attempt to make sense of everything, of what is happening right now. Very many people, I see, do not comprehend why this happened. This story is about that. Complicated, heavy, but honest, including historical facts that were never talked about, at least when I attended school and college
Later, Zhigunov admitted that 50 Russian film directors had refused to take on directing this series about Donbas.
It should be noted that Zhigunov's cinematic projects are carried out with the direct support of the Internet Development Institute (IRI). Under the guise of "patriotic" content, this state institution finances aggressive propaganda projects backed by enormous public funds that subsequently serve Russia's war effort against Ukraine.
