In the fall of 2005, a mysterious book was secretly distributed to Russia’s highest government offices. Its title: “Project Russia.” The book soon expanded into a five-volume series, selling millions of copies and becoming one of the most widely read political works in Russia.
Although billionaire Yuri Shalyganov was later named as its author, many analysts argue that the series was actually the product of the Kremlin’s inner elite. Far from being a simple literary work, the series functions as an ideological blueprint of the Putin regime.
"Putin will be held accountable for crimes against humanity" / Photo from Holodomor Museum Website
Democracy Is an “Illusion”
At its core, Project Russia argues bluntly: “Democracy is impossible.”
According to the text, no true democracy exists in the United States, Germany, or Russia. Elections are dismissed as nothing more than a “show,” with real power resting in the hands of an entrenched elite.
Ordinary citizens are compared to children who choose “candy wrappers” over substance, incapable of making informed political decisions. Even Montesquieu’s separation of powers is derided as nothing more than “the rule of lawyers.”
The West’s Decadence: From Liberalism to Nazism
The series paints Western democracy as a path leading inevitably to moral decay, crime, drugs, and declining birthrates.
Particular scorn is reserved for LGBTQ+ movements, which the authors describe as “viruses” deliberately introduced by the West to corrupt Russian society.
Freedom and tolerance, the book claims, are nothing but disguises for decadence. In a startling comparison, Western democracy is equated with the extremes of Nazism, suggesting that unchecked liberty leads citizens to their basest instincts.
The West as the Enemy
The collapse of the Soviet Union, Project Russia insists, was not the result of internal weakness but of Western cultural and psychological warfare.
Movements such as the Velvet Revolution and democratic uprisings in Ukraine and Georgia are portrayed as Western-engineered plots designed to weaken Moscow’s control.
According to the text, neon signs, consumerism, and television dramas are “weapons” just as dangerous as bombs. In this worldview, liberal democracy itself is a foreign assault on Russian sovereignty.
Project Russia rejects democracy outright. Putin has killed democracy in Russia and, as a dictator intent on ruling until his death, he needed an ideology to justify his rule. That is why Project Russia was born. / Photo = Freedom Chosun
Project Russia’s Deep Infiltration into MAGA
The logic of Project Russia has cunningly penetrated into Western societies weary of the spread of LGBTQ culture. It has taken particular root within the MAGA movement, where evangelical Christians form a significant base.
Both Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church were formerly KGB agents, long specialized in subversive operations and infiltration targeting the West.
Putin himself has often declared that “the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest tragedy of modern history.” His deep-seated hatred toward the United States—whom he blames for bringing down the Soviet Union—fuels this strategy.
KGB veterans like Putin believed that the downfall of the Soviet Union was brought about by the leadership of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. For decades, they waited for an opportunity to exact revenge.
According to a study on post-Soviet societies, 85–90% of KGB operatives were directly carried over into the Russian FSB. The research further noted that the bulk of the FSB’s budget is devoted to disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining the West—above all, by flooding the United States with false information.
Putin's goal is to have a permanent dictatorship like the Russian tsar, and he does not hesitate to assassinate political opponents or slaughter the Russian people as a potential resistance. The war in Ukraine is also a means to kill Russian men who will be Putin's potential enemies.
The Coming Collapse of the West
The authors predict an imminent collapse of the Western order. Overconsumption, resource depletion, and reliance on the U.S. dollar are, they argue, recipes for disaster.
For Russia, this collapse represents an opportunity. With abundant natural resources and a strong, centralized authority, the country is presented as the only state capable of restoring global order.
Already, the book claims, Russia is undermining the West through cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, energy leverage, and manipulation of social divisions.
The book propagates the idea that only Putin’s Russia can save a collapsing world by offering a supposed utopia. Its primary targets are Western Christian communities, where hostility toward homosexuality is strong. In particular, within the MAGA movement—where evangelical Christians are numerous—many have been misled into harboring false illusions about Russia, often through “super-influencers” who, it is alleged, have received financial backing from Putin.
Putin as “Last Stronghold” and Future Leader
Perhaps most striking is the portrayal of Vladimir Putin. The series describes him as the “last stronghold” preserving continuity between the Soviet Union and modern Russia.
But the ambition does not end at Russia’s borders. The text hints that Putin should rise as a supranational leader, clothed in both political and religious authority, to preside over a new world order. In this vision, he is likened to a “Prince-Monk,” the singular figure capable of guiding humanity through crisis.
This passage makes it clear that the book is nothing more than a product of political flattery, written solely to justify Putin’s brutal lifelong dictatorship.
Putin is ordering the construction of statues of Stalin across Russia to restore Stalinism. After the invasion of Ukraine, Russian history textbooks were revamped to glorify Stalin. He also compared Lenin to Jesus.
A sophistry designed only to rationalize Putin’s perpetual rule
Around 2011–2012, Russia witnessed massive protests over allegations of electoral fraud. These demonstrations were so large that they were described as the most serious challenge since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Even Gorbachev, who had overseen the dissolution of the USSR, called on Putin to resign. Yet Putin refused, instead purging and assassinating protesters, political opponents, and journalists.
He went on to neutralize the separation of powers by appointing loyalists to the judiciary, the media, and the Duma (the Russian parliament), while promoting the propaganda line that “democracy is unnecessary.”
As is often the case with long-term dictators, Putin sought to divert internal discontent outward. In 2014, he carried out the illegal invasion of Crimea. In 2022, he escalated this into a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sending vast numbers of low-income Russian men—potential sources of domestic resistance—to the front lines.
Russia’s indiscriminate bombings have caused countless casualties in Ukrainian hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and civilian residences. / Photo = BBC News
During more than three and a half years of the war against Ukraine, Putin’s aggression has resulted in roughly one million Russian casualties. In a desperate move, he even mobilized over 10,000 soldiers from North Korea—one of the world’s most notorious rogue states—as mercenaries, further drenching Europe in blood.
All of these tragedies stem from the mafia-like system surrounding Putin, a regime determined to preserve its grip on power indefinitely.
Putin’s idol is Stalin, but his end will be that of Hitler.
More Than a Book
Project Russia is not just a political bestseller; it is a manifesto for the Kremlin’s ideological war against the West.
It denies democracy, portrays liberalism as moral corruption, blames the West for Russia’s struggles, and casts Putin as both Russia’s savior and the world’s future leader.
As Lynn Corum’s analysis shows, these ideas are not confined to paper. They echo in the Kremlin’s policies, propaganda, and geopolitical strategies today.
At the top of the photo is the abdomen of a Ukrainian man recently released from Russian captivity, bearing the scars of torture. The words “Glory to Russia” and other phrases were cruelly carved into his stomach. A Ukrainian doctor revealed the evidence on social media.
At the bottom left is a young Ukrainian couple who lost both legs to Russian drones, missiles, and landmines. Though disabled for life, they express gratitude that they survived and can still care for their young daughter. On the right is an elderly Ukrainian mother, weeping in front of the coffin of her son who returned home as a corpse.
Her tears are also the tears of North Korean mothers. North Korean soldiers, not even knowing where they were being sent, have been dragged to Europe’s battlefields, sacrificed to the ambitions of dictators. According to British military intelligence in the summer of 2025, approximately 6,000 North Korean troops have already been killed or wounded.
Further confirmation about this sinister book, written solely for Russia’s dictator, can also be found at the following link :
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324690026_Project_Russia_The_Bestselling_Book_Series_of_Putin's_Kremlin
※ This article was translated into English with the assistance of ChatGPT. If you find any errors, please contact the Freedom Chosun editorial team at mkdkq7@gmail.com