Vladimir Yakovlev

Vladimir Yakovlev is one of the firsthand sources for The Invention of Russia — the Arkady Ostrovsky page lists him in its open questions as a figure Ostrovsky interviewed directly while reporting the book. In the book itself, Yakovlev is identified as the founder of Kommersant (the influential post-Soviet business newspaper) and as the son of Yegor Yakovlev, the Soviet-era editor and Ostankino executive.

The book quotes a public appeal Yakovlev made after the murder of Boris Nemtsov, speaking both for himself and on behalf of his father: “Stop teaching people how to hate. Because hatred is already tearing the country to pieces… The information war is first and foremost destroying ourselves.” The plea fits the book’s larger argument (see Arkady Ostrovsky) about Russian media’s role in manufacturing the country’s “meaning.”

(Note: distinct from Yegor Yakovlev, his father, and from Alexander Yakovlev, the perestroika-era reformer — both also referenced in the book.)

Where this appears

• Arkady Ostrovsky — named as someone Ostrovsky interviewed firsthand while reporting The Invention of Russia.
• The Invention of Russia — founder of Kommersant; quoted on his post-Nemtsov appeal against the “information war” tearing the country apart.