Zavtra Digital Archive
Founded in Moscow in 1990 by noted Soviet journalist Alexander Prokhanov, Den’ (День, The Day) was created to serve as the “spiritual opposition” to the pro-Western government of Yeltsin. Following the coup in 1993, the paper was shut down by the authorities but was reborn as Zavtra (Завтра, Tomorrow), with Prokhanov still in the lead as editor in chief. One of the most influential publications of the right-wing opposition, Zavtra is a radical-conservative daily newspaper, bringing together a mix of nationalism, monarchism, and nostalgia for the Soviet era.
Prokhanov has a very colorful personality, and his speeches and writings are poetic and full of metaphors. At a Slavic conference in the US – as a guest of East View – he surprised many during his presentation by asserting that “state borders are not static, they are pulsating – back and forth.” Prokhanov is one of the few Russian citizens to receive an award from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and he also received a medal “For the Liberation of Crimea and Sevastopol” in 2014 from Putin himself.
The newspaper is a reflection of Prokhanov himself, a self-proclaimed “counter-liberal,” well known as a radical pro-imperial, nationalist figure and a neo-Stalinist. Just as he supported the failed military coup in 1991, the war in Chechnya, and aggression against Georgia in 2008, Zavtra has likewise been an ardent supporter of these actions, as well as the Crimea annexation, the war in Donbas, and the current war in Ukraine.
