Supreme Election Commander – Newspaper Kommersant No. 51 (7496) dated 03/25/2023

On Friday, at the Federal War Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchi, a farewell ceremony was held for Vladimir Churov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Foreign Ministry and former chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), who died on March 22. No first persons were seen at the ceremony, but the ex-chairman of the Central Executive Committee was escorted off with military honors: an ardent admirer of military history, Vladimir Churov, posthumously took a place on a par with the generals, the Hero of Labor and the cosmonaut.

During the ceremony at the coffin of Mr. Churov, covered with tricolor, guard of honor kept watch, and it ended with a triple volley. According to one of the former colleagues of the ex-head of the Central Executive Committee, the family was also offered the option of a cemetery in Moscow, but she chose a war memorial. Which, however, is not surprising: Mr. Churov’s ardent love for military history is well known. He wrote books about military adventures, collected military regalia, and rarely missed meetings of reenactors. Participants of the farewell ceremony, officially declared a funeral meeting, eagerly recalled this.

The place and role of Vladimir Churov in the history of the Russian electoral system was also discussed, but less. Although almost all of his former colleagues at the Central Election Commission came to say goodbye to him, as well as deputy chairman of the commission Nikolai Bulaev, who was appointed to the commission after Mr. Churov left, and deputy chairman of the Moscow City Election Commission Dmitry Reut. The current chairman of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, who replaced the deceased in this post, was not present at the farewell ceremony. The head of Vladimir Churov at his last place of service, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, also did not arrive – Deputy Minister Alexander Grushko handed over condolences and a wreath from him. Wreaths were sent to the grave of the ex-head of the Central Election Commission by President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Central Election Commission and the Moscow City Electoral Committee, deputies of the Liberal Democratic Party faction in the State Duma, Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Alexei Miller, Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov and the Moscow branch of DOSAAF.

“There is such an expression – “St. Petersburg intellectual”, so this is about him,” said Leonid Ivlev, State Duma deputy and deputy chairman of the Central Executive Committee in 2008-2016. He recalled that it was under Vladimir Churov that the program of technical re-equipment of the electoral system was launched, and the number of polling stations equipped with webcams was brought to 90% of their total number, and this result could not be repeated later. “Churov did not work, he served,” Boris Ebzeev, a member of the Central Executive Committee, supported his colleague. “He served high ideals!”

And having taken up the duties of an ambassador at large, Mr. Churov remained connected with the elections, follows from the story of Alexander Grushko: in his new position, he was responsible for monitoring voting in foreign countries. He recalled the former chairman of the Central Executive Committee as a sincerely enthusiastic person who knew how to rejoice from the bottom of his heart with the books and medals found in the ruins that he collected. And the ex-ambassador of Russia to China, now a senator from the Saratov region, Andrei Denisov, said that Vladimir Churov was the first person with whom he managed to talk heart to heart, returning after a ten-year absence.

“It always seems to me that he will now stand up and say: “Come on, I was joking!”, One of the participants in the farewell ceremony admitted. Indeed, even while in intensive care, Vladimir Churov made plans and scheduled meetings after they were discharged, he recalled.

The Federal Military Memorial Cemetery was opened in 2013 to perpetuate the memory of servicemen who died defending the Fatherland, as well as other Russians who have special merits to the state. Apparently, it was conceived as the Russian analogue of the famous American Arlington Cemetery. But so far, the nationwide necropolis leaves the impression of a place a little deserted. Firstly, this is a closed facility, and you can get there either with a tour or with the permission of the Ministry of Defense. In addition, most of the 55 hectares are empty, although rows of very fresh graves are striking. But they are mostly located closer to the entrance. Vladimir Churov took his place at the very beginning of the central alley, near the eternal flame, in the row where mostly generals are buried, as well as aircraft designer Genrikh Novozhilov and cosmonaut Valery Ryumin, next to which the grave of the former chairman of the Central Executive Committee is located.

Anastasia Kornya