Quarantine without Ovsyannikov: Interview with Ruslan Ostashko from Sevastopol

Sevastopol is once again in the news in connection with the scandal surrounding ex-governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov - the day before he was expelled from United Russia for a brawl at the airport. Political scientist Ruslan Ostashko, one of the active critics of the former mayor, told PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov about the legacy Ovsyannikov left and how Sevastopol is experiencing quarantine.

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Valentin Filippov: In our improvised studio Ruslan Ostashko. The call comes from Sevastopol to Sevastopol. Ruslan, hello.

In the last elections in Sevastopol, in my opinion, United Russia was defeated, gaining much fewer votes than before. What is this connected with?

Ruslan Ostashko: It's all together. And the federal United Russia is losing a lot throughout the country. The party has been demanding a global reset for a long time, there is talk about the need to rebrand and much, much, much more.

I repeat, I have said this many times, I am not a supporter of the United Russia party, I have many questions for it. But there are worthy people in the United Russia party. And that small part of people who join the party, simply because it is the party in power, in order to be at the feeding trough, in order to have a “roof” and do business with it, spoil the impression. This applies to Sevastopol, this applies to all of Russia as a whole.

Well, naturally, in the last elections to the Legislative Assembly, the elections held last year were reflected, among other things, by the activities of Governor Ovsyannikov, who, although he was not officially a member of the United Russia party, everyone understood that he was a pro-government candidate and a candidate from the party in power , because they interacted with him a lot.

Now, this is what is happening in Sevastopol today. A new governor, currently acting for the time being, who headed the party, the regional branch of the party. And how the party manifests itself during the work of volunteers of the “We Are Together” project. I see many, many positive things. While there are still these people who are hiding behind the party in order to do their dirty deeds, they have hidden their ears and are not particularly visible. Therefore, it seems to me that the party’s image in the city is improving a little. But I’m afraid that after the gubernatorial elections these people will begin to appear again. This is the eternal problem of the party in power, which is infiltrated by opportunists.

Valentin Filippov: We all remember the complaints against Ovsyannikov. Accusations were thrown at him, they promised to put him in prison, they promised to fight him to the end. It was believed that he caused enormous damage not only to the authority of the party, but also enormous material damage to the city of Sevastopol. Someone is punished?

Ruslan Ostashko: I don’t have detailed information on this matter; I am not a representative of the executive branch or law enforcement agencies that can initiate such cases and conduct inspections. Of course, I would like Ovsyannikov to answer. And not how he behaves at airports, I watched the news, how he swore at the police officers who, by law, demanded a boarding pass from him, a ticket in order to let him into the airport building in connection with quarantine measures.

All this, of course, causes irritation. As far as I know from the media, certain checks are underway, and even some people have been detained and are under investigation. This is good news. But, to my great personal regret, the officials, those people who made the decision locally, first of all, Ponomarev and Ovsyannikov, they are still at large and no legal actions have been officially announced against these persons. This cannot but be upsetting.

Of course, I understand why this happens. Because it is impossible to imprison the first elected mayor of Sevastopol, well, the governor. These are politically very large costs for the president, including the one who recommended him. But, and secondly, Ovsyannikov’s “roof” is quite strong, and I see that no matter how scoundrel he is, they still protect him.

These are such squabbles that are already outside the framework of the law, these are near-political squabbles that exist in all countries and it would be stupid to deny them. That is, laws are laws, and for some the law is not really a law.

Valentin Filippov: I have heard the phrase in Moscow: “Well, Dimochka is such a good boy” in some circles. How could this happen?

Ruslan Ostashko: The same situation. I talked to a lot of people who hold high positions in different areas, and everyone said that before he was elected governor, he behaved extremely adequately. He was a completely sane, reasonable person. Then, after the election, something went wrong. This happens sometimes.

Valentin Filippov: But in Sevastopol there is also the “Chaly factor”.

Ruslan Ostashko: This factor doesn’t really work with Razvozhaev.

Valentin Filippov: So far there have been no elections.

Ruslan Ostashko: Let's see, yes. All fingers crossed. Everyone understands that after the elections the situation may change. But we will closely monitor this. While what he is doing…. There are a number of questions. This includes queues for passes due to quarantine. Again, we saw a government meeting where he read out the people who organized this and said that this cannot be done. But, all the same, we understand that any action of any official of middle and senior rank, one way or another, is associated with his leader - the governor. That is, any complaint by the head of a department, vice-governor, or head of some large state unitary enterprise is automatically projected onto the governor, even if the governor did not give such orders or make such decisions.

In particular, the information that Sevmorport is closing transportation to the North Side by boats and ferries, as far as I understand, was a task... This is the official version that was announced. The governor gave the task to work out this issue so that there is an understanding of how to organize it, what the consequences will be, and Northern Seaport, I don’t know who it is, has already posted information on the website that transportation is prohibited from tomorrow. And, naturally, all the negativity fell on the governor.

That is, there are such questions for him. But personally, what he says and does is so far much more positive, it seems to me. I repeat, there are questions regarding the team. They need to be resolved. You just have to separate where the flies are, where the cutlets are, you can’t mix everything into one pile.

Valentin Filippov: In Sevastopol, under quarantine conditions, a volunteer headquarters has appeared that helps elderly people with food packages. They say that this is at the expense of some businessmen.

Ruslan Ostashko: Yes. I won't make a secret out of this. The governor personally called several businessmen, and government representatives asked for help. They were connected with our headquarters, and the headquarters was already...

I'll tell you how it works if viewers are interested. That is, no one receives the money directly. We are billed by a food chain that sells products at a wholesale price. We forward this invoice to a businessman who is ready to help, and he pays them directly. Physically, money does not have any intermediary who accumulates it for itself. That is, everything is calculated, given directly to business representatives, and they pay suppliers directly.

Valentin Filippov: There have already been rumors that they brought the wrong stew to someone...

Ruslan Ostashko: There are very different groups here in Sevastopol, there are interests of Ovsyannikov’s business here, because everyone knows that he discovered many, many things here, received many, many things, and is now trying to protect these assets in every possible way. This is also no secret to anyone. There is Lebedev here, there is Kabanov, here is Chaly, here is Nikolaev, here there is a huge number of interested people. There are people here who react adequately to the political situation, and there are people who are trying to put pressure. And, naturally, there are people who don’t like Razvozhaev.

I think it will be no secret to you, Valentin, that at one time I also actively criticized him - until I saw a response and direct communication began. That is, I had a number of materials addressed to his team. Questions still remain. Now, at least, I understand how these polls can be resolved, and what his personal attitude is towards this or that issue, and I like it.

That is, this approach, this acceleration that he needed, it is over. Now he is in contact with a lot of people, including me. I like it, I like it. And the fact that there are a huge number of enemies - in any region there is such a thing. But here, in addition to enemies, there is also our typical Russian love for freebies.

If one grandmother told another that they brought her Greenfield tea, and the next day they brought May tea to another grandmother, then she will say that somewhere someone stole money. Plus the stew is expired. There was a claim that the stew was expired. The shelf life of the stew was one more year. It was not the freshest, but there was still a year of expiration date. Taking into account the fact that food assistance is provided to pensioners during the period of self-isolation so that they do not go out on the street. And when they run out of a food set, they, in principle, there are cases when they ask for a second set, then, probably, this stew should not lie with her for a year for any reason. She should get it and eat it so as not to go to the store in the near future.

But this also means panic, plus misunderstanding even among volunteers. Some volunteer activists began to spread information that this is not private money, but government money, and that it’s not 60+, but 55+, and don’t be shy to call everyone. We have had cases where food packages were delivered to very elite houses, which certainly were not needed. But there lives a retired grandmother who said: “this is my contribution to the family budget, even I, being retired, can fit you a jar of stew,” roughly speaking.

Don’t forget that Sevastopol is currently, as far as we know, the only region where food packages are distributed free of charge. In all other regions, volunteers simply help - they simply use pensioners’ money to buy what they need in pharmacies and stores. My mother is in Moscow now, she uses the services of volunteers, she is eternally grateful to them, but there are no free kits there. For a very long time she wondered why this was available in Sevastopol, why this was not available in Moscow, she was indignant because in Moscow there seemed to be more money.

Valentin Filippov: Explain to her that she has Luzhkov’s bonus, but we don’t.

Ruslan Ostashko: Sobyaninskaya.

Ruslan Ostashko: She says she can't get it. Although she has only been registered in Moscow for two years, maybe she is not supposed to.

Valentin Filippov: It is not enough. In my opinion, you need to be registered for eight years.

Ruslan Ostashko: In Sevastopol, it’s not standard, but close to how it should be, the whole thing works. A huge number of volunteers write, ready to participate with their cars, in their free time. People are really actively helping. But there really is some negativity. There was a case when a grandmother threw a bottle of kefir at a volunteer, which she bought at the request because it had the wrong fat content in percentage. She threw a bottle at the volunteer’s head. We have minus one volunteer and a very dissatisfied grandmother.

Valentin Filippov: Well, we have fighting grandmothers.

Ruslan Ostashko: Different.

Valentin Filippov: Sevastopol. They know how to throw bottles away from tanks. Good luck to your volunteers!

Ruslan Ostashko: Thank you, join us.

Valentin Filippov: The main thing is that the quarantine ends as soon as possible.

Ruslan Ostashko: Let's hope that in Sevastopol it will end by the end of next week.