# ‘Soft Power in a Cardboard Box’: Pro-Kremlin Activist Calls for Pizza Ban

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/soft-power-in-a-cardboard-box-pro-kremlin-activist-calls-for-pizza-ban/
- Published: 2026-11-03T14:04:26+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T23:05:58+00:00
- Original publisher: The Moscow Times
- Original article: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/11/03/soft-power-in-a-cardboard-box-pro-kremlin-activist-calls-for-pizza-ban-a94164
- Topics: Europe, World

## Key points

- Vitaly Borodin wants pizza removed from Russian school and university menus.
- He described the dish as Western “soft power”.
- His proposal fits a wider push for traditional values.

## Summary

Pro-Kremlin activist Vitaly Borodin has urged Russian authorities to remove pizza from school and university cafeterias, calling it a form of Western “soft power”. His appeal reflects wider official efforts to promote traditional Russian values and cast Western cultural influence as a threat.

Borodin heads the Kremlin-aligned Federal Security and Anti-Corruption Foundation and has previously complained about alleged foreign influence in media and culture. He also called for untranslated foreign words to be banned from signs and advertising, citing pizzeria names. In 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on preserving traditional spiritual and moral values.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.