Pioneer readings – Newspaper Kommersant No. 69 (7514) of 04/20/2023

On April 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with members of the government and shared with them what he had seen during his trip to the front. Special Correspondent “Kommersant” Andrey Kolesnikov draws attention to the fact that in addition to this, Vladimir Putin openly lobbied for the return of the name “pioneers” instead of the “Movement of the First” adopted by the children’s vote.

It turned out that after a trip to the special military operation zone, Vladimir Putin had accumulated impressions that he intended to share with members of the government.

“You know for sure,” he explained, addressing first of all to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who had previously spoken defiantly briefly (as if the day before someone had told him that it would be better all the same, more modestly.— A.K.) about the program for the development of new regions (or rather, it would be called the program for the restoration and development of new regions.— A.K.), that literally a day ago (this is it, just in case, for those who doubt that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was at the front the day after Easter, and not before, and is guided by his own phrase, uttered in an undertone when he gave the icon to the military: “Here comes Easter.” And he may have meant that he would go on for another whole week.— A.K.) I visited both Kherson and Lugansk regions.

The transcript was later corrected in parentheses: in the Luhansk “People’s Republic”. But Vladimir Putin said “in Luhansk”. For him, this is still the same area as the rest. It’s easier.

“There are a lot of questions there, I won’t go back to them,” he continued. place. But what would you like to pay attention to? I think everyone is well aware of this. If not, then I’ll tell you. I passed the Gukovo checkpoint. A large amount of transport costs! On the roads – no, the roads are more or less free, but at the checkpoints, at the checkpoint, there is a large amount of equipment, and these heavy trucks are not military, by the way, they are mostly civilian!

Checkpoint “Gukovo” is known to be one of the most problematic. It leads from the Rostov region to the LPR and back. One of the most innocuous comments about him on the Internet: “At the entrance there is a broken, narrow road, on which heavy trucks, cars and beneficiaries can fit only in one row in each direction. All in one row or in one pile. Accordingly, at the entrance no one controlled chaos and confusion. At least level the roadside with a grader and fill the potholes with slag, from which mountains are made in the Donbass called “heaps.” Apparently, it’s not a lord’s business.”

But then the barin arrived:

– We need to pay attention to this and correct the situation, because … we will talk about this later, about prices in these territories and what needs to be done … this is also a problem of cargo delivery. I repeat, I looked: these are humanitarian… What is there, what is being brought!

The personal presence on the spot, obviously, gave special confidence to Vladimir Putin himself. In the end, it was a rare case when he himself was driving, having flown before that, according to Kommersant’s information, almost to the Gukovo checkpoint and then transferring to the car, and saw everything with his own eyes as a result.

– And it’s very easy to decide! – he prompted. – It is necessary, “a”, to expand the checkpoint, and this, of course, is connected with ensuring security. And special services, law enforcement agencies will ask for government support in this regard, because it is necessary to increase the number of inspection complexes, and security, of course, first of all – this goes without saying, but it needs to be increased! And apparently … yes, absolutely! .. it is necessary to increase the number of employees who serve them … That is, this is the staffing … And on one issue they will come to the government for money, and on another – for staffing – they will also come to the government. I understand that we don’t have anything extra, but it needs to be done… Definitely.

Lucky, apparently, only the Gukovo checkpoint. It is a pity that Vladimir Putin did not return, for example, through Dolzhanka (Dolzhansky checkpoint.— “b”).

“I see that the roads are being repaired there,” he encouraged the bored Marat Khusnullin. A.K.), then the detour of the checkpoint itself on the right … If you return back, that is, the checkpoint remains on the left, if you go there … But back – it remains on the right …

Yes, there was no doubt that Vladimir Putin was driving there. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be thinking out loud so enthusiastically.

– It will not only be possible to pass there, it will soon be impossible to pass there! he exclaimed.

And he might have to go again. And there will be no more passing.

– Firstly, everything is narrow, and secondly, there are practically no roads there! – added the president. – I don’t even know how private transport passes there! Because part of the transport, special vehicles, cars go exactly to the detour from the main checkpoint. It is impossible to drive there, there is an urgent need to put things in order! Please, Marat Shakirzyanovich, talk to the road builders. It’s not hard at all to do! It doesn’t require any extra effort!

Yes, it got him.

– I see that the road is further (on the territory of the LPR. – A.K.) is being repaired, the top layer is removed there, and so on,” he again encouraged the road workers, whose work, by all indications, he highly appreciates. “She is in fair condition as a whole. Of course, this is not a route from Rostov-on-Don to the checkpoint in Gukovo – there day and night, from Rostov-on-Don, an excellent modern route! And here, in general, a different story in these territories is the same as in the Crimea it was at one time.

Now, as if in passing, he noticed that everything was already in order in the Crimea. And why? But because they started nine years ago.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, this is understandable,” Vladimir Putin nodded. “But now it is necessary to do the most flashy, the most necessary, and this can be done quickly enough. I ask you to pay attention to this and do it. Agreed?

“Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich, we will do everything, we have,” agreed Marat Khusnullin.

No, well, he was definitely stepping on his own throat trying to be brief, that’s all.

But Mr. Putin did not need this from him:

– You have probably passed there several times, looked? he urged the vice-premier to his usual behavior.

And Marat Khusnullin broke down:

– Vladimir Vladimirovich! We are well aware of this topic, we actually increased the throughput of some points with the border service by six to eight times! But this is still not enough. There’s just a giant flow! (One lane.— A.K.) Therefore, we will definitely do this work – we are also launching new points and new roads. This work – we have everything in our plans. The Ministry of Transport was instructed to work out the capacity together with the border service. We have given all orders, we will work out everything!

What is it, really, he seemed to mean. Don’t we know? Children, right? Do you think you drove past some trucks once – and you already know more than everyone else? Everything is in the plans!

“I don’t know how it is at other checkpoints, in other places — I just didn’t pass there,” Vladimir Putin continued anyway. “I drove here, looked. I don’t know where you increased it by six times, what was there? I didn’t really notice anything from a large increase. But, perhaps, maybe it is.

No, he didn’t want to fight. But he could not remain silent. He saw it.

– But the fact that a detour where cars pass, special vehicles … is simply impossible there! There is no road at all! We need to do this immediately, okay?

He was actually driving the car himself.

In vain Marat Khusnullin said about the throughput, which was increased by six to eight times. As a result, the word “immediately” appeared. And this is a completely different story.

– OK, deal! the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Further, I must admit, everything went smoothly. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, told how fires are choked (consider that in the bud), and the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dmitry Patrushev, told how reasonable, eternal, and really at least good things are sown in the fields. Then Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova spoke, and at the very end of her impeccable report, she suddenly uttered a few positive words about the “Movement of the First.”

Here Mr. Putin remembered the word “pioneer”.

– It is as it was, as it is. And there is no escape from this! he said in a tone that did not bode well for the First Movement.

– This word, unlike the Komsomol, the Communist Youth League, is devoid of ideological overtones! he exclaimed. “Think about it, please, okay?”

Yes, I do not like the “Movement of the First”. And if a lobbyist like him is doing this, the Movement of the First is doing badly. And the pioneers are good.

It is clear that the organizers of the new movement wanted at the time, a few months ago, when all this was being decided, to get away from the dubious past, which did not lead to any decent future. But Vladimir Putin likes the word.

– Guys, Vladimir Vladimirovich, chose this name for their movement! – Tatyana Golikova unexpectedly sharply answered.

And after all, they decided for a long time, voted …

Tatyana Golikova, by all indications, did not want to be responsible for changing the recently approved name. And if she kept silent, she would have to answer: she agreed to think, and that’s all.

– I know about it! I know! But…” the president continued, and this meant that he was even glad that they remembered it now, because he, apparently, was going to say it for a long time, otherwise they decided somehow on their own, he probably didn’t have time for that; So, of course, I wrote down the appeal …

And Tatyana Golikova, interrupting, was still objecting to him.

– When we use it now … Well, think about it … – he persuaded her. A.K.)! Fine?

I had to say that it’s good.

Andrey Kolesnikov