IN a desperate ploy to lengthen his tyrannical reign, paranoid pariah Vladimir Putin is thrusting a wave of Kremlin-loving puppets into the limelight.
His army of propaganda-spewing celebrities are tirelessly defending Russia’s war in Ukraine – despite one of them facing accusations of dressing like a Nazi.
One of Putin’s industry plants is pro-war pop star Yaroslav Dronov – better known by his stage name Shaman.
The shameless singer, 33, has performed for Russian troops in occupied parts of Ukraine and even appeared alongside Putin at public celebrations commemorating his war.
One song from his cringe-inducing catalogue was released on the eve of mad Vlad’s invasion in 2022.
Touting nationalistic lyrics about Russia‘s military, the song includes lines such as: “Remember all those who were lost in this fire, who were willing to die for freedom.”
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Untangling Putin’s web of “useful idiots”, Former Defence Attaché to Russia John Foreman CBE explained why Putin seeks to surround himself with a host of loyal celebrities.
He told The Sun: “Why do dictators use celebrities? The Soviets did the same as well – it’s because they lack legitimacy.
“They need celebrities, entertainers, sports stars, pop musicians, cultural figures, opera singers, and even Westerners to sort of burnish their popularity, their image… to reflect the glory onto the great leader.”
The Russia-watcher added: “Therefore the public go: ‘Well, if Shaman likes Putin, then that must be a good thing.’
“It’ a win-win, really, you know – Putin gets the glory from these celebrities, and the celebrities get access and money and political advantage and advancement within the dictatorship.”
The wannabe-heartthrob Shaman, who has been compared to an SS officer over his questionable concert attire, even married a top Moscow censorship officer.
Shaman tied the knot with Ekaterina Mizulina – head of Putin’s so-called Safe Internet League – in occupied Donetsk earlier this month.
Bizarre images showed the couple dressed in military-style khaki jackets during the eerie reception.
Mizulina – who is eight years older than her new hubby – is the daughter of infamous Putin-praising Senator Yelena Mizulina.
The nepo-baby – also nicknamed the “Queen of censorship” – is notorious for churning out hundreds of propaganda-packed warnings denouncing anti-war bloggers, journalists and musicians.
Those hit by Mizulina’s scathing complaints are often strongarmed into public apologies – and in some cases thrown behind bars.
Foreman CBE branded the happy couple “symbols of the degenerate, corrupt, and fascist modern Russia”.
He told The Sun: “They wouldn’t be out of place in Berlin in the 1940s.”
But he did admit that the couple were “perfectly made for each other”.
Mizulina, a fierce opponent of LGBT values and rap music, is in charge of keeping public figures in line with “the heavily conservative traditional direction Russia’s going in,” Foreman explained.
Her witch-hunts crack down on anything she deems “non-traditional” such as “sexuality and music, ethnic minorities”, the ex-diplomat said.
“She’s equally ghastly as Shaman,” he claimed.
“They are a gruesome twosome… an appalling pair.”
Foreman also highlighted how those who refuse to toe the party line and promote Putin’s war in Ukraine also face being banished from Russia.
“Those who don’t get it [or] don’t play along get isolated, persecuted, denounced, driven into exile, or subject to fictitious investigation,” he explained.
One of Russia’s many celebs who have refused to become a public Putin boot-licker is Alla Pugacheva – who fled the despot’s regime and now lives in Latvia.
The brave 76-year-old – who mentored Shaman when he was a pipsqueak contestant in a talent show – has previously claimed Dronov could one day become Putin’s Culture Minister.
Foreman disagrees, however, claiming that the Vlad mouthpiece could be swiftly dropped – either as soon as Moscow think he’s fulfilled his purpose, or he steps out of line.
The former diplomat said: “He’s just an instrument for the Kremlin, and he’ll be dropped as soon as they don’t need them anymore.
“His cultural life expectancy is limited, I mean he would like to play it in for the long term, but we’ve seen before people who ascend quickly and then [they’re] just like – gone.”
Describing the Russian pop idol’s greatest hits, Foreman said: “It’s sort of state-sponsored Nazi pop musicreally.”
Shaman’s efforts to step into Russia’s political scene have been underscored by his new political party called “We”.
But the Putin pawn has claimed the entire party was a gift for Mizulina to celebrate her birthday.
The announcement came just weeks after the pair kissed for the first time on stage to reveal they were coupled up.
Foreman said the prospect that the couple could become “richer and more famous at the expense of dead Ukrainians and dead Russian soldiers” was sick.
Russia has seen entertainers move into politics before – a notable example being Joseph Kobzon, a popular Soviet-era singer who later became a pro-Putin MP and backed the Kremlin‘s invasions of Crimea and the Donbas.
Foreman, who once saw Kobzon perform live in Kyiv, explained what Russians’ thoughts were on the singer-turned-mouthpiece.
“I remember asking Russians in Moscow what they thought about Kobzon, and they were just like: ‘Who?
“‘That’s an old guy, the regime was using him, to sort of stir up patriotic spirit.’
“And I think that’s probably gonna be Shaman’s fate, actually. To become an odd, you know, historical relic.”
Foreman compared Shaman to previous Kremlin pawns including Yevgeny Prigozhin – the leader of Russia’s Wagner military group who was assassinated shortly after criticising Putin’s handling of the war in Ukraine.
“The moment he [Prigozhin] stopped being useful, he was killed,” he said.
The Russia expert stopped short of saying Shaman would face the same grisly fate as Prigozhin – but expects that the star will eventually become consigned to the dustbin of history.
Questioning the Kremlin’s image of Shaman, Foreman said: “This whole idea that you’re fighting fascism while dressing up your pop star like a Nazi.
“There’s dissonance in their head, thinking it’ll go down with the kids.”
Shaman even performed in front of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the pariah’s backyard in August.
The Pyongyang performance saw the star singing his heart out while waving Russian and North Korean flags – and wearing a wooden cross despite Christianity being banned in Kim’s regime.
Despite Shaman and Mizulina’s level of popularity among young Russians being unclear, Foreman said the singer is really just a victim of online ridicule.
“I think he’s a laughing stock,” he said.
“You can see the comments on YouTube about him, the Russian youth are extremely rude about him, as a sort of state-sponsored pop star.”
He added: “He’s the Kremlin’s idea of a popular young person.”
Foreman also said: “There’s an expression used by a Russian website: ‘Everything is worse today than it was yesterday.’
“The ending democracy, the breaking of the elections, the changing the constitutions, the, poisoning and murder of political opponents, the censorship, Russia invading Ukraine.”
Commenting on the direction of Putin’s Russia and his brain-washing celebrities, Foreman noted: “I think things really deteriorated after 2022, and you can see the ascent of people like Shaman and Mizulina.
“As Russia goes like that [down]these people float to the top… scum always floats to the top.
“I think it also points to a really deep malaise in Russian society, that these are the people the system’s putting forward.”
Does Putin use body doubles?
PARANOID Putin uses body doubles and locks his staff away inside a quarantined “clean zone”, a Russian investigation claimed.
The report accused the tyrant of increasingly isolating himself and hiding from public view by relying on doppelgangers as rumours of his ill health run rampant.
Independent Russian media outlet Proekt led an investigation into 73-year-old Putin’s past year of so-called “public” meetings.
Analysing 521 meetings and speaking to Kremlin journalists, they alleged that Putin hides from visitors and has switched over a fifth of meetings to video to hide his sickness and use of body doubles.
During 43 per cent of his meetings (224 of them), Proekt claimed that the Russian president “one way or another keeps his distance”, suggesting he could be hiding his use of doppelgangers.
Over 113 of his meetings were conducted over video, including almost all with his Security Council as they made major decisions over his bloody war in Ukraine without him physically present.
Proekt also spoke to several senior journalists in the designated “Kremlin pool” who reportedly claimed that Putin’s continuously strange behaviour led them to believe he must be using body doubles.
Read more here…