Born into a musical family in Tambov, Kushnir displayed exceptional talent as a pianist from an early age, performing at 17 the complete cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich.

After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory in 2007, he worked as a pianist and accompanist in various Russian cities, eventually becoming a soloist with the Birobidzhan Regional Philharmonia [ru] in 2023.

Kushnir engaged in civil activism, participating in protests against the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine, and had a small YouTube channel where he criticized the Russian government.

In 2002, he graduated from the Tambov Rakhmaninov State Musical-Pedagogical Institute [ru] and entered the Moscow Conservatory, studying under the People's Artist of the USSR, Victor Merzhanov.

[5][6] Kushnir wanted to continue his studies in the conservatory, but refused to play a piece from a Schumann Phantasy during the entrance exam, because "it would ruin his interpretation of the performance".

Musicologist Mikhail Kazinik praised this performance, noting that "he demonstrated the development of Rachmaninoff's ideas, and he purified it from all overlays, from any pop stylings — he made it crystal clear".

[1] While studying at the conservatory, Kushnir "cultivated the image of a dissident"; his friend described him as wearing "a shabby beige overcoat with a bulging pocket.

He participated in the protests at Bolotnaya Square in 2011–2013, pickets against the war in Donbass and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and distributed anti-war leaflets in Kursk and Birobidzhan, after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

[4] He was arrested by FSB for these videos,[1] in which he called Putin's Russia a "fascist state" and the Bucha massacre "a disgrace to our homeland".

[1] He preferred smaller cities, and wanted to stay in Birobidzhan for twelve years, if "not imprisoned, drafted into the army, or fired".

Made in the cut-up technique, the book consists of Kushnir's diary and pieces of multiple World War II novels.

The book was written as an anti-war manifesto after the 2014 war on Donbas; Kushnir compared it to the "advent of a giant hog".

It is a text of 117 episodes, which is divided into five parts, dedicated to the Red Army Faction, in particular to Ulrike Meinhof.