6 November 2025, 06:56
On November 4, 2025, Vladimir Putin declared that Russia, "just as over four centuries ago," is defending its sovereignty and independence from enemies. This manipulation contains multiple layers of lies, transforming the Day of National Unity into a propaganda tool to justify the current war.
Lie Number One: "Russia" Did Not Exist in 1612
Putin speaks of "Russia" in 1612, but Russia did not exist then — it would only emerge 109 years later, in 1721, when Peter I proclaimed the Russian Empire. In 1612, there existed the Tsardom of Muscovy (Muscovia) — a Horde ulus governed by baptized Tatars who, from the mid-15th century, began calling themselves "Russian" by faith.
This substitution creates the illusion of an "eternal Russia" and an "eternal struggle for sovereignty" that never actually existed.
Lie Number Two: There Was No Threat to Sovereignty
Putin's propaganda claims that in 1612 Muscovy was defending itself against "Polish occupation." Reality: Polish troops entered Moscow by invitation of the legitimate government (the Seven Boyars), which offered the throne to 15-year-old Prince Władysław. The condition was clear: accept the Rus' faith and be crowned by a Rus' patriarch.
Patriarch Filaret himself — father of the future Tsar Mikhail Romanov, founder of the Romanov dynasty — was an initiator of Władysław's invitation and kissed the cross in loyalty to him.
This was not an occupation. This was a dynastic decision during the Time of Troubles, when there was no legitimate heir and the forces of False Dmitry II were approaching Moscow.
What Russian Historians Said
Soviet historian Vladimir Kobrin wrote:
"One can assume that the accession of Orthodox Władysław to the Rus' throne would have brought good results... Władysław himself would have become a Russian tsar of Polish origin, just as his father Sigismund was a Polish king of Swedish origin."
Nikolay Karamzin, known for his loyalty to the Romanov dynasty, directly regretted that instead of Mikhail Fyodorovich, the young son of Swedish King Charles IX — Prince Charles Philip — did not become Muscovite tsar. Karamzin believed this would have allowed Muscovy to join the leading European powers and "include Russia in the system of States."
Clearly, Karamzin saw no threat to independence in the accession of a monarch from the Vasa dynasty and the entry of Swedish troops into Moscow — on the contrary, he saw it as an advantage.
No serious historian saw in the events of 1612 any "threat to sovereignty" — this is purely Putin's fabrication.
Lie Number Three: A Tatar Coup on English Money
Putin's version portrays 1612 as a "popular liberation." Reality: this was a military coup by the Tatar elite, financed by the English, against legitimate Slavic authority.
Who Were the "Heroes" of November 4th?
- Kuzma Minin — a Nizhny Novgorod Tatar butcher
- Dmitry Pozharsky — a prince of Tatar origin (mother from the Beklemishev clan, where "Beklemish" in Tatar means "watcher" or "overseer")
- Patriarch Hermogenes — from Kazan, of Tatar roots
The Muscovite elite of the 17th century consisted of descendants of baptized Horde people: Tatars, Chuvash, Bulgars, Mongols. They constituted the "white bone" of Muscovy and called themselves "Russian" by faith, not by ethnic origin.
The English Special Project
There was no "popular militia." English King James I Stuart financed a military operation:
- Allocated 20,000 pounds sterling
- Sent 200 Scottish mercenaries
- Supplied English cannons (still preserved in the Pereslavl-Zalessky museum)
- The English established an operation headquarters in Yaroslavl
- Hired Don Cossacks, while Zaporozhian Cossacks remained loyal to Hetman Żółkiewski until the end
Why? The English had been plundering Muscovy since the time of Ivan the Terrible and did not want to lose their privileges. Władysław's dynasty — Slavic, European — threatened their monopoly on the resources of this vast territory.
Result: After the accession of the controlled Romanovs in 1613, the English received:
- Monopoly rights to plunder Muscovy
- Control over territories from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan
- Lands along the Northern Dvina and Volga with all cities
This continued until Cromwell's English Revolution in 1648, when, in the words of Alexey Mikhailovich, the English "killed their lawful king Charles to death."
What Actually Happened on November 7, 1612
A Tatar militia on English money overthrew legitimate Slavic authority in Muscovy. The Polish garrison, which had defended Moscow first against the pretender's forces and then against the rebels, capitulated after a prolonged siege during which famine began in the Kremlin and Kitay-gorod, with even cases of cannibalism.
This capitulation is what is celebrated as a holiday in Putin's Russia.
Why Does Putin Need This Lie?
By transforming an English coup by the Tatar elite into a myth of "Russian popular unity against the West," Putin creates a false historical parallel to justify the war against Ukraine:
- If "then" they fought "Western invaders," now the war supposedly "defends sovereignty"
- If "then" there was a "Day of National Unity," now Russians must "unite"
But neither in 1612 nor in 2022 was there any threat to sovereignty. No one threatens a recognized state and permanent UN Security Council member. Ukraine's existence, having chosen the European Union, posed no threat to Russia's independence.
The only threat is Putin himself, his imperial ambitions, and his willingness to rewrite history for current propaganda purposes.
November 4th in Putin's Russia is a holiday of historical falsification. The less Russians know about the Tatar roots of their elite, the English financing of the "popular militia," that no "Russia" existed in 1612, and that serious historians considered a Slavic dynasty the better option for Muscovy — the easier it is to sell them any war.