[ John Kopiski ]How can you explain love? I've been to 82 countries. I lived in 12, but I came here and on those three
days I just felt at home. I love cold weather. I like the culture. I like the history. I like everything about it.
[ Marfa Kopiski ]He considers himself Russian.
[ Marfa ]If war came, he'd fight for Russia.
[ John ]To people listening to this again it's a bit of a paradox, because
already I'm a big cuckoo and I'm thinking like Russian, but the place gets you.
[ Frocya Kopiski ]To me, he's a Russian with a British passport.
[ John ]I made my decision to come here because I felt, I knew, I could build a new life here.
[ Aleksandr ]He’s Russian. Definitely.
I AM JOHN KOPISKI A RUSSIAN FARMER
[ John ] At what… what time?
[ Yulia ]About 30 minutes ago.
[ John ]Here. It was born 30 minutes ago.
[ John ]Look, it still can't walk.
[ John ]Yulia's our chief calf herd. She's in charge. She loves them. They're all her children.
[ John ]How weak are humans? We can't walk for
two years. But it has to in 30 minutes! Its life begins….
[ VO ]Great Britain. July, 17th, 1949. A son is born to Jan Kopiski, a
poor Polish immigrant and his English wife, Frida Marjorie Chumley.
[ VO ]Even though the family was already multinational, the parents could
never have foreseen that one day, their child would become a Russian.
[ John ]I'm Russian. I'm an immigrant to this country but I'm Russian and it's my home
and no one can say anything bad about it. They should firstly look at themselves.
[ VO ]John lives here, in the village of Krutovo, Vladimir region. That’s not his house, it’s
the hotel John built for tourists while he decided to take up residence in an old cowshed.
[ John ]Today I am living here. In Russian it’s called ‘the
perekhod’ – the corridor – between two ‘korovniks’ - two cowsheds.
[ John ]In this room in natural fact is there the milking operating equipment
was. This is where we started our farming life more now than 26 years ago.
[ John ]If you look at the roof, it’s the roof of a normal korovnik…. But this is our home.
[ VO ]John used to sell steel and he’s lived and worked in 12 countries. Rich, handsome and
successful, he came to Russia for the first time in December 1991, on a three-day business trip.
[ VO ]Those were tough times. The Soviet Union had dissolved and there were long queues outside
every grocery store. All in all, he wasn’t expecting a lot of good to come out of that trip.
[ John ]I came here expecting all soviets to have a neck that came from their ears to their shoulders and being drunk. It was that
kind of image. It was interesting and people after perestroika
everybody was very hospitable because it was a new life. Capitalism
hadn't arrived so people had more free time. I went to a couple of bars went back and resigned and said I want to go to Russia. I
jumped at this opportunity. I jumped at it so quickly because I was
frightened of losing it. I was 42 at the time. I just felt at home.
[ VO ]Today, John Kopiski owns one of the biggest farms in Russia.
[ VO ]It has more than 4,000 cows and produces 50 tons of milk a day.
[ John ]Are you ready? It's RT!
[ John ]Cows are like women: they're all
different. This one gives 4 litres, this one 8. Look,
a small udder, but 16 litres! She's golden!
[ John ]That's why we invest heavily in this cow. We
buy the best semen. Genetics! I'm fat,
he's slim – it's genetics. This cow has 15 litres!
[ John ]Wow! A hero! People think that the bigger the
udder, the more milk… No! It's just a… sex show.
[ John ] Cows are like women. They're capricious. The thing is we give
them comfort, we give them food, we give them a good place to sleep
and, if they're kind, we'll get the milk. It's a serenade. 'I love moo'.
[ John ]And like all women, she listens, says nothing then poos and leaves.
[ VO ]It took John a while to become a farmer. When he first lived in Russia, he sold steel and
coal and even part-owned a coal mine. For that free and rich British man, life was relaxed
and easy. Until one day, he decided to give it all up and buy one abandoned collective
farm and then another. In fact, John might never have become a farmer if it wasn’t for her.
[ John ]I was a free man, but I think God decided that this man is not
going to be free. So within three months I was in a bar on Tverskaya.
[ John ]Free man. I was looking across and there was this tall blonde lady
and I think “I was going to buy her a drink”. I took one step back.
[ Nina ]Backing up, John stepped on my foot and said, 'Sorry.'
[ Nina ]He didn't even see me. Being that tall, he then turned to me.
[ John ]And I said «Oh! I'm very sorry. Do you speak English?” And her answer was: «Of course». I said: «Oh!
[ John ]I am sorry. Can I buy you a drink?». And I get «of course». That's the only two words she knew at that time.
[ Nina ]Of course, I knew more than two words. I was
well-educated, after all. Then it all happened so fast.
[ NINA KUZMICHEVA JOHN'S WIFE ]I had a good life, to be honest. I had an apartment, a car – it
was quite OK, a fun successful life with no obligations. And then… To get married right away?
[ Nina ]He asked bluntly. No giving up.
[ John ]When I asked, 'Do you want to marry me?' 'I need to think'.
[ Author ]Did she take long?
[ John ]Not long. 2 or 3 months.
[ John ]We got to know each other very quickly. There were lots of
questions, but my questions were mainly what did you do when you were
young and whatever, because I had this image you know, here I am an
international business guy. And I heard about these «bloody Russians».
[ Nina ]John came to me upset and said, 'You know,
they say that all Russian women are with foreigners just for
money'. And I said, 'Yes, John, of course. And English
women will definitely love you for free'. And he was like,
[ Nina ]'Hm… Yes, yes, you're right'.
[ John ]I went back to Nina's flat one day, and I opened her photograph album
and there I found photographs of a normal person of 13 going to the north
with her dogs, going down to the Kavkaz, skiing and having parties with
their friends. I virtually cried out of shame because this horrible image.
[ Nina ]His Russian partners were telling him I was a KGB agent. Again he was upset: 'You know what they
say about you?' And I said, 'Alright, a KGB agent. So what? What's it to you?' He said, 'Well, OK!'
[ Author ]How often do you argue? [ John ]Every day.
[ Nina ]All the time. It's that John doesn't give in without a fight. He enjoys the process.
[ John ]I think Western men are very romantic.
[ John ]I'm romantic. Of a morning it was, 'Bye bye.' Next
moment I hear 'Slam!' The door's shut. I'm still
20 metres from the gates. And she's forgotten me.
[ John ]“Thank God, he's gone. Now I can drink coffee and watch movies”.
[ Nina ]The only thing I promised John when
I married him was that he wouldn't be bored.
[ Nina ]I think I’m keeping that promise. He couldn’t
know…there'd be 5 kids and he'd have to save the country.
[ Nina ]Five children. All different. Five is absolutely better than one or two.
[ Nina ]It's easier. Somehow you become more rational. If one upsets
you with something, another one will please you with something else.
[ Stepan ]Dad says that Mum is kind.
[ STEPAN KOPISKI JOHN'S SON ]And Mum says that Dad is kind. If you don't mess with them, they both are.
[ TIMOFEI KOPISKI JOHN'S SON ]We were raised with the carrot and stick. Mum was less forgiving, it was always 'must' with her.
[ Timofei ]Dad might give you a sweet when no one was looking.
[ VASILIY KOPISKI JOHN'S SON ]There were many of us. No time for chit
chat. There were two of them, five of us. So it was us or them.
[ FROCYA KOPISKI JOHN'S DAUGHTER ]If I do anything wrong, I make
sure they don't know about it. So they have no reason to scold me.
[ MARFA KOPISKI JOHN'S DAUGHTER ]Mum always jokes that we mess up because we're
Anglo-Saxons. For instance, if I get a D she says, 'That's your Anglo-Saxon blood showing'.
[ VO ]All of their children help out on the farm but the daughters go to school, so they only
help during the weekends and holidays. The sons, on the other hand, are always working.
[ John ]There’s not enough. Rodilny zal. There’s not enough
[ VO ]The oldest son, Stepan, works on the farm too but he hasn’t always. He spent a long time in exile in his father’s homeland.
[ Nina ]He used to berate his country. He'd say, 'Yeah, Russia s**ks!' We'd
say, 'OK then! Go to the free West. But don't count on parental handouts'.
[ John ]I gave him a certain amount of money, took him to a town called Bath and said “You
don't like Russia? Live here. I took his Russian passport and said: «See you when I see you».
[ Stepan ]I thought I was covered when I went, but they
said, 'You're on your own'. And I had to be on my own. At first,
I was a waiter, as there was no other job I could find fast.
[ Stepan ]Then I became a bar manager. Then I moved to London.
[ Nina ]He worked at a bar & grill. They showed him off: 'Here's the Russian. See? Never
smiles'. He said, 'What idiot grills chicken
and smiles? Next time, I'll break you!'
[ Stepan ]Well… I wished I could come back after a month. But I had to force myself to try. But no.
[ Stepan ]They roam around always smiling like a bunch of fools. We don't just smile at anyone.
[ Stepan ]Here if a neighbour has a problem, you try to help - it's a neighbour.
[ Stepan ]There if a neighbour's in trouble, it's his problem. They just smile and go on smiling.
[ John ]Реорle didn’t understand him, they joked about him and after three years he cried
to his mother “I'll join the army. I'll go to Siberia. I want to come home”. His choice.
[ VO ]John is happy that his son chose Russia and makes no secret of
it. John made the same choice back in 1991, it took him six years
to become a Russian citizen. At that time, the Russian security
agency was suspicious of an Englishman wanting a Russian passport.
[ John ]In 1997 of course it was… everybody was wanting to leave and this idiot came along and wanted
to live here. When I was interviewed by the Fed… the KGB in those days, they came to me and said
“Well. Why do you want to live in Russia? I said. «Fine. Fine. Fine». They said: «Aren't you afraid
of the mafia?” I said: “I've got the best krysha”. And they said: “Who? Who?” I said: “Gospod Bog”.
[ VO ]For quite some time now, John has spoken of Russia with terms like “our people” and “my country”. He rarely
visits the UK. He gets bored there too quickly, and relations with his British family have become complicated too.
[ John ]I've got brothers and sisters in the UK. And I think it annoyed them when I
last spoke to them some years ago that I said «Well, our children will meet at the
border”. If there's a conflict, if NATO comes to the border, maybe my sister's son
there and maybe my daughter's on the other side of it. They don't understand that.
[ John ]As an Englishman I have no loyalties there. I have lots of anger and
disappointments. I like it here I mean and it's difficult for people to understand.
[ John ]They have democracy, they have freedom. What freedom is doing today? It's close
to anarchy. Freedom is a right to say what you want, but not to destroy anything.
[ John ] Why they deface Winston Churchill I've got no idea. I think
it's stupid, I think it's baseless emotions. History is history and
maybe these memorials are to remind us what not to do. I mean, оkay,
we know there was slavery, if there wasn't any slavery they wouldn't
be in America. It's a bit hypocritical to me. What was - what was.
[ John ]You can’t change it. History is a lesson, but you must understand
it. You must study. Any person that wants to be cultural must
understand history not just of their country of the world as a whole.
[ John ]This is our 'Red Corner', yes. My marriage is pretty interesting as I'm my wife’s third
or fourth priority. God comes first, then Russia, then Mr. Stalin… I guess, I'm in fourth place.
[ Nina ]Not only is his opinion of Stalin biased, but
also many foreigners we've spoken to. But it takes 20
minutes to break it down to what, why and how,
then they say, 'Wow, we've never thought of it like that'.
[ John ]You know, she's highly patriotic. I can't say anything bad against Russia.
[ Author ]And are you a fan of Stalin?
[ John ]I’m not. Only of God.
[ John ]Nina is from a military family. That's why it's important to her.
[ VO ]The ‘Red zone’ is actually dedicated to the history of the collective farm that John and Nina bought. Stalin though is
such a controversial figure that most of the attention and arguing is about him and the Kopinski family is no exception.
[ VASILIY KOPISKI JOHN'S SON ]When it comes to history…
it's like a kung-fu fight starts. Because Mum loves and waits
for… I'd hate to live in the USSR. I like Adidas shoes and
stuff. In any case, no fool could lead to victory in WWII. So
think whatever you want. When some say stuff… What could
he do? When you have billions, millions of people who need
something to eat, wear, work…Strictness is the only way to
get people to such things. But wasting people isn't so good.
[ TIMOFEI KOPISKI JOHN'S SON ]Mum supports… what is it?…communism. I
often agree with her, to be honest. Sure, it's a bit hypocritical in a
rich family to imagine how great it would be to live in socialism. Mum
and Dad are ready to cede this whole business to the State. I mean it.
[ John ]Cheese is worse than a woman, so capricious. You need to feel every step.
[ VO ]John’s other passion is cheese-making and he’d only ever make cheese with milk from his own farm.
[ John ]It's love. It's patience.
[ VO ]John started making cheese 6 years ago when Europe and the US imposed sanctions
on Russia. In response, Russia banned certain imports, which was good news for John.
[ John ]I think the embargo for us was very good. I think it firstly allowed
the people to gain back their pride to be Russian. Before we were kind
of losing it. And today I think, in my opinion, we have the embargo against
them, they don't do sanctions against us, because they lost much more.
[ VO ]John makes a variety of cheeses. He’s about to show some
of them. Interestingly, he named one after himself, “Johnazan”.
[ John ]This is 'Johnesan'. It's five to seven-months old. Hard as a brick. These are all Shambhala. Cheddar.
[ John ]This an Italian cheese, caciotta. This is called Red
October – warm pig lard inside. Good mould is growing. Two
types of bell pepper. Dill. This is just cheese, but my recipe. This cheese is called Comrade, because Nina
said it tastes like an old Soviet cheese. This is an experiment. Not pretty, eh? It tastes better than parmesan.
[ John ]It's a bit burned, isn't it? [ Worker ] A little, yes.
[ VO ]At work, John is only ever referred to as “John Yanovich”. They Russified his English name a long time ago.
[ John ]I don't like “Mr. John”. I don't like uncle John. My real middle name is Maxwell, where it came from I have no idea.
[ John ]You know, in the West, in the UK, you name your son's middle name after a football team it has no meaning.
[ John ]And also to me this is important about here is to respect of your parents.
[ John ]I think it's very this continuation where did you come from.
[ John ]Here the middle name you take of your father. So I am John
Janich which means I am the son of Yan and I'm very proud of it.
[ Worker ]John Yanovich, the barley price is falling. [ John ]We need 100 tons. Check the offers.
[ John ]So tired. Any success with it now?
[ John ]Masha, a little milk, please? [ Worker ]He's very
demanding. Lots of ideas and plans. We can't keep up with him.
[ John ]За это мы платим ему деньги. Если он недоволен, он дурак.
[ VO ]John Yanovich is a tough manager who even conducts random checks at night.
[ John ]This is the control tower. They know I have a system. Even at night,
lights on or off, they think the man is up there. It's 'discipline'.
[ Worker ]She has big bumps.
[ John ]OK, I have to get cross with him. He has to… Look! Poor thing.
[ VO ]But it’s his sons who tend to be on the receiving end. Their dad
isn’t an easy boss. But, apparently, it’s better than living in England.
[ John ]I'm a workaholic. I wake up at 5, I go to bed at 1am. I'm
dedicated to the business. And what time did you get to work today?
[ John ]Ah, eight. Earlier! By seven.
[ John ]The car service, OK. What time does that open?
[ Stepan ]7:30, eight.
[ John ]Right. And you must be here first. As they come to work you say, 'This, this,
this, this. Do it!' Don't ask them to report to you. Today's leader has to be first.
[ Author ] It's hard, I get it.
[ John ]Well… There's the gate. It's that way. Why should I be kind? That's not love.
[ Vasiliy ]He's the boss, right? But he has, like, an 'action'
button that toggles to 'dad'. Everyone has opinions. But
there's a little problem with when to say it to him.
[ Vasiliy ]Sometimes it's best just to keep cool – he's a grown man. On the
other hand, if he wasn't my dad… He gives you a task and
if you fail it once, twice, then wham! You're done. But since
he's our dad, he can show us or give advice if he's in a
good mood. What's more, he's got truckloads of experience.
[ VO ]Another family hobby is horses but only Russian breeds of course. They run a riding school
along with an equine-assisted therapy facility. But these aren’t John’s only sources of income.
[ John ]Here! The place for gold. This is gold.
[ John ]People come and buy it, this gold. Good for roses.
[ VO ]They also own traditional Russian ‘troikas’ and driving one is a rarely taught skill these days
– it’s very complicated and not at all popular but the Kopiskis are resurrecting this old tradition.
[ Author ]What's a Russian troika to you?
[ John ]My wife's order.
[ John ]Better to invest in a troika than a Rolls-Royce. This is our choice, our vision
of wealth. If tomorrow there's no oil in Saudi Arabia or in Russia, we can still drive.
[ Nina ]As well as plough and mow.
[ John ]Plough and all. It's our different view of wealth.
[ John ]When I asked Nina to marry me, she said “I'll think about it. I need to talk to my priest”.
[ Nina ]He told me, 'Well, it's odd. He's a foreigner. What are his beliefs? What would come of it?' That's
what I told John on the phone: 'The priest said you'd have to convert to Orthodox to make it serious'.
[ John ]I said: “I believe in God. I don't have a problem. I'm looking for God, so I'll be christened”.
[ John ]We went to the church of Ivan Voin on Leninsky. And I was stripped, given the white shirt and baptised.
[ John ]15 years ago we started building this church.
[ John ]It's in the name of the ladies that found Christ and we joke
about that because in Russian is ‘Jyon Mironosets’ and when I heard this
I thought it was ‘John Mironosets’. What the hell is ‘John Mironosets’?
[ John ]What does this mean? But the natural fact is the ladies of myrrh.
[ John ]I've always believed in God, but the catholic church honestly frightened
me. And in Russian we have this word “strakh bozhiy” - the fear of God. And
when I was a Catholic, I actually feared going to church. I felt every time I
was going to church and done something wrong, I'd be struck down by lightning.
[ John ]I like the Russian confession.
[ John ]Here I like, like many things in Russia, the lack of
hypocrisy. I don't think I should justify why I believe. I believe
that even if you're not a believer the ten commandments are
not bad laws by which everybody should live particularly today.
[ John ]I love my home here and I think that anybody that wants to come here
you will be welcomed. Honestly. This is not propaganda. I'm not paid for
this unfortunately. It's a great country that has huge horizons. I like the
huge horizons and wherever there's a huge horizon there's always potential.
[ John ]I was a robot when I came here. I was a typical capitalistic international businessman, travelling
nine months a year, sleeping four hours a night, so this has created a much nicer man I think.
[ John ]Am I happy? Of course, I'm happy. I never thought I'd become 70 years old. I never
thought I'd see my youngest, daughter age 15. So Russia has given me long life as well.
[ John ]I’ve got everything I want. My one dream is that all my children find the same kind of happiness I did.