Maxim Kalashnikov

{{Infobox writer

| name = Vladimir Kucherenko

| image = Калашников.jpg

| caption = Maxim Kalashnikov live on The National Issue in 2010

| pseudonym = Maxim Kalashnikov

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|12|21}}

| birth_place = Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR, USSR

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Journalist
writer
blogger
political activist}}

| genre = History, geopolitics

| movement =

| alma_mater = Moscow State University

}}

Vladimir Alexandrovich Kucherenko ({{langx|ru|Владимир Александрович Кучеренко}}; born December 21, 1966), better known by the pen name Maxim Kalashnikov (Максим Калашников), is a Russian writer, publicist, and political activist.

His writings focus on praising the Soviet Union and its political and economic system from a Russian nationalist perspective, criticizing the Russian government, and discussing the perceived NATO (particularly American) threat to Russia and the likelihood that this antagonism will result in a nuclear war between Russia and NATO.

Ideology and criticism

Maxim Kalashnikov is a Russian nationalistic agitator. As an expert in Russian history, economics, and military, he criticizes modern Russia and praises the Soviet system, or more precisely what it was under Joseph Stalin and what it could have become without Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev. He is an advocate of "a federated Russian Empire" consisting of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, parts of Belarus, Moldova's breakaway Transnistria, and Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He has described himself as a supporter of "dismemberment" of Georgia and creation of Russian-allied enclaves in its territory.{{cite news|last=Kirilenko|first=Anastasia|url=http://www.svobodanews.ru/content/article/1825074.html |title=Медведеву предложат опыт Гитлера и Берии|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=17 September 2009|accessdate=2019-09-03|language=ru}}

Kalashnikov has often been criticized for lack of objectivity and abuse of sentimentalism in his writings. His writings primarily target younger generations of Russians. He has also been criticized for making numerous contradictions. For example, in some of his writings, Kalashnikov praises Stalin and the Soviet system, yet in other writings, he espouses sharp anti-communist arguments.Maxim Kalashnikov - The Battle for Skies {{ISBN|978-5-89747-003-7}}{{Better source needed|date=September 2019}}

In September 2009 President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev urged the government to study Kalashnikov's ideas{{cite web|last=Kalashnikov |first=Maxim [@m-kalashnikov]|url=http://m-kalashnikov.livejournal.com/141905.html |title=Письмо Максима Калашникова президенту Д.Медведеву|date=15 September 2009|via=LiveJournal|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923165722/http://m-kalashnikov.livejournal.com/141905.html |archive-date=2009-09-23 }} for speeding the development of the country’s innovative economy posted at LiveJournal.{{cite news|last=Iosebashvili|first=Ira |url=http://sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=29788|title=Medvedev Puts Spotlight on Blogger|newspaper=The St. Petersburg Times|issue=1510|date=September 18, 2009}}{{dead link|date=May 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [http://oldtmt.vedomosti.ru/sitemap/free/2009/9/article/medvedev-puts-spotlight-on-blogger/383441.html Alt URL]

Major works

Московский спрут The Muscovite Octopus (1993)
Москва — империя тьмы Moscow – the Empire of Darkness (1995)
Сломанный меч империи The Broken Sword of the Empire (1998/2000/2002)
Битва за небеса The Battle for Skies (2000/2002)
Гнев орка The Wrath of the Orc (in collaboration with Yuri Krupnov 2003)
Оседлай молнию Ride the Lightning (in collaboration with Yuri Krupnov 2003)
Вперед, в СССР-2 Towards USSR 2.0 (2003)
Третий проект: книга-расследование в 3 тт. The Third Project: An Investigation Book in 3 Volumes (in collaboration with Sergey Kugushev 2005/2006)
Код Путина The Putin Code (2005)
Война с Големом The War Against the Golem (2006)
Сверхчеловек говорит по-русски The Übermensch Speaks Russian (in collaboration with Rodion Rusov, 2006)
Крещение огнём The Baptism of Fire (2007)