In my opinion the “cold war” hasn’t ended, since its groundwork – Russophobia – still exists. It’s an evil and tenacious phenomena, that can be substantiated by many historical examples. Will the disappearance of the Soviet Union make people see light? Some in the West still consider the semi-break-up of Russia as an intermediate variant.”

Valentin Falin, PhD? (History)
Quoted by Tatyana Shvetsova on Voice of Russia

For more similar drivel, see here.

So, “Dr.” Falin, let me see if La Russophobe understands you: (a) But for Russophobia, the Cold War would not exist – that is, there is no Ameriphobia in Russia; (b) There is no possibility of a Neo-Soviet Union arising, none whatsoever, it’s a pure fantasy, even though Russia is at present governed by a proud KGB spy; (c) “Russophobia” is “evil and treacherous” but the USSR itself was not, nor is the current rule of Russia that is costing the nation from 700,000 to one million citizens each year. And, let La Russophobe guess: The collapse of the USSR was just due to a few bad apples and a lot of bad luck, right?

Who is “Dr.” Falin, you ask? Funny you should wonder, since as it happens reporter Shvetsova (who's also responsible for freakish reporting on Russian Orthodoxy) doesn’t give any further details regarding his credentials or background (or for that matter, her own). So let La Russophobe do so.

According to German Wikipedia (English has never heard of him), “Dr.” Falin was from 1971 to 1978 Ambassador of the Soviet Union to the Federal Republic of Germany and a member of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Part of the Soviet Union. In other words, he was the scum of the earth. In 1986 Mikhail Gorbachev appointed Falin Director of the press agency Novosti and became an advisor to Gorbachev on foreign policy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Falin moved to Germany and established himself as a historian.

His educational credentials remain largely mysterious. Hence the “Dr.” and the “PhD?” After all, as we already know from the experience of President Putin, it was remarkably easy to “acquire” educational credentials in the Soviet Union (that much easier now).

Here is “Dr.” Falin on World War II, via the Beeb:

Like many of his countrymen, Russian historian, Valentin Falin, author of the book The Second Front maintains that the second front was opened late, and that, as a result, the War dragged on, and tens of millions of lives were lost unnecessarily. Dr. Falin sets great store by the fact that the U.S General, Dwight D Eisenhower, suggested that the Second Front be opened in the summer or autumn of 1942. President Franklin D Roosevelt initially agreed. But the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, refused. Dr Falin is in no doubt that this was because of Mr Churchill's dislike of the Soviet Union. And he insists that, had the Second Front been opened then, "the Second World War in Europe would have ended no later than 1943". The bitterness caused by what the Russians perceive as the late opening of the Second Front has continued many years after the end of the war. And it was not helped 10 years ago, when the Western allies did not invite Russia to participate in the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Dr Falin believes not only that this was insulting, and a mistake, but that the allies made another important error. In their speeches on that occasion, the Americans failed even to mention the Soviet Union. "It was as if Germany had fought only in the West," says the Russian historian. He then quotes British statistics, which show that 93% of the losses of the German Armed Forces were on the Eastern Front. All of their others - in Western Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic Ocean - account for a mere 7%. But despite all this, Dr Falin is not bitter. The most important thing, he muses, is that the outcome of the war was a victory for East and West. And he concludes that, "together we tried to conquer evil, and together create a better world - unfortunately, we didn't succeed with the second aim."