Vladimir Putin’s election headquarters is ready to begin collecting signatures

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin’s election headquarters opened in Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor. Its co-chairs Artem Zhoga, Vladimir Mashkov and Maryana Lysenko, with the support of the head of the Presidential Department for Domestic Policy Andrei Yarin (he heads the headquarters staff), immediately held a meeting with those responsible for collecting signatures from the Popular Front and United Russia (UR). And in the next room, volunteers were already being trained in all the intricacies of this process, who unanimously explained that they had come to the capital for one day and at their own expense. Later, at a briefing, the co-chairs of the headquarters told how Vladimir Putin called them personally and made an offer that they could not, and did not want to refuse.

Vladimir Putin’s headquarters as a presidential candidate was located in Gostiny Dvor in 2018. And there were many similarities between the two headquarters. Just like six years ago, this structure will have three co-chairs: only the personalities have changed, but the gender ratio remains the same. Last time, these positions were occupied by the head of the Talent and Success Foundation, Elena Shmeleva, the general director of KamAZ, Sergei Kogogin, and the head of the Dima Rogachev Medical Center, Alexander Rumyantsev (now a State Duma deputy). Now, as Kommersant predicted, the choice fell on the speaker of the DPR parliament Artem Zhoga, actor and director Vladimir Mashkov and the head physician of Moscow City Hospital No. 52 Maryana Lysenko.

The press secretary of the headquarters in 2018 was journalist and media manager of VGTRK Andrey Kondrashov. Now he is the general director of TASS, and another TV presenter, Rossiya 24 employee Alexandra Suvorova, is responsible for the press at the headquarters. On Thursday, she gave a short tour for journalists, which began with a fairly spacious room, where all three co-chairs were sitting at the table, as well as a person whose face was well known to the participants of the 2018 headquarters – the head of the Presidential Department for Domestic Policy, Andrei Yarin. This official, whom Kommersant’s sources call one of the most pedantic and efficient employees of the Kremlin’s internal political bloc, just like six years ago, took the position of chief of staff at candidate Putin’s headquarters.

Those present in the room held a meeting via video conferencing to collect signatures. The head of the executive committee of the Popular Front, Mikhail Kuznetsov, was reporting on the screen, saying that he himself expected to sign for Vladimir Putin in the coming days, and not just anywhere, but in Donetsk itself.

It is not known whether Mr. Kuznetsov was warned that journalists would hear him, but he ended his speech very bravely, expressing his readiness to neglect the weekend in order to collect signatures.

“Saturday Sunday? What is Saturday and Sunday? – said the head of the executive committee to the approving glances of those receiving the report. The next speaker, Deputy Secretary of the General Council of United Russia and head of its executive committee, Alexander Sidyakin, was no less energetic and charged. He stated that in four days it would not be difficult to collect a million signatures (with the required minimum of 300 thousand).

In another room, future signature collectors were being trained. “First, you had to take your passport and only after that sign,” the moderator-lawyer explained the mistakes in the format of a business game. When asked how they got to the headquarters, the volunteers answered that their organizations informed them about the opportunity to participate in the election campaign and they went to Moscow at their own expense for a one-day training. “We arrived at night, slept while visiting, and came here. “Everything at your own expense,” said Alexander Chernykh, a member of the Belgorod headquarters of the “We Are Together” volunteer campaign. “I said: why not. I bought a train ticket right away. We arrived, received useful advice from a lawyer, and returned in the evening,” added his comrade and fellow countryman. “They gave us the opportunity to touch history, to the election campaign of our president, to do everything so that Russia has a strong leader – our president, for whom not only our youth, but also people of different generations would vote,” another volunteer explained his motivation to reporters .

The official part ended with a briefing from the co-chairs, who also shared similar stories about their time at headquarters. As it turned out, the president personally called each of them shortly after the meeting of the initiative group to nominate him for a new term.

“You know, all Russian citizens sometimes think: will the president call them or not. This happened to me – the president called me,” shared Vladimir Mashkov.

According to him, it is a great honor for him to support the president, since Vladimir Putin is a “man of will.” This word in Russian is very voluminous, the actor explained: “It contains three concepts. Will is strength of character, will is desire, and will is freedom. These three components are fully operational in our president.”

“The president and I have communicated twice already,” Maryana Lysenko, whose first such communication happened in connection with the pandemic, did not fail to boast. Of course, this was also a great honor for her: “In addition to the fact that I am an organizer in the healthcare sector, I am a citizen of my country, I am a mother, I am a daughter. What is happening is certainly exciting. I have always been involved in social work, and this moment that is happening now… We will probably appreciate it in retrospect, as we always do, it is truly outstanding, very emotional and very important.”

“A similar situation,” Artem Zhoga joined his colleagues. “I also received a phone call with an offer to take part in the headquarters, to be a co-chairman. When I found out who my colleagues would be, I, of course, first of all, was delighted. It will be a great pleasure and honor to work with such great people. In general, Vladimir Vladimirovich offered, and I could not refuse.” Mr. Zhoga assured that he is ready to fulfill any duties that the headquarters assigns to him.

The co-chairs of the headquarters also said that they plan to travel to the regions and collect feedback from their residents in order to further help Vladimir Putin draw up a presidential program. After the event, the Kommersant correspondent asked Artem Zhoga whether the number from which he received a call from the president was hidden. The co-chairman of the headquarters replied that it was an ordinary Russian number. “I wrote it down just in case,” admitted Mr. Zhoga.

Andrey Vinokurov