Voronezh members of A Just Russia – For Truth quarreled over disgraced director Mikhail Bychkov
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A split occurred in the Voronezh cell of A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP), the cause of which was the former artistic director of the local Chamber Theater, Mikhail Bychkov, who was fired for criticizing the SVO. If the “old” Socialist Revolutionaries supported the honored theater figure, then supporters of the co-chairman of the SRZP Zakhar Prilepin came out with sharp criticism. As a result, two prominent Prilepin functionaries were expelled from the party for “discrediting” it. The conflict will now be dealt with by a party commission.
The Presidium of the central council of the SRZP expelled two well-known Voronezh functionaries from the party – deputy chairman of the local branch council Dmitry Shurov and council member, ex-head of the cell Sergei Borisov. The official reason for the expulsion was given as “actions that harm the political interests of the party and discredit the party.”
A Kommersant source in the Voronezh SRZP said that Mr. Borisov has long, publicly and consistently criticized director Mikhail Bychkov, who was fired in November 2023 from the Voronezh Chamber Theater for his anti-war position. “At the political council, Sergei Borisov spoke out against the patron of the liberal director, entrepreneur and former deputy of the local regional Duma from SRZP Anatoly Shmygalev, as well as against his business partner and new deputy of the regional parliament Evgeny Oryupin. The second person expelled from the party, Zakhar Prilepin’s adviser Dmitry Shurov, also advocated the expulsion of Oryupin from the regional political council,” explained Kommersant’s interlocutor. As a result, Mr. Oryupin was expelled from the political council at the end of 2023, but has now been reinstated.
Sergei Borisov believes that nothing foreshadowed his expulsion from the party. “I associate this decision with the situation in the Voronezh branch. There are very rich people in it who have been deputies from A Just Russia for a long time. We came from Zakhar Prilepin’s “For Truth” party, and our position was fundamentally at odds with their position. We support a special military operation and want the victory of our homeland in the conflict, and these comrades promote Mikhail Bychkov and, after his dismissal from the state Chamber Theater, take him to the private cultural center “Progress,” said Mr. Borisov. He could not clearly explain the reasons for the decision of the party leadership: “Quite a strange position (of the leader of the SRZP.— “Kommersant”) Sergei Mironov, who waves “Wagner’s sledgehammer,” but in our case supports the people who finance Mikhail Bychkov, who signed anti-war letters. In my opinion, financial resources certainly played a role here. I can’t confirm this, but I have no other explanation.”
Dmitry Shurov refrained from commenting, noting that the leadership did not make any claims to his work and did not notify him of the reasons for his exclusion: “I can only say one thing: during my work in the party, I did everything to strengthen its position in the logic of justice, patriotism and truth, This is what I plan to continue to do.” State Duma deputy and head of the Voronezh cell of the SRZP Dmitry Kuznetsov confirmed to Kommersant that there is a controversial situation in the department: “The party commission must sort it out, and it is important to hope that under the leadership of Sergei Mikhailovich (Mironov.— “Kommersant”) the conflict will be resolved.”
Evgeny Oryupin recommended that Kommersant seek comments regarding the exclusion of his fellow party members from the central apparatus of the SRZP. He also recalled the results of his party and parliamentary work, the consistent work to protect the feelings of believers and the initiatives to cancel concerts and performances that promote Satanism and incite interreligious hatred.
The press service of the SRZP told Kommersant that the reason for the dismissal of Dmitry Shurov and Sergei Borisov was the removal from the council of the regional branch on their initiative of several local deputies, including Evgeny Oryupin. The situation is exclusively an internal party matter and has nothing to do with director Mikhail Bychkov, the party emphasized.
Political scientist Vladimir Slatinov believes that what is happening in the Voronezh branch of the SRZP is a projection of general contradictions in the federal leadership of the party onto those regions where Zakhar Prilepin’s supporters were and remain active: “We see the familiar handwriting of Mr. Prilepin’s supporters in terms of radical patriotism with the search for enemies and opponents of a special military operation. The leadership of the party, represented by Sergei Mironov, naturally does not abandon its tough patriotic course, but it looks softer and is not focused on the regional level.” The expert also notes that the radical agenda in the context of the story of the dismissal of Mikhail Bychkov may not be in demand among the main SRZP electorate, which until recently was represented by the budget intelligentsia.
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