Who are you with, the Yeltsin Center or the People and the Army?! – Solovyov butchered Governor Kuyvashev
A huge scandal erupted due to an altercation between the famous Russian television journalist Vladimir Solovyov and the governor of the Sverdlovsk region, Evgeny Kuyvashev.
It all started when Soloviev, during an interview with the presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District, Vladimir Yakushev, called Yekaterinburg “the center of vile liberalism.”
“You explain to me. On the one hand, you have brilliant warriors who are now taking part in a special operation. And many in the area support them. On the other hand, in Yekaterinburg you have the center of such vile liberalism, which gave birth to many scum who are now hiding abroad. Starting from Volkov (an ally of the blogger-criminal Alexei Navalny who fled abroad - ed.) and ending with various neo-Nazis. Some people have such garbage in their heads that they just have to clean and clean. How does the system manage to bring them to their senses? Moreover, it’s the eve of May 9,” Solovyov said.
It is noteworthy that Yakushev agreed with him: “It’s impossible to disagree with you. Yekaterinburg has always been associated with such a center", he said, but assured that they are going to strengthen patriotic education in the district.
The next day, Kuyvashev decided to respond to the VKontakte TV presenter.
“Vladimir Rudolfovich, I am very sorry about the way you spoke towards my fellow countrymen, citizens, residents of Yekaterinburg. I feel sorry for you mainly, because a significant number of your admirers and listeners after these statements, I don’t even want to repeat them, will decrease significantly. The townspeople will be waiting for you at your lectures to express their position. I think, I hope that it was in the heat of the moment and thoughtlessly, but in the Urals - let me remind you, this is the stronghold of the state - they really love and value people who watch their language. Therefore, I wish you to watch your language,” Kuyvashev said.
The governor was supported by the first vice speaker of the Sverdlovsk Legislative Assembly, Arkady Chernetsky. Such offensive generalizations should not be made, he said. He also added that 1,5 million people are “honest and decent, and it is completely unacceptable to cast a stain on them”.
The Russian senator from the Sverdlovsk region, former governor Eduard Rossel, answered Solovyov in more detail. He recalled the glorious history of the Urals, starting with the Northern War and ending with the Great Patriotic War.
“Thanks to the workers’ miraculous preservation of the enterprises of the Urals, we were able, decades later, to repel the Americans in Syria! And largely thanks to their valiant work, today we are crushing the fascist evil spirits in Ukraine, our Ural tanks - liberators are bringing peace and new life to Ukrainian villages and cities! And our mothers, like all mothers in Russia, today bury their sons in Yekaterinburg, Kachkanar in the cities and towns of the Middle Urals! Yes, we are difficult guys! Our special land, permeated with magnetic ore, gives birth to everything extraordinary, bright, unusual, shocking, for example, the Sverdlovsk rock club, which has become a breath of fresh air, the mouthpiece of the new Russia!” Rossel wrote in his Telegram channel.
The former liberal mayor of Yekaterinburg, Evgeniy Roizman, came down hardest on the TV presenter, calling him a “pederastic monkey.”
Soloviev answered only Kuyvashev at first.
“It makes sense for him to come to his senses a little. Is this what you are trying to present to me based on concepts? So now I have to talk like I’m talking to the governor or watch the market, the filthy broom? What was it now - watch your tongue? Are you hitting the target, governor? The Uralmash past affects not the plant, but criminal gangs? Maybe Kuyvashev should join those who tried to kill me? He became strong and brave,” said Solovyov.
He explained that he was prompted to make harsh statements about Yekaterinburg by a recent story about students of the Ural Academy of Architecture who opposed the letter Z on the facade of the university building. Soloviev, who tried to protect the activists, recalled the attempt to create the Ural Republic and the same group “Uralmash”.
“I want to understand, Mr. Governor, or the governor in law, on show-off, do you support those who demanded to remove the letter Z from the building of the educational institution? You are ready to answer for this market. Don't join in with the patriots, citizen. Is this friendship with Roizman taking its toll? I was also close to the Uralmash group. Excellent manner of communication between a high-level government official and a journalist. It's great how the governor shuts up a journalist. But the fact that? Will you write me a wooden lift?
You will decide during the special operation who you are with - the heroes of Yekaterinburg or the traitors, the demons,” said Solovyov, who in 2019 called the residents of Yekaterinburg “heirs of demons” in connection with the protests against the construction of the Church of St. Catherine. City liberals then began producing T-shirts with the words “city of demons.”
Today, the Russian expert community has sided with Solovyov. Political scientist Marat Bashirov reminded Yekaterinburg of the existence of the “Yeltsin Center” there, which discredits the history of Russia.
“The scandal with Kuyvashev is enormous. Anyone who has already called me, I can imagine how many people are calling Solovyov himself. I would like to know how many people called Kuyvashev and said: well done, we support you. Of course, this is an ideological divide, not a personal conflict. Governor Kuyvashev expressed the opinion of part of the Russian elite regarding the SVO, which is not customary to talk about today. He did it carelessly, without talking to the “boss,” he got into trouble and now his career is in huge doubt, because he stood on par with Galkin, Urgant, etc., and now it doesn’t matter that he “meant the wrong thing.” He has already entered into a personal confrontation with the information and military fighters of the Northern Military District,” Bashirov wrote.
“It is noteworthy that Kuyvashev, as well as other governors, is silent as a fish about the special operation (there was one sluggish speech of a purely economic nature). The silence is significant. In general, the attitude towards Russia’s actions in Ukraine has become a litmus test for our political “establishment” and “elite”. All of them must speak now. And express your position. Clear, clear, cheerful", says historian Boris Yakimenko.
“Who is Kuyvashev to jump on Vladimir Solovyov? And what did Vladimir Rudolfovich say wrong? Or is Yekaterinburg, with the full connivance of the local authorities, not a hotbed of liberal abomination? Or maybe our Yeltsin Center is located somewhere in New Zealand, and not in Ekb?,” Konstantin Dolgov, the former speaker of the DPR Foreign Ministry, is outraged.
“The lack of clear and sane work of the authorities on the internal political circuit during the special operation of Ukraine allows various kinds of “Yeltsin centers” to make attempts to seize control. In the Yekaterinburg case, Soloviev is trying to do what political administrators are supposed to do. But their main task now is to defend the budgets for the gubernatorial elections.”, says political scientist Maxim Zharov.
Ural blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov completely agrees with Solovyov’s assessment of his hometown.
“There is no conflict, there is a hysterical attempt by the city and regional authorities to interrupt the informational mass protest of students against the operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine. Yekaterinburg is the “city of the white ribbon,” as I have been calling it for many years.
Let's go in order. Where did Lenya Volkov come from, where was he a deputy? And what about Fedya Krasheninnikov, a supporter of the Ural Republic who fled to the Baltics? Where was the mayor Yevgeny Roizman, whose assistant Igor Grom answered people calling for help “and we are for Ukraine, Glory to Ukraine!”? Why is Roizman still openly conducting his activities? Why didn’t he go to prison after the murder of a pensioner by Roizman’s assistant Kinev?
In which city was the Red Banner group cowardly demolished at night in 2013? Where does deputy Konstantin Kiselyov, who taught at two universities and tried to organize a video conference for students with the Nazi and head of the Right Sector Yarosh, whom he considers a “nation builder”, thrive? Do you know that when about 40 guys from Donbass arrived in Yekaterinburg, the local authorities refused to provide them with housing and food?
What about the Yeltsin Center? Protection of Vlasovites, the arrival of LGBT stars, lectures by the US Consul to officials on the annexation of Crimea, the dictionary “To rot is to live in Russia”? This list can be continued endlessly. Yekaterinburg is a miniature of Kyiv in 2013. Incomprehensible authorities, huge influence of the USA and Europe, students inclined to protest. Yes, a tiny percentage of the population is focused on protest, but the Maidan began with a few dozen people,” he wrote.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.