A university professor in the Tyvan republic has penned a folk tale glorifying the exploits of senior government official Sergei Shoigu.
President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also feature in the tale, which dramatizes Shoigu's work as emergency situations minister, a post he held for 18 years prior to his appointment as Moscow region governor in May, RBC reported.
The epic, composed by professor Aibek Soskal, casts Shoigu as Sergek, an immortal hero whose name translates as "cheerful." Medvedev and Putin bear names meaning "bear" and "world ruler," respectively.
In one episode, the former minister appears in the guise of an eagle to advise Putin and Medvedev on how to save the Russian people from disaster.
Explaining his choice of genre, Soskal said the epic tradition was closely interwoven with the history of the Tyvan people and that composing such works was a dying art.
He described Shoigu, a native of the eastern Tyvan republic, as "a hero of Tyva, all Russian regions and foreign countries, where his rescuers have saved lives."
Soskal added that a Chukotkan author was preparing a similar text dedicated to billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich, who governed the autonomous district between 2001 and 2008.
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