Russia slams HBO's 'Chernobyl', working on its own version where CIA agent sabotages the nuclear plant
Russian media is reportedly not happy with HBO's popular miniseries 'Chernobyl' which has become something of an international sensation as multiple pro-Kremlin media organizations have continued to slam the show since its release.
The country's most popular newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP), reportedly raised suspicions that competitors of state atomic center Rosatom were using the series to tarnish Russia's image as a nuclear power, according to the Moscow Times.
Meanwhile, Argumenty i Fakty, a newspaper which is popular among the elderly in the country, called the show a "caricature and not the truth."
Lead anchor of Russia 24, Stanislav Natanzon, commented about the show, saying: "The only things missing are the bears and accordions!” He also singled out some shots in the television series, showing modern storm windows on a building in Pripyat and said that it was an evidence of inferior filmmaking. The storm windows are only visible to viewers if they greatly enlarge the image.
Apart from mainstream Russian media showing its dislike towards the miniseries, a Russian network has begun working on its own version of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Reports state that the Russian series will be a fictional story based on a conspiracy theory that CIA sent an agent to the Chernobyl zone to execute acts of sabotage.
The anchor also contested other details of the series stating that scientist Valery Legasov did not just lead the government's response to the Chernobyl disaster but was also openly critical about it.
Natanzon argued that Legasov, in fact, had penned an article expressing his displeasure in 1987 which was published in KP. However, the anchor did not add that the publication initially refused to publish the article and only did so after the scientist took his own life in 1988.
HBO's 'Chernobyl', which depicts the world's worst manmade disaster in 1986, has been credited as one of the best shows of the year, with its IMDB ratings surpassing 'Game of Thrones' season 8.