September 09, 2024

Eternal Putin?


Eternal Putin?
Vladimir Putin and scientist Mikhail Kovalchuk. Presidential Press and Information Office, Wikimedia Commons.

In early June, Russian research institutes received a letter from the Russian Ministry of Health that required them to urgently provide developments in the fight against aging. This was reported in an investigation by independent media outlets Meduza and Sistema.

According to journalists, doctors were required to promptly provide “proposals for developments” in the field of preventing and developing cognitive and sensory disorders, methods for correcting the immune system, medical products aimed at reducing the burden of cellular aging, as well as in the field of organ bioprinting.

According to the journalists’ sources in research institutes, they have not yet sent their developments to the Ministry of Health. The publication’s interlocutors noted that they are unlikely to be able to send anything significant — the letter they received had the tone of, “Give me at least something.”

“The biggest boss set the task, and officials rushed to implement it in every possible way,” said one source.

The main lobbyist for the program is believed to be the president of the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk, known for his friendship with President Vladimir Putin and commitment to various anti-scientific theories. "This is Kovalchuk, who raves about eternal life and the 'Russian genome,' and that raving has reached the president," said one source.

According to journalists, Kovalchuk is already overseeing a federal program for domestic developments in the field of genetics. Putin's eldest daughter, endocrinologist Maria Vorontsova, is participating in it.

As noted by the investigation, back in early 2024, Putin announced that Russia needed a new national project aimed at "preserving the health" of citizens. One interviewee at a capital hospital ironically calls the initiative "the whims of an aging Politburo."

It is not yet known whether the new letter is connected with the national program. At the same time, the letter from the Ministry of Health and articles dedicated to the national project mention a direction that is only indirectly related to life extension as a technology “aimed at active longevity.” This includes three-dimensional printing using living cells, which allows the creation of human organs (bioprinting). The state corporation Rosatom, associated with Kovalchuk, is responsible for its development.

You Might Also Like

Russian Anxiety on the Rise
  • August 26, 2024

Russian Anxiety on the Rise

Russian anxieties about the war are increasing in response to Ukraine's offensive into the Kursk region. 
So Long, American Tech
  • August 21, 2024

So Long, American Tech

US-based software companies will soon not be accessible in Russia at all. 
Made in Russia?
  • August 19, 2024

Made in Russia?

According to journalists, Russia has failed in its efforts at import substitution.
What's Your Score?
  • July 15, 2024

What's Your Score?

A Moscow university hopes to create a social score system like China's. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955