Ukraine War Day #314: Who Was That Mysterious Blonde?

Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. (Mark 1:17)

Dear Readers:

This past New Year, Russian President Putin changed the way he usually does his annual greeting to the nation. In order to underscore his commitment to the war effort and to the troops, instead of sitting at his desk in the Kremlin, Putin delivered his speech while standing with a group of soldiers of the Russian Southern Military Region. All of whom received medals and awards that day. By the luck of the draw, the group showed itself to be nicely diverse, in terms of age, ethnicity and gender. (There are at least 3 women in the photo, although one in particular stands out, as we shall see.)

If Russia were a “nice” country, then Hollywood would surely approve of the wokeness and diversity on display here. Instead, Westies went on the attack!

SPOILER ALERT: At the expense of dragging out the suspense in order to spin a good mystery story, I decided to just jump ahead one step and divulge the name of this blonde woman right off the bat. Then we can work backwards to show how Westie media tried to make a lot of hay out of a nothing-burger.

This person is Guard Captain Anna Sidorenko. She serves in a Medical Unit on the Donbass front. She performed many acts of heroism by dragging wounded soldiers off the front lines and into the mobile clinic. For her feats of bravery she received a medal and a bouquet of flowers from President Putin’s own hands. Like the others in her unit who received awards, she also had the opportunity of posing for a one-on-one photo with the President.

Anna Sidorenko: Gets a medal, a bouquet of flowers, and a photo-op with the President.

A day or so after these photos were published, the pro-Ukrainian blogosphere lit up with conspiracy theories, then this “sensational find” was taken up eagerly by American Newsweek magazine. The claim was that the blonde woman, along with several others, are part of a “photo-op” corps who just follow Putin around and appear in photographs with him, to make him look like a man of the people. Specifically, Newsweek claimed that the blonde woman has played the role, not just of a soldier, but also a fisherwoman, and also a religious worshipper; whichever role is needed at the time.

Here she is in the army unit on the Southern front. And there she was on a fisherman’s boat along with two guys (numbered #1 and #2) who also showed up with her in the cathedral photo-op (the blonde this time wearing a pink head covering), worshipping alongside Putin.

If this were true, then one might even construct from this scenario an opera worthy of the musical genius of Jacques Offenbach: mysterious male and female figures who appear at various times in the history of our hero, then fade away, only to reappear in moments of crisis. The mysterious femme fatale: First a dancing mechanical doll, then a beautiful but doomed diva, finally in the countenance of a manipulative courtesan, plying the canals of Venice… Or in this case, a Fisherwoman, then a devout Worshipper, and finally a battleground heroine.

Anna And Larisa

Three different women, but all the same Eternal Feminine….

Alas, the explanation is way more mundane. To explain this mystery to us, here is war reporter Alexander Kots.

Kots: There are two different women. Granted, their physical appearance is rather similar, similar hair, similar features, similar body build and height. But they are two different people. One woman is Captain Anna Sidorenko. The second woman is the owner of a fishing boat, her name is Larisa Sergukhina. Larisa appears in two sets of photographs with the President: first, onboard her fishing boat; and then a couple of months later, in the Cathedral, along with two members of her crew, which is why these men also appear in the two sets of photos.

It was back in September 2016 that Putin (along with his sidekick Medvedev) set off on a journey to Lake Ilmen, which is in the Lake Districts of the Novgorod region. There our heroes met Larisa and her crew of ordinary fishermen. They learned of their economic problems, as small business-persons, and promised to do something to help them.

A couple of months go by, now it’s Orthodox Christmas (January 7, 2017), Putin decides to worship in the Cathedral of the Savior of the Saint Yury Monastery in the town of Greater Novgorod. And so it came to pass, he invited that very same fishing collective to come and worship alongside him. And Larisa did come, wearing her pink head-covering and accompanied by two men of her fishing crew. Only this time, they were fishing for the souls of men. And Putin said unto them: “How did’st go with thy economic issues?”

Larisa Sergukhina: On her boat and in the Cathedral.

And after the service Putin did invite the fisher-people for tea at a local restaurant. Which did result in still another photo-op and more fuel for Westie fire: “This woman is EVERYWHERE!”

Kots concludes: The woman in uniform who received the medal this past New Year, has no relationship with these fisher-people whom Putin met in 2016-2017. Admittedly, she is similar in appearance to Larisa Sergukhina. But the proof of the pudding is that one can apply specific names and identities to all of the participants of the Special Military Operation who that day received military awards and also valuable prizes from the hands of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Some of the names include:

• Corporal of the Guard Timofei Matveev, this mechanic and tank driver of a T-72 was awarded the Hero of Russia medal;
• Private Alexander Amelin, a volunteer, received the Order of Valor;
• Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Zharkiy, who commands an artillery regiment, also received the Order of Valor.
• Last but not least Captain Anna Sidorenko, who has dragged more than one wounded fighter from the field of battle, thus earning the Order of Valor. And who has never spent a day of her life onboard a fishing boat.