Vladimir Medinsky


Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky is a Russian politician, diplomat and historian who currently serves as an Aide to President Vladimir Putin. Previously, he has served as the Minister of Culture from May 2012 to January 2020. He was a member of the 4th and 5 State Duma from 2004 to 2011. He has been a member of the General Council of the United Russia party since 2017. Medinsky has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.
Vladimir Medinsky's views have been characterized by some media as statist and ultraconservative. His political career began in 1992 after his graduation from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, where he earned a degree in international relations. Forbes has described Medinsky as a member of Vladimir Putin’s "ideological clan". After becoming a member of the State Duma in 2003, he soon emerged as a prominent figure in the Russian political establishment. During this period, Medinsky gained recognition as a notable political strategist, campaign manager, publicist, and popularizer of history.
Medinsky rose to prominence among readers through a series of non-fiction books on Russian history. In 2012, his debut historical novel, The Wall, was published, focusing on the events of the Time of Troubles. The novel was later adapted into a film, and theatrical productions based on it were staged at Moscow's Maly Theatre, as well as at theatres of Smolensk and Vladivostok.
In addition to his government positions, he serves as Chairman of the Russian Military-Historical Society and Chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia.

Biography

Early life and education

Medinsky was born in the town of Smila in the Cherkasy Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR. In the early 1980s, the Medinsky family moved to Moscow. He applied to the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School but was rejected due to failing the vision requirements. Subsequently, in 1987, he enrolled at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
While studying at MGIMO, he maintained his passion for military history. According to recollections of his classmates, Medinsky regularly attended open lectures at the MSU Faculty of History and was noted for his phenomenal memory of historical events. During his time at the institute, Medinsky served on the MGIMO Komsomol committee and worked as a counselor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' pioneer camp.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he completed an internship as a correspondent in the international desk of TASS news agency. During the August 1991 coup attempt, Medinsky was among the defenders of the White House. In 1991 and 1992, Medinsky completed internships at the Soviet Embassy in the United States. He graduated from MGIMO with honors in 1992.
He is fluent in English and Czech.

Early career

In 1998, Medinsky entered civil service as an advisor to the Director of the Federal Tax Police Service. In May 1999, he was appointed head of the Department at the Ministry of Taxes and Levies.

Legislative career

In 1999, Medinsky joined the election campaign staff of the Fatherland – All Russia bloc for the elections to the 3rd State Duma. From 2002 to 2004, he headed the Moscow executive committee of the United Russia political party and led the party's Moscow campaign headquarters during the 2003 elections. In December 2003, he was elected to the State Duma through the party's federal list. Between 2004 and 2005, he served as deputy head of United Russia's central executive committee.
During the 4th State Duma convocation, Medinsky held several key positions, including Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy, and ultimately Chairman of the Committee on Culture.
In 2004, he authored a draft of the new Federal Law "On Advertising". Designed to replace the outdated 1995 legislation, this bill introduced significant new restrictions, including prohibitions on advertising alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, dietary supplements, and medical goods/services. It also established legal definitions for social and sponsorship advertising while implementing the first-ever limits on television advertising duration. The law was ultimately adopted and came into force on 1 July 2006.
Medinsky pioneered legislative efforts to severely restrict gambling operations nationwide, proposing substantial tax increases on gaming tables and a complete ban on slot machines. This initiative sparked a public conflict with his fellow member of State Duma, Alexander Lebedev, who sent Medinsky an insulting written message. Medinsky responded with a defamation lawsuit, which the Basmanny District Court of Moscow decided in his favor, ordering Lebedev to publish a retraction and pay financial compensation. Ultimately, the gambling prohibition legislation was submitted to the State Duma by the Russian President personally and subsequently enacted.
Elected to the 5th State Duma on United Russia's party list from Lipetsk Oblast, Medinsky received the mandate previously held by the Lipetsk Governor Oleg Korolyov. As a deputy, Medinsky's notable legislative initiatives included proposing stricter amendments to Russia's advertising law and tobacco restrictions. In April 2008, he advocated for a complete ban on cigarette advertising. Medinsky, together with Deputy Nikolai Gerasimenko, successfully introduced mandatory large-format health warnings on cigarette packages.
During the 2008 financial crisis, Medinsky co-sponsored with fellow United Russia member Vladimir Gruzdev amendments to the Russian Criminal Code aimed at easing pretrial restrictions for entrepreneurs.
His parliamentary activities included serving as coordinator of the Duma's liaison group with National Assembly of South Korea and membership in the Federal Assembly's permanent delegation to the Russia-European Union Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. In 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev appointed him to the Presidential Commission on Countering Historical Falsification. The following year, he joined the board of Russkiy Mir Foundation, which promotes Russian language and Russian culture worldwide. In 2011, Medinsky assumed chairmanship of the Duma's Culture Committee.
He became a campaign surrogate for Vladimir Putin during the latter's 2012 presidential campaign.

Ministerial career

At the initiative of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, supported by President Putin, Medinsky was appointed Minister of Culture on 21 May 2012. His appointment came as a surprise and provoked polarized reactions.
In a journalistic investigation published by RBK in July 2015, Ivan Golunov highlighted several notable initiatives by Medinsky as minister. These included a proposal to rename Moscow streets bearing the names of revolutionary terrorists like Stepan Khalturin, Andrei Zhelyabov and Pyotr Voykov, as well as Voykovskaya metro station. Commenting on the presidential decree to create a unified concept for teaching Russian history, Medinsky proposed limiting the curriculum to the year 2000, excluding the presidential terms of Putin and Medvedev. Medinsky also promoted numerous protectionist measures in the film industry, which led to increased box office revenues and a greater share of Russian films in distribution.
Under Medinsky, the Ministry of Culture secured funding for films focusing on historical themes, inspirational success stories, legal order, scientific progress, family values, and the golden age of Russian literature. In 2015, the ministry spearheaded an initiative to adapt Russian cinemas for visually and hearing-impaired audiences by introducing audio descriptions and closed captioning.

Post-Ministerial career

In January 2020, Medinsky was not included in Mikhail Mishustin's new cabinet following criticism from Sergey Neverov and other United Russia party members. He was appointed Aide to the President of Russia by Vladimir Putin.
In February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Medinsky headed the Russian delegation in peace negotiations with Ukraine in Homel, Belarus and Istanbul, Turkey. He was re-appointed as head of the Russian delegation for the 2025 negotiations in Istanbul.
In 2025, Medinsky was appointed the head of the Union of Russian Writers.

Dissertations and accusation of plagiarism

From 1993 to 1997, Medinsky pursued postgraduate studies at MGIMO specializing in political science. In 1997, he defended his Candidate of Sciences thesis in political science, entitled "Current Stage of Global Development and Challenges in Shaping Russia's Foreign Policy", followed by a Doctor of Sciences thesis entitled "Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Formulating Russia's Foreign Policy Strategy within the Emerging Global Information Space" in 2000. At MGIMO, he progressed through academic ranks from instructor to full professor.
In June 2011 he defended a Doctor of Sciences thesis in history entitled "Problems of Objectivity in the Coverage of Russian History from the second half of the 15th to 17th centuries" at the Russian State Social University. This thesis has been widely debated in the Russian media and a large number of fragments have been shown to bear a significant resemblance to existing academic works, which caused numerous accusations of plagiarism.
On 23 May 2014, the Dissernet community, an informal group of academics and journalists concerned with dissertation plagiarism, declared to have found plagiarism in two previous dissertations by Medinsky, of 1997 and 1999. According to Dissernet's expertise, in the first thesis 87 pages out of 120 have been borrowed from the thesis of Medinsky's doctoral advisor Professor Sergey Proskurin. In the second thesis, 21 pages textually coincide with other people's works.
On 3 October 2017 the top Russian academic council recommended revoking Medinsky's 2011 doctorate. However, on 20 October 2017 a committee of a government agency that oversees the awarding of higher academic degrees ruled in the minister's favour by 16 to 6.