The tricolor was hoisted over the Donbass – Newspaper Kommersant No. 153 (7354) of 08/23/2022

Most of the parliamentary parties used the Day of the Russian flag celebrated on Monday to once again demonstrate their attitude towards the Donbass and the special military operation (SVO). So, United Russia took part in the actions with the raising of the tricolor in the territories of the DPR and LPR. SR leader Sergei Mironov published a special article in which he recalled the role of the Russian flag in the events in Ukraine. The LDPR held celebratory rallies at which its leaders spoke of unity with the Donbass and support for the SVO. And even in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, where traditionally the day of the Russian tricolor is not celebrated, they linked this topic with a special operation, noting that after it began, the “red flag of Victory” is becoming increasingly popular.

This year “United Russia” (ER) is celebrating the Day of the Russian Flag together with the residents of Mariupol, Kherson, Kupyansk, Melitopol and “many other liberated cities,” Andrei Turchak, secretary of the party’s general council, wrote on his Telegram channel on August 22. On this day, the Young Guard of United Russia (MGER) held special actions: in Mariupol, at an altitude of 100 m above the Azovstal plant, a tricolor with an area of ​​200 square meters was deployed. m, and on the streets of Kupyansk the Russian flag was stretched with an area of ​​2.4 thousand square meters. m. “Many years later, the Russian tricolor rises again in the Donbass, personifying the salvation of the Russian people from the oppression of the Nazis, the revival of the Russian World,” Mr. Turchak wrote. MGER also reported that they held actions in 64 Russian regions, in which more than 10 thousand people took part.

Deputy Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia Darya Lantratova told Kommersant that she spent Flag Day in the LPR, where, together with State Duma deputy Ekaterina Stenyakina (ER), she participated in raising the tricolor on the central square of the city of Lutugino. In addition, United Russia members presented flags and stands with Russian state symbols to preschool institutions, schools and colleges in the Lutuginsky district. “It was in response to their request. I think that soon we will also help with the symbols of all educational institutions of the LPR, and subsequently in all the liberated territories,” explained Ms. Lantratova.

Leader “Fair Russia – For Truth” (SRZP) On August 22, Sergei Mironov published a “holiday” article in Parliamentary Newspaper. In it, he recalled the events of 2014 in Crimea, when “local residents hung out our tricolor on the balconies, walked with it on the streets, tied it on cars.” According to the politician, now the residents of the LPR, DPR and “liberated territories of the Zaporozhye, Kherson and Kharkiv regions” are now displaying the Russian flag with the same pride. “Local people know that now they are under the reliable protection of Russia. They are his (flag of the Russian Federation.— “b”) are honored and proud of him. Further – more,” Mr. Mironov is sure.

The secretary of the Presidium of the Central Council of the SRZP on political issues, Dmitry Gusev, in a conversation with Kommersant, added that the Socialist-Revolutionaries consider the Russian flag “combat” and perceive it as “a symbol of the country, homeland, every family.” According to him, SRZP celebrated Flag Day on August 22 during the conference of the Social Democratic Union of Women of Russia.

LDPR held actions dedicated to Flag Day in all regions of Russia, Kommersant was told in the party. In Moscow, a rally with the participation of State Duma deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party was held in Hyde Park in Sokolniki. Speaking at it, the first deputy head of the faction, Vasily Vlasov, spoke about the work of the party in the Donbass and noted the importance of this traditional August action as the final rally of the election campaign before the single voting day. Vice Speaker Boris Chernyshov emphasized that a special military operation is being carried out under this flag. And LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky pointed out that Flag Day “is becoming more and more significant for our country: the more severe external pressure on Russia, the more we unite.” He also added that the party is working on the creation of its branches in the territories of the DPR and LPR.

But CPRF, still committed to the old Soviet symbols, has never celebrated Flag Day and is not going to do so, Sergei Obukhov, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, told Kommersant. “Moreover, it makes no sense for the Communist Party to abandon its own symbols in the conditions of the NVO, when everyone in the liberated Ukrainian territories walks with the red flag of Victory,” the communist emphasized. According to him, the district committees of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the territories bordering Ukraine this year were even forced to increase purchases of party paraphernalia several times due to the increased popularity of the “red flags” in military units.

Finally, in the party “New people” told Kommersant that they prefer specific things to holidays. “Flag Day is an important date, and we are well aware of its significance. But while most people are not up to the holidays, we preferred to focus on work. So that the democratic values ​​of the new Russia, which the tricolor symbolizes, are not an empty phrase, ”the party members noted. Now “all resources have been directed to work in the regions,” State Duma deputies are “preparing for the autumn session and collecting proposals,” and party candidates are participating in the elections, the press service added.

It should be noted that on August 22, VTsIOM published the results of a fresh survey on Russian state symbols. In particular, the respondents were asked to name what for them personifies Russia and is its symbol. “Russian coat of arms, anthem, flag” was named by 12% of respondents; options “people, people, Russian people” – 11%; “My homeland, my home, my country” -10%. 7% of the respondents considered “nature, birches, Baikal, fields” and Vladimir Putin personally as symbols of the country. At the same time, 66% of Russians feel pride and admiration at the sight of the flag, 17% – sympathy, 11% – indifference, 3% – antipathy, irritation and shame.

Stepan Lvov, director of VTsIOM for strategic development, in his commentary to the survey noted that, despite the expectations of a number of experts, there was no sharp increase in the emotional “attachment” to national symbols after the start of the NWO: the background value has been stable for a long time (seven to eight years) and is at a high level. “Perhaps this indicates the strength of rational perception of the events of the past six months. With emotions and cohesion, we have long been all right, ”concluded the sociologist.

Andrey Vinokurov, Anastasia Kornya