Remembering a Russian Poem That Went Viral

Today would've been the 47th birthday of Kirill Stremousov, a blogger and politician. He was basically a n'er do well who was born and raised in Ukraine but he really thrived when he sided with Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

He became deputy head of the Russian-occupied area of Kherson but before that he promoted various conspiracy theories and he was an anti-vaxxer.

He received his first bout of viral fame in 2017 when he filmed himself swinging his baby daughter above his head.

But Kirill Stremousov would receive even greater viral fame last year when he made this video where he recited his poem about his love for Russia while the Russian national anthem played in the background.

In that poem he regarded such places as Egypt, Australia, Texas, and Washington, DC as being part of Russia. Stremousov's poem is a great example of the Russian mentality towards the rest of the world, which envisions the entire world as one big Russian empire.

Recently a Russian lawmaker and close ally of Vladimir Putin has called for the return of the US state of Alaska to Russia. (Never mind the fact that Russia had originally sold Alaska to the US back in 1867.)

Around the same time as his poem went viral Stremousov had a dispute with the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over the Russian military defeat in Kherson. He suggested that Shoigu should shoot himself. That dispute probably sealed his fate.

Kirill Stremousov's viral fame as a poet was suddenly cut short when, just a few weeks later, he died in what Russian officials claimed was a “car crash.”

Vladimir Putin posthumously gave Stremousov the Order of Courage award while a Ukrainian court in Odesa found him guilty of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court made that ruling because the Ukrainian special services had been unable to confirm Stremousov's death.

One thing is certain: The world won't be exposed to any more of Stremousov's poetry. But his death still doesn't erase the fact that there are Russians who want to see the resurrection of a Russian Empire where it will first retake its former territory (such as Ukraine) then consider annexing and conquering other places that had never been part of Russia, such as the places mentioned in Stremousov's poem.

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