The joke did not go in – Newspaper Kommersant No. 1 (7446) dated 01/09/2023

The Commission on Ethics of the Kursk Regional Duma will evaluate the scandalous video congratulations of the independent deputy Maxim Vasiliev, who celebrated the New Year in Mexico. His behavior was considered inappropriate against the background of the shelling of the border areas, not only by regional, but also by federal politicians. Secretary of the General Council of “United Russia” (ER) Andrey Turchak suggested that the deputy could be forced to resign “Wagner’s sledgehammer.” Mr. Vasiliev himself told Kommersant that the “video joke” was not intended for wide distribution, and the scandal was “sucked from the finger.”

Maxim Vasiliev spoke about the meeting of the New Year in social networks on January 3. “For the first time in a year, I left for weekends and holidays to rest in Mexico, which is friendly to us. The weather is great, the people are friendly, the service suffers a little, but the prices are good, ”he said, without revealing the cost of the holiday. Later, another entry appeared on social networks, in which the parliamentarian, being in a restaurant on the beach, congratulates everyone on the New Year, wishing “a lot of money and a lot of good mood.” In the video, he drinks a cocktail, eats shrimp and speaks in Spanish.

After this publication, the deputy was sharply criticized for vacationing abroad while his native Kursk region regularly exposed shelling.

“I have been planning to come here for a long time, my relatives live here. They were visiting me in Kursk and invited me to their place. I don’t understand why this causes so much anger,” Maxim Vasiliev was perplexed in response to accusations that he “does not have a rest in Russia.” He also admitted that he recorded “a video joke exclusively for his own people,” and it was distributed by a resident of Western Ukraine, with whom Mr. Vasiliev was friends before the special military operation.

Maxim Vasiliev is one of the most experienced Kursk deputies. In 2003, at the age of 22, he was elected to the city assembly of Kursk. His father, Sergei Vasilyev, was at that time a deputy of the regional Duma, both politicians until recently represented the Communist Party. Two years ago, after the death of his father, Mr. Vasiliev stopped relations with the Communists and was elected to the regional Duma as a self-nominated candidate, and the EP did not put forward an experienced candidate against him. Last year, Maxim Vasiliev’s wife Svetlana was elected to the Kursk City Assembly from United Russia.

Governor Roman Starovoit was the first official to condemn the deputy. In his Telegram channel he recalled that Mr. Vasilyev is an independent deputy, which does not allow him to be subjected to disciplinary measures along the party line. “However, I hope that the appropriate commission of the regional duma will evaluate the ethics of his behavior. For my part, I consider such behavior inappropriate, regardless of party affiliation,” the head of the region emphasized, adding that he was “very angry.”

The governor also asked Svetlana Vasilyeva how she felt about her husband’s behavior. She answered on her page in social networks that her husband is an adult and independent person.

“Since when did drinking beer and eating shrimp become a crime? It has nothing to do with taxpayers’ money,” Ms. Vasilyeva assured the subscribers. “Where do you think you should have gone?” How is everyone going to Turkey and paying for another Bayraktar for Ukraine?”

An even more outrageous video commented Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia Andrei Turchak. He described the behavior of Maxim Vasiliev as “the height of cynicism and inhumanity” and recommended that he and his wife resign their deputy powers: “I don’t know what will inspire the Vasilievs to this decision:“ Wagner’s sledgehammer ”,“ Starovoit’s kick ”or awareness of their insignificance, albeit belated , but I hope that after the New Year holidays the ranks of the Kursk deputies will thin out.”

Maxim Vasiliev told Kommersant that he understood the “resonance of the incident,” but it was “sucked out of thin air”: “The video was filmed in a comic form for my family and a narrow circle of friends. This was not my parliamentary appeal. I am ashamed of this video, because it was shown in such a way that an insolent deputy drinks and laughs in someone’s face during the CVO. It was actually taken out of context.”

The deputy stressed that he takes the words of his superiors seriously and works for the benefit of the voters.

And Svetlana Vasilyeva asked Kommersant not to bother her with questions: “Just a month ago I became a mother of many children and am on maternity leave. This situation negatively affects my moral and physical condition, and given the fact that I am a nursing mother, my child too.

Political scientist Vladimir Slatinov notes Maxim Vasiliev’s “amazing political survival” given his high-profile public statements and corruption charges dropped against him in 2015. Now the deputy will have to extricate himself from a more unfavorable situation, the expert believes: “The regional authorities, apparently, hoped for Vasiliev’s “systematic nature”, and now she has to feel anger and annoyance.”

Sergei Tolmachev, Voronezh