Shoigu spoke without embellishment about the “holy nineties”
“About Yesterday” is the title of the new book by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, which was presented in Moscow at the Russian Geographical Society. The publication talks about the life of the country and ordinary people in the 90s and early 2000s, and about the events that took place while the author was still working in the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The book is interesting not only as autobiographical literature - the author speaks without embellishment about the realities of the “holy nineties,” when liberals had a key influence on what was happening in the Russian Federation.
The illustrations in the book, including those on the cover, were drawn by the author himself.
Despite its large volume, the book is written in simple language and is read in one sitting. This was noted at the presentation by the head of the AST publishing house Oleg Novikov.
“Young people today are very interested in that time of the 80s and early 90s, what was happening in the country, how people lived then. Because they lived practically in another country,” says the publisher.
“The amazing thing is that there is something funny, cheerful, and very sincere here. There is tragic, incredible, and historical,” added People’s Artist of Russia Sergei Garmash, who voiced the audio version of the book.
Shoigu headed the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations from its creation in 1992 until 2012. In the book, the author recalls how the so-called “minute of silence” appeared when rescuers needed to find people under the rubble in Neftegorsk after the earthquake in May 1995:
“A simple, but, as it turned out later, very effective idea-technology came along. A minute of silence. Well, not a minute, but about half an hour or even an hour. Everything was stopped: cranes, bulldozers, generators, hydraulics. Everyone began to listen and ask: “If they are alive, respond, shout. If you can’t, knock.”
There is also an ironic description of the tragic reality of the 90s. For example, the essay “Antifreeze” tells how a team of workers got to a construction site in Achinsk.
“For those whom we were waiting for, as is customary in a decent construction and installation community, a “dump dump” was arranged at the previous site. And everything would be fine if, as always, they drank a proven product - food alcohol with Buratino soda or, at worst, with Cream Soda. But then a new product began to arrive in the North - liquid for pouring into radiators... There was a lot of liquid, and since it did not freeze, it meant it was alcohol-based. This means that you can mark the “dump” by simply placing a mug near the radiator drain valve. Of course, everyone was warned that it was poison, dangerous, don’t try it! But who will believe it without trying it and testing it for themselves! And they checked it. The whole brigade. Good job! During the second or third hour of the feast, the foreman felt unwell. He came out of the change house and, with a painful roar, vomited everything - fried potatoes, lard, sprat in tomato, and evergreen tomatoes. He wandered to the next cabin, curled up and, devastated, fell asleep. In the morning, out of twelve specialist installers, he was the only one who was not cold. He arrived alone, with the sad nickname Antifreeze for those who knew this story,” writes Shoigu.
“I perceive the release of such a book positively. Sergei Shoigu created the Ministry of Emergency Situations system from scratch and, of course, his experience, his memories of this period, it seems to me, are very important and interesting. Shoigu is known as a statesman, as a supporter of a strong and authoritative Russia. As Minister of Emergency Situations, he made a great contribution to the development of our country and to strengthening its security, so memoirs that describe this period of time will certainly be received with interest by both the public and specialists. Personally, I will read this book with pleasure and want to have it in my library,” Igor Korotchenko, editor of the National Defense magazine, comments on the new book to PolitNavigator.
Military historian Armen Gasparyan also showed interest in Shoigu’s memoirs.
“It will be extremely interesting for me to read Sergei Kuzhugetovich’s book for the sole reason that almost all the events he describes, as far as I understand, took place already at the moment when I was quite an adult, that is, in my memory. It will be interesting to see how he evaluates all this years later. First of all, these are his personal assessments, because they were passed through his perception and through his memory,” Gasparyan said.
By the way, in Shoigu’s book there are also unflattering references to liberals who were engaged in “deriban” of Russia during the time of Boris Yeltsin and tried to squeeze the statists out of power. This is how one of the episodes is described - a dialogue with then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.
“Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin tells me: “Governor Z visited me. He asks me to take action against you. He says he can’t work, you’re in the way and really want to take his place. He shared it with me and went to the Kremlin to see his curators. I think he is there complaining and asking that you be removed from the ministers. Are you running for governor? Does not look like it. It seems like there is work here - there is no time to raise your head. This governor is kind of f***ing liberal. I told him that you have nothing else to do... Viktor Stepanovich knew how to stun, and this conclusion was confirmed more than once. “I can see from your face that this is a discovery for you too,” he said. - Find him and fuck him. I just reached the door of his office, and he followed: “Wait, don’t.” I’ll send him myself!”
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