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References to ‘temporary Putin’ and phrase ‘war is war, but lunch is on schedule’ cut from Russian sitcom

Source: Verstka

Russia’s STS television network cut scenes from the sitcom Voroniny that mention Vladimir Putin and “Banderites,” as well as scenes that compare a family quarrel to war, Verstka reported.

What was cut:

  • In episode 10 of season 11, Nikolai Voronin scolds his sons Kostya and Lenya and calls them “Banderites.”
  • In episode 3 of season 14, Kostya compares a quarrel with his wife Vera to war: “Oh, I forgot, we’re at war! Well, OK, war is war, but lunch, as they say, is on schedule.” The phrase has nothing to do with Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and carries no political context whatsoever.
  • In episode 12 of season 12, which depicts events from New Year’s Eve 1999 into 2000, Lenya muses in the cut scene about who will lead the country after Boris Yeltsin’s resignation: “Did you hear Yeltsin left? Who do you think the new one will be? Right now, of course, it’s temporary Putin. But I think they’ll push him out quickly. Either Primakov or Chernomyrdin. And I would have appointed Kiriyenko; he promised us a raise before they removed him.”

The network had previously cut a scene from the show in which characters think Lenya is gay.

Russian television channels, online cinemas, publishers, streaming services and even musicians themselves regularly censor films, TV series, books and songs to comply with Russian law. For example, after the adoption of the law banning the “propaganda” of LGBTQ+ and the designation of the nonexistent “international LGBT movement” as extremist, scenes featuring LGBTQ+ characters are regularly cut from films and TV series.

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