Sergei Mironov explained for his support of Yevgeny Prigozhin

The head of the party and the Duma faction “A Just Russia – For Truth” (SRZP), Sergei Mironov, called Prigozhin’s campaign against Moscow “an attempt at rebellion”, since there was no goal to overthrow state power. Meanwhile, it was President Vladimir Putin who called what was happening an “armed rebellion”, and the Federal Security Service qualified it in the same way.

“The country has gone through [мятеж] worthy. The enemies were not happy, everyone had enough common sense,” Mironov told reporters on July 7. Separately, the head of the SRZP emphasized that the Wagner fighters at the front showed themselves “with dignity” (the country’s leadership also criticized the very top of the PMC, which pushed people to illegal actions).

Mironov said that he did not abandon the idea of ​​legalizing PMCs to protect the interests of the country, but abroad. Now Art. 359 of the Criminal Code prohibits mercenarism.

On January 20, 2023, the politician published a photo with a sledgehammer, which was sent to him as a gift by the founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin. Mironov said that he would not “hide her.”

A source close to the party confirmed that after the events of June 24 Mironov had questions. “The party maintains its patriotic positions, and the Wagner fighters are not responsible for the actions of their leadership,” he told Vedomosti. Therefore, the interlocutor continues, it was necessary for Mironov to explain that he adheres to the previous positions, but does not support the rebellion.

Mironov’s position earlier led to a crisis in a number of regional branches.

In April 2023, deputies of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, headed by Marina Shishkina, announced their withdrawal from the party. In addition to Shishkina, Andrei Aleskerov, Lyubov Mendeleeva and Alexander Novikov left the party. Another member of the faction, Mikhail Amosov, was not a member of the party. Shishkina herself also resigned as deputy speaker of parliament.

“Unfortunately, recently the current agenda of the party has changed in a direction that does not correspond to our ideas about social justice,” the faction said in an official statement.

In April, one of the founders of the party, Oleg Shein, announced his resignation from the post of head of the regional branch in the Astrakhan region. He explained his decision by the fact that he is “a person with Soviet views”, for whom “the importance of internationalism and international solidarity of the working class, the need for political freedoms for the effective protection of social rights” are not subject to discussion.

Political scientist Alexander Kynev told Vedomosti that A Just Russia is experiencing one of the most serious crises since its inception. “Flirting with Prigozhin sharply aggravated the situation: he turned out to be a much more prominent figure than the writer Zakhar Prilepin, who joined the SRZP in 2021 (the head of the For Truth party that joined A Just Russia. – Vedomosti). The party began to gain toxicity before our eyes, and this is a blow to the original strategy, to the image of the “second choice” party. To be the party of the second choice, one must have a low anti-rating,” he explained.

If the elections were held next weekend, according to VTsIOM data as of July 2, 5% would vote for the SRZP, the party was inferior to United Russia (39%), the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (9.4%) and the Liberal Democratic Party (9%). The FOM estimates the number of those ready to vote for the SRHR at 3% (the poll was conducted after the rebellion, June 30-July 2), for United Russia at 41%, the Liberal Democratic Party – 11%, the Communist Party – 8%.

According to Kynev, now any SRZP candidate in the elections will be asked about Prigozhin. “I can’t imagine what they will answer,” the expert concluded.

In addition, A Just Russia is already missing six out of 21 gubernatorial campaigns. Party members did not put forward their candidates in the Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Omsk, Oryol, Smolensk regions and Yakutia. An interlocutor close to the party claims that candidates may be recalled in other regions as well.

According to the gubernatorial elections, the SRZP has a personal approach to each region, a representative of the party press service explained to Vedomosti: “In some regions, such as the Nizhny Novgorod and Omsk regions, for objective reasons, we support the incumbent governor or and. O. governor.” The fact that the party refuses to nominate candidates in many regions was previously reported by Kommersant.

The permanent deputy of the State Duma, the head of the Yaroslavl branch of the SRZP, Anatoly Greshnevikov, told Vedomosti that he always regrets if the party does not participate in gubernatorial campaigns. The regional branch of the SRZP did not participate in the elections of the governor of the Yaroslavl region in 2017 and 2022. (the party has strong positions in the region), although Greshnevikov declared his readiness to become a candidate.

The leader of the SRZP branch in Yakutia, Fedot Tumusov, directly linked his refusal to participate in the elections for the head of the republic to the June 24 rebellion. “We had a candidate that was ready and that we were ready to support. But due to recent events related to <...> rebellion, the decision was made at the presidium not to rock the boat,” local media quoted him as saying.

SRHR is experiencing a micro-crisis after June 24, says political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov. “Betting on an extreme-radical voter did not work, the LDPR is trying to occupy the niche of a battering ram against the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the party is not ready to admit past mistakes – this is not accepted by Russian politicians at all,” he notes.

According to political scientist Rostislav Turovsky, non-participation in the gubernatorial elections is “a common thing” for the SRZP, and indicates concessions to the authorities. “But now the situation has become worse due to internal contradictions, lack of understanding by the regions of the course and future of the party. Therefore, the motivation to actively participate in local politics is disappearing,” the expert says.

For example, in the Trans-Baikal Territory, where a “restart” of the regional branch took place, the governor was once a member of the SRZP (Konstantin Ilkovsky led the region from 2013 to 2016), but now “the party is going through hard times.” Sergei Bezdenezhnykh, a senator from the Khabarovsk Territory and a former member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was appointed head of the department instead of Nikolai Seleznev (he held the position since 2013).

The first deputy chairman of the SRZP faction in the State Duma, Dmitry Gusev, told Vedomosti that this was a “technical change” for the head of the department. This year, a legislative assembly is being elected in Transbaikalia.

In general, the leadership of all parliamentary parties is moving in the wake laid by the authorities, and understands that in the current situation it is undesirable to provoke conflicts or somehow contribute to conflicts in the regions, says political scientist Vitaly Ivanov.

Among the exceptions is the position of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation on Khakassia and the Altai Territory, he notes: “In one region they refused to surrender the position of head without a fight, in another they put up the ambitious Maria Prusakova (State Duma deputy. – Vedomosti), acting as an allergen for the governor and constantly creating negative newsbreaks. You can also note the nomination of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Krasnoyarsk Territory [депутата заксобрания] Alexandra Gliskov.