Z-writer Prilepin Has Been Appointed Vice-rector For Ideology At Putin's Important Institute
- 5.06.2026, 13:25
The dictator was receiving there the title of "candidate of economic sciences".
Zakhar Prilepin, a writer who supports Russia's war against Ukraine, has been appointed vice-rector of the Mining Institute, informed sources told Fontanka. According to them, in this post he will supervise ideological and educational work at the university, as well as the "formation of meanings" in its activities. Prilepin was offered the job by the institute's rector, Vladimir Litvinenko, with whom they have long been on friendly terms, the sources said.
Prilepin's decision to move to St. Petersburg may have been influenced by the fact that "Moscow political life is not too favorable for his health," one of Fontanka's sources said. At the end of May at the Book Salon, the writer said that "found a job in your beautiful city: I was offered it, and I agreed with great pleasure." However, he did not disclose the details at that time. The Mining Institute is known for the fact that in 1997 Vladimir Putin defended his dissertation there and received the degree of candidate of economic sciences.
The topic of Putin's work was "Strategic planning of reproduction of the mineral resource base of the region in the formation of market relations". The thesis was supervised by Litvinenko, rector of the Mining Institute. According to The Insider's investigation, he is the actual author of Putin's work. Litvinenko has been the head of the Mining Institute since 1994. Since 2011, he has been a shareholder of PhosAgro, and Forbes estimates his fortune at $3.1 billion in 2024 (46th on the list of richest Russians).
Litvinenko has advocated reducing the number of universities in Russia "at least three times" and criticized the Bologna system, which he believes has "driven Russian education to madness." He argued that the Soviet system was "one of the most advanced," but competitors "realized that they can't catch up with us" and chose the strategy of "downgrading us." In addition, the rector of the Mining Institute claimed the "dominance of liberal ideology" in education. He characterized this ideology as consumerist: "I have to get everything from the state, and the state cannot take anything from me.