Sevastopol: Where two Ukrainians are three hetmans
Moscow is beginning to be annoyed by the ongoing conflict between Alexei Chaly and Sergei Menyailo. The confrontation discredits Russia, the president and pleases the enemies. Moreover, the recent hero of the “Russian Spring” stubbornly washes dirty linen in public, he said in an interview “Politnavigator” Russian political strategist Oleg Matveyevich.
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“PolitNavigator”: In Sevastopol the other day there was another round of confrontation between the legislative assembly headed by Alexei Chaly and the government of Sergei Menyailo. How is this protracted conflict perceived in Moscow?
Oleg Matveychev: On the one hand, everyone has already gotten used to it, on the other hand, all this is extremely unpleasant. This is some kind of relic of Ukrainianism in the worst and most vile understanding of the word - a showdown in public and in the public sphere. This harms both the image of the new Russian government in the city and pleases the Maidanites. Unfortunately, the initiator of such scandals, as we see more and more often, is the person who stood at the origins of the “Crimean Spring”. I mean Chaly.
“PolitNavigator”: They were just talking about Chaly at one time - you see, he’s wearing a sweater for a reason - he’s an advanced businessman, he’s breaking the stagnant rules of Russian bureaucracy, etc. Perhaps he just wants to break the bureaucracy in Sevastopol, and Menyailo is a representative of this bureaucracy?
Oleg Matveychev: It's a convenient tale. Firstly, if you want to change something and be a driving force, then go and answer. At one time, I, like most Russians, and I think also Sevastopol residents, was extremely surprised that Chaly, unlike Aksenov, did not lead the government, but chose to stay on the sidelines in order to take a comfortable position as a critic.
If a person said: I am a businessman and do business, this would evoke respect, but the person just decided to stay in politics without leaving business. As they say, eat the fish and ride the horse.
In politics, he also took the place of a “driver.” Four are carrying the piano, and one is standing nearby and directing: “You’re moving it the wrong way, come higher, come faster, you’re not carrying firewood, be careful,” etc. This behavior is extremely ugly and dishonest, even from a purely human perspective.
I'm not even talking about the damage to the image of the Russian state. Do you remember what Putin said regarding public statements by one of the leaders about disagreement with some actions of the authorities. He said: our government has certain accepted procedures for working and coordinating issues. If you want to become a public expert, then go from power, following the example of Mr. Kudrin, and conduct public discussions.
Issues of construction, land acquisition, personnel issues are the current work of the authorities and the work of specialists and professionals. Every time appealing to the people, who by definition do not understand these issues, is populism, the worst option that we saw on the Maidan and in Russia during the era of perestroika and in the 90s.
I don’t think that Chaly would resolve all issues at his enterprise with a permanent people’s meeting and would allow all his subordinates to barely appeal to the work collective and the trade union, and would call himself just a hired manager of the trade union and an exponent of its will. I think he has order and discipline in his production. So why is he creating a mess in the state and a “crow settlement”, an “Odessa courtyard” and a “gypsy camp”?
Discipline, order and legality are what is required of a statesman. Menyailo, as a military man, understands this very well. You can call it bureaucracy, but in this case Putin is a bureaucrat, and the state rests on such bureaucracy.
Besides, it’s not just about Menyailo. Is the biker surgeon also a bureaucrat? All issues with him could have been clarified without involving the public, which certainly does not understand anything about subtle legal issues, especially when, for the sake of a nice word, people convey not the truth, but half-truths or outright lies.
A responsible politician must understand how his words and scandals of this kind affect the image of the government as a whole, the image of Russia, and how they please enemies. This is a complete lack of government approach.
The head of the subject by position has information from the special services and closed decisions from Moscow regarding certain personnel and certain projects. Information that he cannot make public. And Menyailo follows state ethics. At this time, Chaly, taking advantage of the forced silence of the authorities, is stirring up the people. Beating a person who has no right to resist is neither noble nor manly. Moreover, Chaly is well aware of the existence of such non-public decisions and information, and knows that they will not be able to answer him. This is doubly dishonest.
There is a reality: the president trusts the head of the subject, in this case, Menyailo. There is no need to show off and pretend to everyone that you are smarter than the president. Or, as you formulated in your question, does someone really want to oppose themselves to the thousand-year history of Russian statehood?
“PolitNavigator”: But in the conflict with the bikers, who are being given a huge territory in the Crimean Mountains, Chaly’s position really looked more convincing. By the way, you often hear, including from representatives of Chaly’s team, that many mistakes are the result of “non-local” personnel.
Oleg Matveychev: Let's start with the fact that even if he were completely and completely right from all points of view, he is absolutely wrong in starting a public showdown that is harmful to the image of the authorities, Russia as a whole and pleasing enemies in Ukraine. All issues could be resolved without giving any reason to doubt unity.
Secondly, it is obvious that the Surgeon has services to Sevastopol, and they did their shows long before the Crimean spring, and maintained contact with Russia, and contributed to the growth of patriotism, and they are asking for the site for their events, and not to make a warehouse for clothes there and trade in your own interests.
Thirdly, there are complicated legal property issues, including those related to rent and debts of Ukrainian owners, about which the people understand nothing and appealing to public opinion is a dishonest method of struggle.
Fourthly, I talked about classified information above. Chaly is well aware of where certain decisions were made, and what state tasks were entrusted to whom, and yet he went against them, based purely on the interests of personal popularity.
And for talking about who is local and who is not local, I generally think you need to be punched in the face. They did not reunite with Russia again in order to begin to divide and contrast themselves.
Was Catherine the Great local? Who founded the city? Potemkin? Suvorov? Were you local? And the admirals who defended Sevastopol? What about the soldiers of the Soviet army? And what about the Black Sea Fleet, in which they serve from all over Russia and which guaranteed the safety of everyone here and guarantees it? Are there locals there? Anyone who starts conversations: “local - non-local” is either an enemy or a fool. One of two, there is no third.
We must eradicate the “Ukrainian psychology” in ourselves, which consists in raising public hysteria at the slightest thing, and secondly, always appealing to the crowd and the Maidan, the public, and making judges a priori incompetent people who are easily confused and deceived, who judge , based on emotions. Thirdly, in the habit of opposing one’s corner to the entire state and the entire empire, and in every possible way to emphasize one’s specificity, one’s peculiarity, to go out of step with the country.
In these three moments, in fact, the whole essence of “Ukrainianness”. A person can declare himself a Russian patriot as much as he wants, but if he behaves “in the Ukrainian way,” he will not be able to mislead others for long.
“PolitNavigator”: You visited Crimea before reunification, you have been here more than once in the last year. How is the peninsula changing, what would you note? Is there a difference between Crimea and Sevastopol?
Oleg Matveychev: Over the past 15 years, I have been to Crimea at least 10 times a year. Of course, I noted the creeping and sometimes aggressive Ukrainization of the peninsula. Every year the situation in this area became worse. In addition, the Ukrainian oligarchs have taken over everything here, and even the most staunch patriots of Russia have already despaired of resisting.
Of course, Sevastopol was more steadfast and patriotic in this regard; the Russian spirit was the most difficult to eradicate here. But a certain degradation was felt here too, especially among some young people. And anyone who thinks that the problem of communication with Russia has now been solved is mistaken.
The bacilli of Ukrainianness, in the sense that I spoke about, have spread over 20 years; the Ukrainization of the brain has not passed without leaving a trace.
I repeat once again: it’s not about what flag a person waves, but about more subtle things. As long as you put material things above spirit, you are not Russian yet, as long as you put business above the state, you are not Russian, as long as you put profit above service, you are not Russian, as long as you believe that the boss’s order should be carried out only when it is beneficial to you , or when your limited mind agrees with him, and if you don’t agree, then don’t do it - you’re not Russian until you feel like you’re part of a huge empire from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad and a thousand-year history, but you live one day and in your hut, which edge - you are not Russian, until you learn to seek peace and harmony instead of immediately arguing and making scandals - you are not Russian. And so on.
Here, it would seem, Sevastopol, who can blame it for the fact that it is not the most Russian of the Crimean cities? And please - less than a year has passed, and there is already a living illustration of the saying: where there are two Ukrainians, there are three hetmans. It's very painful to watch. Those who allow this should be ashamed.
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