The Belgorod region is experiencing a “shock” – Vedomosti

The Belgorod Regional Duma at the next meeting satisfied the applications for the early termination of the powers of three deputies: Olga Pavlova, Elena Bondarenko and Valery Sergachev, who in the past held the posts of chairman, first deputy chairman and deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly, respectively. All of them left their leadership positions in April 2022, amid a high-profile scandal with the distribution of the book “Shock” by the former governor of the Belgorod region, and now Senator Yevgeny Savchenko, in which he referred to the “Gospel of Elizabeth” by Nikolai Monoston recognized as extremist.

The last work was published back in 2016 by the Belgorod Heritage, which is headed by Sergachev. After the book was recognized as extremist by the Oktyabrsky District Court of Belgorod on February 17, 2023 (the Belgorod Regional Court upheld this decision on May 4), the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included it in the list of extremist materials. In the course of operational-search activities, law enforcement agencies established that the order for the publication of the Gospel of Elizabeth with a circulation of 2,000 copies came from Olga Pavlova, who at that time, in 2016, was in charge of the internal and personnel policy of the Belgorod Region (in 2020 – 2020). became chairman of the legislature).

Savchenko arguedthat the text of the “Gospel of Elizabeth” was “dictated by the Lord of the Earth Monoston” to a woman close to the former governor – “God-seeer” named Love, along with “more than two thousand parables and the biography of Jesus Christ.” At the same time, the prosecutor’s office believed that the “Gospel of Elizabeth” incited hatred for the Jews. In Shake, Savchenko, who led the Belgorod region for 26 years, wrote how through Love he communicated with Sergius of Radonezh and Vladimir Vysotsky, and with the Lord God he discussed the rulers of Russia and the political situation in Ukraine.

Shortly after the release of Shock, Elena Bondarenko and Valery Sergachev were expelled from the party by the decision of the Presidium of the General Council of United Russia for discrediting it. After that, together with Olga Pavlova, they left the leading positions in the Belgorod Regional Duma. Political scientist Vitaly Ivanov calls them “odious people” who, in his words, “have largely discredited the achievements” of Yevgeny Savchenko. “It is with them that the occult anti-Orthodox hobbies of the Belgorod leadership of the late Savchenko period are associated,” he says.

State Duma deputy from the Belgorod region Natalia Poluyanova, who held senior positions in the executive and legislative bodies during Savchenko’s governorship, draws attention to the fact that these deputies practically did not take part in the work of the regional duma and in the districts as elected representatives. “It is difficult to say whether this decision was due to a court decision or a change in the life trajectory of people. From the position of the regional legislature, based on my own experience in the subject, I can say how important and necessary it is for deputies to participate in the work of the region, in work with voters and help in solving key problems. For the Belgorod Regional Duma, this (the resignation of three deputies. – Vedomosti) is an opportunity to transfer mandates to those people who will really work for the good of the region, ”she told Vedomosti.

Political scientist Vladimir Slatinov considers the early resignation of Pavlova, Bondarenko and Sergachev “the logical conclusion to history” with the publication of “Shocks”, which was only obscured by the start of the special operation in 2022. “Thanks to this book, we saw that one of the most outstanding, of course, Russian governors at some point and already quite a long time ago, he became involved in a religious sect. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov very skillfully took advantage of this story with the “Shock” in order to clean up the Belgorod Regional Duma [от ставленников Савченко]”, the expert explained.