Deputy commander of the Airborne Forces will become the new senator from the Pskov region

Deputy commander of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation, former commander of the 76th Guards Airborne Assault Chernigov Red Banner Division, Major General Alexei Naumets will become the new senator from the Pskov region. Governor Mikhail Vedernikov announced this at a conference of the regional branch of United Russia.

“Given all the modern challenges, the need to maintain constant contact with the Ministry of Defense, and finally, given the role of the 76th Airborne Assault Division in the events of our time, I propose to make a choice in favor of Alexei Vasilyevich Naumets. I believe that such a strengthening of the Pskov region is necessary today, ”Vedernikov is quoted by the official regional Pskov Information Agency.

United Russia nominated Vedernikov for the election of the governor of the Pskov region, which will be held on a single voting day on September 10. He has been in office since 2018. When submitting documents to the election commission, a candidate for governor submits a list of three candidates for the position of senator. Who, in addition to Naumets, will be in the top three of Vedernikov is currently unknown. Vedomosti sent a request to the representative of the governor.

Alexey Naumets was born on February 11, 1968, graduated from the Ryazan Higher Military Command School of Communications. Marshal of the Soviet Union M.V. Zakharov in 1990. He served in the Airborne Forces from 1990 to 2003 in various positions in the Belarusian, Siberian and North Caucasian military districts. From 2003 to 2005 he was a student of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Then, for two years, he headed the headquarters of the 104th Guards Airborne Assault Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Regiment of the 76th Guards Airborne Assault Division. He commanded the 76th Pskov division from 2013 to 2018, after which he took the post of deputy chief of staff of the Airborne Forces. In 2017, Naumets was one of the top three leaders of the United Russia list in the elections to the Pskov City Duma, but refused the mandate and continued to serve in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In April 2022, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces.

Since September 25, 2014, the Government of the Pskov Region has been represented in the Federation Council by Elena Bibikova, her term of office expires in September of this year. She is Vice Chair of the Social Policy Committee. In 2004, Bibikova was elected to the Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies, where she sat for several convocations, since 2011 she has served as deputy chairman.

Political analyst Rostislav Turovsky told Vedomosti that there is a trend towards the promotion of the military to parliament, which is important both for the image of the authorities and for strengthening the army lobby. “From this point of view, Naumets better meets the requirements of the time than Bibikov,” he believes. According to the head of the Petersburg Politics Foundation, Mikhail Vinogradov, on the one hand, Vedernikov’s step fits into the general militarization of the agenda and the theses that the military has a career green light everywhere.

“On the other hand, the current career growth of the military is vulnerable to criticism – since hostilities are far from over, some citizens may also have questions about the reasons why some military and combatants are indefinitely tied to the service, including those mobilized, while others get the opportunity develop a civil career,” he explained.

On June 10, Mikhail Vedernikov announced the creation of operational defense and security assistance units in the Pskov region, which will help law enforcement agencies in emergency situations. “Now our task is to do everything so that the Pskov region is ready for any development of events. In this part, we use the experience of the Belgorod region to the maximum. We have been studying it carefully for a long time,” the governor said.

The Pskov region borders on Latvia and Estonia, which are members of the European Union and NATO. Having a border with Ukraine, the Belgorod region is regularly shelled. A high (“yellow”) level of terrorist threat operates there indefinitely. Since October 19, 2022, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a “medium response level” has been established in the region.