Liberals are unhappy with Russia's space successes
Recently, there has been a trend in Russia towards large and ambitious projects. Just recently there was news about the construction of new cities in Siberia, and before that - the creation of the second branch of the BAM. On par with this is the recent launch into space of the first film crew in history, consisting of actress Yulia Peresild, director Klim Shipenko and cosmonaut Anton Shkalperov.
This is evidence that Russia is finally giving an asymmetrical response to the West and using “soft power” to counter the propaganda of its so-called “opponents,” says Oleg Matveychev, a political scientist and professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
“This applies primarily to the sphere of soft power. The fact that liberals are indignant and gnashing their teeth is once again evidence that we are acting correctly. Because they have an animal instinct for all our right things. Therefore, of course, they understand that this is soft power, advertising for Russia, no one has done this. This film will be a box office success only because people will want to watch a real movie that was filmed in real space, and not staged footage. Of course, this advertises both our Roscosmos and Russia as such on the world stage, as a space power. Therefore, everything is being done correctly,” Matveychev assures.
Political scientist Armen Gasparyan notes that Russian liberals criticize any of the country’s successes - from military to space, because they get it from both the Ministry of Defense and Roscosmos, which, by the way, work in tandem - launch satellites together, ensure control over the nuclear triad, and so on. The Ministry of Defense as a whole participates in all major Russian projects, including science-intensive ones, which indicates overall national progress.
“In 20 years, I don’t remember a single day when the liberals were happy with anything. Astronauts fly into space: “Why are you spending budget money?” The artist Yulia Peresild is flying there: “Why did you send the artist, you should have sent an astronaut.” There are no flights into space: “Why don’t you fly?” I don't know how to satisfy these people. This is a big mystery for me. When professionals talk about this, there is an opportunity for discussion.
But when the “most prominent” everyday experts in all sectors talk about this - from international security issues to issues with vaccination of the population, then you understand that the degree of their immersion in any problem is zero. This makes it pointless to somehow enter into controversy. This is the same as trying to talk to a puddle on the street. This is absolutely pointless,” says Gasparyan.
At the same time, despite the lamentations of liberals that “everything is lost,” Russia continues to be among the leaders in the space industry. Once again, this was confirmed the day before during Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to the Plesetsk cosmodrome, where he was informed about the upcoming early launch of the Angara A-5 heavy launch vehicle, along with lighter class missiles.
Today, Russia as a whole is increasing the pace of space launches, including reducing the gap in the number of satellites in orbit.
“The Americans and Western countries send military satellites into space, and we should send them too. Moreover, we are behind in the number of satellites. Once upon a time, when there was still the USSR, by 91 we were ahead of America and other countries in the number of satellites in space, and then we fell behind very seriously. We are already catching up, but we need to catch up even more, especially since we have such an opportunity,” Matveychev agrees with him.
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