By Xhabir Deralla

North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski proudly posted on Instagram today about his meeting with Serbian-Russian actor Miloš Biković. In his post, Mickoski highlighted Biković’s family roots in the Macedonian town of Berovo and praised his initiative to invest in a hotel and recreational complex there. “I am pleased with his initiative and his love for Berovo and Macedonia. This is how one respects their roots,” Mickoski wrote.

But Biković is not merely a popular actor with a sentimental project in his ancestral hometown. He is a figure with deep ties to the Kremlin, decorated and favored by Vladimir Putin himself. Biković exemplifies how culture, art, and celebrity are instrumentalized in Moscow’s strategy of hybrid influence.

From Serbian Star to Russian Cultural Ambassador

Miloš Biković, born in Belgrade in 1988, is one of Serbia’s most prominent actors and a celebrity who has achieved remarkable success beyond his homeland. His rise from Serbian cinema to becoming a Russian cultural icon is not only a story of acting talent, but also one of politics, symbolism, and the Kremlin’s hybrid influence strategy.

He first built his reputation in Serbia, but his career truly flourished in Russia, where he became a household name through films and television series. By the mid-2010s, Biković had become a transnational star, straddling the Serbian and Russian film industries. Yet in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, such success is rarely detached from politics.

Kremlin Honors and Citizenship by Decree

In 2018, Biković stood in the Kremlin to receive the Pushkin Medal directly from Putin. This state honor was not only recognition of artistic merit—it was a symbolic act of incorporation into Russia’s cultural-political orbit.

Just three years later, in 2021, Putin granted him Russian citizenship by special presidential decree. Such citizenship is exceptionally rare and reserved for individuals Moscow regards as strategically valuable. On that occasion, Biković publicly declared: “Russia is my homeland.”

These gestures positioned him as a living bridge between Serbia and Russia, embodying the Kremlin’s narrative of Slavic brotherhood.

In 2018, he went even further by openly embracing and strongly endorsing the Kremlin’s ideological concept of the “Russian World.” At that time, he declared:

“The Russian World is not only the world of Russians and Orthodox Christians. It is a world that gives birth to a spiritually conscious person. A person with integrity, conscience, with a traditional system of values. This system is built and defended on all fronts. One of these fronts – the front of mind and heart – is culture.”

With this statement, Biković not only accepted Russian cultural tradition but openly positioned himself within the ideological framework that Moscow uses to justify its expansionist policies and aggression.

Controversies and Ukraine’s Reaction

In 2019, Biković claimed that Ukraine had banned him from entering the country on national security grounds, reportedly due to his professional activity in Crimea following Russia’s illegal annexation.

In January 2024, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly protested his casting in HBO’s The White Lotus, calling him a pro-Russian actor tied to aggression. The protest made international headlines, and HBO soon dropped him from the series. Biković defended himself by saying he was the target of a “smear campaign” and insisted that he wished war on no one. Crucially, however, he has never condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—a silence that speaks louder than words.

The Hybrid Role

For Russia, Biković’s value lies not in loud propaganda but in soft power projection. He normalizes Russian culture for Balkan audiences, reinforces the idea of Slavic unity, and lends legitimacy to a regime defined by authoritarianism and aggression.

His presence in Russian cinema and his state-bestowed honors allow Moscow to project influence in subtle, emotional ways—through identity, pride, and belonging.

More Than a Naïve PR Moment

Mickoski’s Instagram post may look like an innocent PR gesture, but the reality runs much deeper. Miloš Biković is not simply an actor investing in a hotel in Berovo. With honors personally bestowed by Putin and his own declaration that Russia is his homeland, Biković has become a symbolic instrument of the Kremlin.

His state awards, citizenship by presidential decree, and silence on Russia’s crimes reveal the true dimension of his role: seemingly “soft,” but in essence a powerful weapon in the Kremlin’s hybrid war for hearts and minds wherever Moscow has interests.

In Serbia and beyond, Biković exemplifies how Moscow uses fame and culture to extend its influence, blur the lines between art and politics, and embed loyalty in a world where narratives can be as powerful as armies.

The author used support from ChatGPT (OpenAI) in the process of research and editing. All views and conclusions are solely the author’s.