Heads of the new legions – Newspaper Kommersant No. 239 (7440) of 12/23/2022

On December 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin held the traditional New Year’s Eve State Council in the Kremlin, after which, however, the usual reception with their wives, who did not come, was expected. Special Correspondent “Kommersant” Andrey Kolesnikov drew attention primarily to the governors of the new territories, which have become part of the Russian Federation for the time being forever.

In the Vladimir Hall of the Kremlin, they were preparing for the fulfillment of desires. Christmas trees with balls of desires, which are no longer balls, but paper mugs, but are still called that, stood in an even semicircle, and at the edge of this artificial forest (they could have sprinkled a Christmas tree smell, by the way) the journalists were waiting for the governors, who were later to discuss with Vladimir Putin the principles of the youth policy of the state.

However, when looking at the inexorably balding governors with each new year, it was hard to imagine that they might be aware of something youthful. But maybe they are reporting.

The children in the notes wished for synthesizers, smartphones, bicycles… The children seemed to intend to make up for everything that had been lost during the year. All missed opportunities. The governors indulged them.

How is the situation in the region? – Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov was asked.

– You know, the situation is noticeably stabilizing! — answered this courageous man. — More than ten thousand children in the region go to school. Looking forward to the holidays!

I remembered how, at a meeting with Vladimir Putin, one of the mothers of the dead Russian military spoke about how many homeless little children live in and around the war zone and how unbearable it is to see it every day.

– In the Belgorod region, probably, there are no such trees? I asked the governor.

– Why? he actually asked kindly.

“Wishes are not being fulfilled very much yet,” I said.

“Yes,” he assured. “I can say that our Cathedral Square, maybe even brighter than here in Moscow (that is, at the exit from the Grand Kremlin Palace.— A.K.).

– Brighter? I didn’t believe it. – And from a security point of view, is this normal?

“400,000 people live in Belgorod,” he shrugged.

“You must have been repeating this phrase often in recent days,” I suggested. “But isn’t the bright Cathedral Square a problem now?

– From the point of view that it unmasks the city? the governor asked.

– And how. If you already hit a dimly lit cafe in Donetsk yesterday … And then you just highlight the target …

“There’s a war going on,” Mr. Gladkov answered patiently. “We’re protected.” There are no questions about the air defense system. We are grateful for everything they do for us.

He would have listened to himself today a year ago … For what and to whom he will be grateful …

– At least a truce is not expected for the New Year? – asked the acting governor of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo.

— Considering… — he hesitated. We are for Zelensky (Vladimir Zelensky, President of Ukraine.— “b”) everyone voted, believed him. He said that he needed two weeks to stop the war. That he would kneel down and stop her. That was enough for him for two weeks before he turned his back on us in the other direction.

– They left Kherson, but yesterday in an interview with Rossiya 24 they promised that they would return. And when do you think it might happen? I asked the acting governor of the Kherson region.

“People have lost the will to live. We proceed from this,” he assured. “And they are waiting for us on the left bank. We have great places! The Arabat Spit… Inlets… In some lakes, the salinity is higher than in the Dead Sea… That is, you can just lie on the water… There are a lot of interesting things!..

I could not even believe that he was talking about it now, and with such sincere enthusiasm.

– Will you return to Kherson, to the right bank? I asked.

— Let me put it this way, — answered Vladimir Saldo. — I still have unsolved problems there. The most important of these tasks… I didn’t take… I left, in general… I didn’t want to leave, but I left… And I didn’t take the satin pillow with the orders and medals of my father, a front-line soldier. I’ll be back for her.

Do you think she’s in there? I asked.

– I’ll come back! he repeated. “But they are afraid!” They are not in Kherson! They are literally afraid. That’s why she’s there! All well-known nationalists have returned and, together with the special forces of the Ukrainian army, are conducting a cleansing operation. They come during the day and leave in the evening. They don’t even spend the night in Kherson. They are afraid! Really afraid.

— Did many people stay in Kherson? I asked.

– Of those who believed that nothing would happen and that Kherson would remain, as was decided, part of the Russian Federation forever? Yes many. Unfortunately, the military calculated another option. Maybe that’s how it should be…

No, he didn’t think so. Didn’t think at all. It was the same.

“I won’t reveal military secrets, but after all these purges, most of the civilian population in Kherson became convinced that it was much better with the Russian Federation,” he continued. sector… The first one is all those who allegedly had something to do with the referendum. But we took all the members of the election commissions away. That is, they are all located in the Left Bank, in other regions, they continue to work …

What about the second group? I asked.

– Everyone who was engaged in business. Markets, shops… Private producers… For the fact that they continue to work, they are subject to persecution. And the third group is the most interesting. Guess who got in? Other! That is, everyone is being chased.

Nearby, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin was tearing off balloons of desires.

“Yes, the New Year holidays can be difficult,” he said. “Our task is to ensure the safety of citizens as much as possible.

– Did you follow Zelensky’s visit to the USA? they asked him.

“This is all a farce to cover up what has already been done,” the head of the DPR answered. “And from the very beginning they tried to legalize everything that had already been done. They used us, misled us, saturated Ukraine with weapons…

– Tell me, do you have new information about the explosion in the cafe, where Dmitry Rogozin and his people were injured (it was not yet known that his assistant had died.— A.K.)? I asked.

“Another war crime, again against a civilian target. The fact that the chairman of the government of the Donetsk Republic, Vitaliy Khotsenko, was there… No one is safe from such shelling in Donetsk,” Mr. Pushilin said.

“Probably, you would have come to the birthday party if you hadn’t been in this seven-day quarantine in Moscow,” I suggested.

“I still follow the security measures and security recommendations.

“So you probably wouldn’t go?”

– I have to listen, – continued Mr. Pushilin. – I think that I would not be present there. I would have found another opportunity to congratulate Dmitry Olegovich on the holiday.

True, Dmitry Rogozin now does not believe that it was such a holiday. When I asked how it all happened, he told today:

— This is the second shelling on me. At this time, more efficient. We returned to the hotel from the field, held classes with the Barca sniper group. We just entered the rooms and it started…

Acting Governor of the Zaporizhzhya Region Evgeny Balitsky near a nearby Christmas tree energetically assessed the capabilities of the Patriot system:

— The system is normal in general. She was in service, even when I was a Soviet officer … Now a little outdated, but still serious. One system will not solve anything, Kyiv will not close. She needs a lot. Well, Zelensky went there … He humiliated a couple of presidents. I would at least put on a jacket for decency …

However, it seems that he has not yet been called.

“Well, this Zelensky is like some kind of Salvador Allende…” Mr. Balitsky laughed. “Someone got out of prison… In my opinion, a very weak trip…

“I would…” it seems like he would like to continue again.

“I expected that our enemy would be stronger,” the head of Zaporozhye was now speaking to this enemy. “Today, the enemy is weak!”

Maybe then it’s time to defeat him? No, it doesn’t seem like it’s time.

Yes, all the governors who came here did not talk about anything else, except for the war. And not one of them, in my opinion, said that it was a CBO. War is for them, war.

“I have just returned from the south,” the head of North Ossetia, Sergei Menyailo, told me. “I have 7,700 mobilized people there.

– Don’t fight yet? I clarified.

– Yes, from the third day of mobilization! he exclaimed.

– What about the preparation? Coordination?

“Well, they…” Sergey Menyailo hesitated, “they went to resupply… In short, they are fighting…”

One governor asked Mikhail Razvozhaev, who had seen everything, the head of Sevastopol:

“I’m also going to … I haven’t been yet … And what, they say, you don’t need to take your iPhone with you?”

— No, no, what are you!.. — the head of Sevastopol exclaimed.

Andrey Vorobyov, Governor of the Moscow Region, removed two wishes from the Christmas tree. It turned out both – to swim with dolphins.

– Well, this is not the most difficult … – the governor nodded.

— Are there dolphins in the Moscow region? they asked him.

“We’ll find it,” he promised.

He said that his Christmas trees begin tomorrow:

– Several thousand children will come to Crocus, whose father is at the front. Mothers without husbands … We must support …

At the same time, Vladimir Putin in the Manezh convinced a little girl that there is a Grandfather Frost and that every decent person should believe in Grandfather.

New Year’s Eve was in full swing.

The State Council, dedicated to the foundations of youth policy, was not remembered for anything and could not be remembered.

Andrey Kolesnikov