5 Times That Satire Crossed Vladimir Putin
Puppets
Putin’s puppet on “Kukly”
Source: San Francisco Gate
“Kukly,” often translated as “Dolls,” was a satire program on Russian television starring puppet caricatures of the country’s politicians. It was heavily inspired by the UK’s “Spitting Image,” which ran on ITV from 1984 to 1996. “Kukly” was wildly popular; on any given week, it played on over half of the televisions in Russia. To put that in perspective, in America, the only time a show hits (and surpasses) 50% in TV ratings is on Super Bowl Sunday. Obviously, “Kukly” had the people’s attention.
In the name of free speech, former Russian president Boris Yeltsin chose to put up with their depiction of him as a feeble drunk. When Putin became president of Russia in 1999, the show skewered him relentlessly, including depictions of him as a big baby and as an impotent groom avoiding his wedding night duties. (For English subtitles of “First Night” and the big baby sketch, click CC on the video’s bottom bar.)
Putin was not amused. Government officials forced the show to remove Putin’s puppet, so they depicted him instead as a clouded mountain and a burning bush.
NTV, the network that owned “Kukly,” also aired reporting from the 2000 conflict in Chechnya deemed negative to Putin’s government. So he threw NTV’s owner in jail. The show clung to life in a much milder form until 2002, when it was snuffed out altogether.
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