Thanks to the fab Frog Stone, we have some concrete information on who’s related to who in the Bolotnikov family. Essentially, Frog confirmed that Vassily is the first cousin of Aleksa and Nino, making him Jupiter’s first cousin once removed (Vassily’s actor, Jeremy Swift, had said he was playing Jupiter’s uncle). She also confirmed that the little boy, Moltka, is Vassily’s youngest son and thus the brother of Vladie (AD guy had implied Moltka was Vladie’s son).
This really clears things up, and it backs up input I had from people of actual Russian heritage who basically said that, in Russia, extended families are much more interconnected and close than is the norm in Western countries. While he’s really ‘only’ a distant cousin to her, Vassily is very protective of Jupiter and the whole family is clearly close and interdependent despite their squabbles.
I had suggested that it made more sense for Vassily to be the brother of Aleksa and Nino, since, as I saw it, that close relationship would make him more likely to be Aleksa’s first port of call in a time of crisis. With the benefit of hindsight, I can appreciate that that was me speaking from my thoroughly Western, nuclear family-oriented perspective. While I can’t track down the original discussion posts about this matter right now, thanks to everyone who contributed – you were dead right, and I’m really glad for all your contributions.
