International Women’s Friend – Newspaper Kommersant No. 39 (7484) dated 03/09/2023

On March 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin awarded women who deserved this with orders, medals and titles. Special Correspondent “Kommersant” Andrey Kolesnikov I wanted to understand how it all happened. And at the very end I understood.

– Dear friends! – Vladimir Putin addressed those gathered in the Catherine’s Hall, although if one were to be consistent in the struggle for traditional, and not impersonal values, one should have said “friends.”

No, Vladimir Putin had no friends in the hall. And his allies, that is, the army and navy, in the Catherine’s Hall were also represented by girlfriends. After all, it was March 8, after all.

He himself noted:

“Recognition of the merits of women in the professional field is harmoniously combined with a deep understanding of the enduring importance of motherhood and the traditional values ​​of our country.

So for some time now, the struggle for women’s rights and freedoms, which this holiday marks, has been combined with the struggle for traditional values. And here the end of the phrase is important: “our country”. For in our country, sooner or later everything comes together.

“Last year, as you know, we revived the honorary title of Mother Heroine,” the President noted. “Now this is one of the highest state awards in Russia. It symbolizes sincere respect for the difficult, demanding absolute dedication, but noble and grateful maternal work.

I don’t know how it is, but seeing how one young mother in my house has been working with absolute dedication for eleven months in a row before my eyes, I have long mentally awarded her the high title of mother-heroine. No, but ten? What about twelve years? No, it doesn’t fit in my head.

But what about fathers? Didn’t deserve at least one noble and grateful word? Oh yes, it was February 23 already.

However, the day of March 8, in the mouth of Vladimir Putin, did not remain at the service of the Fatherland for long.

“Now,” the president explained, “when Russia is once again faced with direct threats to its security and sovereignty, we see many examples of courage and determination, courage, readiness to stand up for the truth, protect people and the very future of our state — the future that we ourselves need.” .

And, judging by the list of those awarded, I understood that March 8 should rather be called the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland.

Although the list, in fairness, included a weaver, a milkmaid, a seamstress, and a reindeer herder. All formalities were observed.

“The courage of the young journalist from Kherson, Vlada Andreevna Lugovskaya, who, despite the danger, worked in the immediate vicinity of the war zone, is also striking,” said Vladimir Putin. “I want to express my gratitude to all the brave women who have chosen the path of war correspondents for themselves.

The 16-year-old girl, whose shrapnel hit her in the chest right through, deserved sincere respect. Unlike those who sent such a girl to the front. Although she, most likely, herself … But shouldn’t it have been stopped?

The mother-heroine Olga Strelnikova honestly admitted:

– This high award is not only for me, but also for my husband – Oleg’s father. If it were not for him, I would not have taken place as a mother and as a mother of 11 children!

As a mother, she could still take place. Like the wife of another father, or something. But as a mother of 11 children – no, this is unlikely. This is only with father Oleg, who grows in this description into a demonic figure, which, without a doubt, he is not.

And a deep bow to Olga Strelnikova for the concluding words:

– On behalf of all women, I want to congratulate you on today’s holiday (every year on Women’s Day there will be a compassionate woman who will congratulate Vladimir Putin personally on this holiday.— A.K.) and also note that without husbands, second halves, there would be no us as women.

Yes, girls don’t become heroine mothers. They stay forever in jazz.

Vlada Lugovskaya thanked the President:

– I want to thank you for the fact that now I have the opportunity to stand here (apparently, there was something for that.— A.K.), and for receiving such a high award. This is really important these days.

“At the age of 16, I came under fire with a column of journalists and received my first wound,” the girl said just the same. “Then I was in the hospital and tried in every possible way to escape from there in order to work, because I consider it my duty – show the truth.

At the age of 16, what just does not think about life. A person sees right in front of him and the truth. Just hold out your hand…

“I want to thank you for the fact that now the children of the liberated territories have a chance for a better life, to live happily,” Vlada Lugovskaya thanked the president again. “While they build their childhood, I hope everyone will have a peaceful sky above their heads. In the meantime, I will work as the youngest military officer in the country.

For this occupation, she can, alas, grow up a lot.

The head physician of the Luhansk Clinical Hospital, the scientific director of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Estate, the Minister of Education and Science of the Zaporozhye Region (spoke personally to the president), junior sergeant and lieutenant colonel … Many received their awards in silence, but in vain: I would like to hear them, as well as an employee of the transport department (awarded the title of “Honored Worker of Transport of the Russian Federation”). But no, it didn’t.

Anna Zheleznaya, Professor of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology of the Donetsk National Medical University named after Maxim Gorky (at first it seemed that the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was named after Maxim Gorky – and for what, in fact, merit?).

“I want to say words of deep gratitude to you personally and to all the Russian people for the help, without which, of course, we would not have taken place today as subjects of the Russian Federation,” Anna Zheleznaya admitted. “It would probably be almost impossible to live; difficult, difficult and daily anxious for their children, family, friends and colleagues.

More important than many other things, of course, is to take place primarily as subjects of the Russian Federation, but Anna Zheleznaya would have been made of softer metal (from lead, for example), if she had not said about the most important thing:

— My profession is related to motherhood. Of course, a woman will always give birth – both during the war and in peacetime. But it is a pity that the whole world has forgotten that, when born, children speak the same cry and very quickly agree with each other and find a common language (well, this is an exaggeration.— A.K.). But the joy of the peaceful cry of birth is different from the joy of crying during the war, the joy of the mother is immediately overshadowed by fear for her child, so that, God forbid, he would not be hit by a shell, and her first prayers are addressed to God so that he would take prayer away from her children .

It’s good that she said all that.

“We restored the perinatal center after the shelling,” Anna Zheleznaya added, “for nine years we have preserved one of the best obstetric schools in the post-Soviet space under the guidance of Professor Vladimir Kirillovich Chaika and we hope that with the help of our now dear colleagues we will increase it to preserve the reproductive potential of the republic.

However, it can be saved only by peace (or at least a truce), which Anna Zheleznaya wished for everyone, including Vladimir Putin.

— Do you have 13 children? – Vladimir Putin asked Albina Khaidarshina after the award, standing with a glass of champagne. – How do you cope with them? I don’t understand!

– Everything is fine, – she reassured him. – My husband works in a construction company.

It seemed to her that this explanation should bring complete clarity.

“I am very grateful to you for what happened in our new territories! – Vlada Lugovskaya made her way to the president. – At first, the Ukrainian side fired heavily at us. Children did not go out into the streets. The streets were empty. And then, when I went to work to show who really destroys our hometown, they started organizing events for children and adults…

She worked in Kherson.

– And the soul rejoiced so much for what was happening in his native city! – continued Vlada Lugovskaya. – Parade on May 9 … I really liked the Day of the Russian Flag … Simple! now country!

Was this the truth that a 16-year-old girl wants to convey at all costs without spilling a drop of it? And for which she was torn from a hospital bed back to her native city of Kherson? Or rather, on its left bank.

I looked into his eyes, we had eye contact! – Vlada Lugovskaya spoke enthusiastically about Vladimir Putin after the meeting in the Catherine Hall, standing at the stairs.

She could be understood. Everything is over. She was finally released.

But it turned out not:

“I saw pride for those women who were in the hall! .. I saw the joy of these women … And a certain gratitude for what we are doing … And we also expressed our gratitude to him with all our hearts for what he did for us. .. I thanked him that the children of Donbass, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye have the opportunity to improve their lives. There is an opportunity to live happily!

She had in mind the evacuation of these children, right?

– What is the most difficult thing at the front? – Then they asked Corporal Christina Kim, who saved twelve wounded paratroopers on the battlefield. She pulled them out with her own hands.

“The hardest thing is to see it all,” she said.