While the Russian authorities at all levels are consistently forming an image of Europe as a hostile space, the reality for the elite themselves looks completely different. Last week, Vladimir Medinsky's family flew to Lyon, France - one of the most important camps of the "hostile West". Next, the family of the chief expert on world history and personal friend of the Pechenegs proudly headed to conquer the French Alps at the "Club Med Grand Massif Samoens Morillon" complex.
Arriving behind enemy lines on a special mission were: Nikita Zuikov (nephew), Tatiana Zuikova (sister), Sergey Zuikov (sister's husband), Marina Medinskaya (wife), and Andrey Medinsky (son).
This episode is particularly telling against the backdrop of the vocabulary used by representatives of the Russian political system. Dmitry Medvedev regularly speaks of "enemies," "degenerates," and a "doghouse," describing Western countries as forces allegedly striving to destroy Russia. Within this logic, France is no exception, but a part of the general "hostile bloc" supporting Ukraine and acting against Moscow. And this is putting it briefly, not counting the instances where Medvedev gets personal about the President and his wife.
Putin himself phrases his expressions more carefully, but the meaning remains the same: Emmanuel Macron and French politics are regularly described as confrontational, and France itself - as a participant in the West's anti-Russian line.
Against this background, the Medinsky family's trip no longer looks like a private detail, but rather a demonstration of the gap between public rhetoric and the actual lifestyle of the Russian elite. While an image of "decaying Europe" and "hostile France" is formed inside the country for years, these exact same spaces are calmly used for recreation and personal comfort.
A simple but inevitable question arises: if France is the enemy, if Europe is a source of threat, if the West is allegedly hostile by definition - why does the family of one of the ideologues of this rhetoric end up right there? By the way, there are no questions for France itself - the members of Medinsky's family are not under sanctions and are free to travel. But they are part of the system, part of the general "party line," part of the ideology.
In this regard, it's strange why not Rosa Khutor? Why not the Gazprom Mountain Tourist Center? Why not Arkhyz — those very destinations that have been promoted for years as an alternative to "unfriendly countries," as something that should replace all this bourgeois lust for the ordinary Russian?
The answer is obvious: because the actual and the declared realities do not coincide.
While Vladimir Medinsky publicly appeals to historical images and "Pechenegs," and state rhetoric paints a picture of a besieged fortress, his family quietly lives by a different logic - where you hear "bonjour," Burgundy wine is served, and Camembert is sliced.
This very gap is the essence of the system. For society - mobilization, fear, and the image of an enemy. For the elite - France, comfort, and European everyday life, a quiet, measured rhythm in which one can plan for tomorrow without kneeling before the bunker tsar.
And the louder the rhetoric about the "hostile West" sounds, the clearer the obvious becomes: this "hostile West" remains the most convenient and familiar vacation spot for these exact same people. A vacation from their so beloved and native Mother Russia.