In Baghdad the count went down to days, in Moscow to months

Sunday's final television broadcast coincided with a meeting of the heads of Great Britain, Spain and the United States in the Azores - the fate of Iraq and the Middle East as a whole was being decided. During the broadcast, inclusions were made from Portugal, correspondents talked about what was happening. Ahead of the rest, as always, was RTR, whose correspondent made the unexpected assumption that the assault on Iraq would begin today. Evgeniy Revenko's eyebrows rose almost higher than his forehead, and he scheduled a special issue dedicated to Iraq for midnight. This issue was even released, but, of course, it didn’t contain anything new.

The stories about Iraq, which again took center stage on Sunday television this week, draw the line - war is inevitable and will most likely begin this week. TVS discusses how the war in the Middle East will affect the Russian economy. Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky makes pessimistic forecasts: after the war, prices will fall below $18 and will remain at this level for at least two years. Other experts are no longer talking about the war, but about how bad it is that Russia is sitting on an oil needle. The biggest hit came from the Central Bank's policy of strengthening the real exchange rate of the ruble. According to Andrei Illarionov, the price for such a policy is a reduction in economic growth. Kakha Bendukidze also says something similar. Khodorkovsky is an unexpected advocate for the strengthening of the ruble; he assesses it as socially justified, albeit to the detriment of industry.

The main domestic political topic is personnel changes in the power bloc of the government and disagreements between Prime Minister Kasyanov and his representatives of the economic bloc of the government - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Kudrin and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Gref regarding the implementation of tax reform . Both TVS and RTR suggest that this could lead to personnel changes. TVS even names possible dates - either after the presidential elections or after the annual address of the president, in which the economic course will be determined. RTR adds to the story about possible personnel changes in the government the statement of Boris Gryzlov about the poor work of the department of Alexander Pochinok. They also showed slightly boring footage of United Russia activists collecting signatures against increasing electricity tariffs.

The channels have different analytical approaches to reform in the security bloc. Rather, even diametrically opposite. TVS scares us with the return of the KGB, shows a close-up of the monument to Dzerzhinsky. The opinion of Georgy Satarov is cited: the authorities allegedly provide insufficient explanations for what happened. In fact, according to the channel, the castling of the security forces was started in order to push aside the officials of Yeltsin’s conscription. In this way, Putin’s personal influence is strengthening, which is so necessary before the elections. TVS takes a hard look at ex-plenipotentiary representative Viktor Cherkesov, who is close to the president, and was appointed head of the anti-drug committee; he recalls his service in the fifth department of the KGB, which dealt with the fight against dissent.

On RTR, in support of the official version, they talk about how incredibly effective the special services have become. Sergey Stepashin confirms: “The correct management decision.” To prove that everything is calm with the security officers, for some reason the correspondent walks along the deserted Lubyanka corridors. Everything is calm and the tax police, which, as you know, have been disbanded altogether, have a strange report on RTR from Krasnodar about FSNP employees who continue to go to work. Only United Russia can save the dear madmen. Boris Gryzlov, who, like Parsley, appears in every second story on the state channel, invites former tax officials to come to him - seemingly in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but behind the back of the country's chief police officer is a giant logo with a bear. Maybe not only in the Ministry of Internal Affairs?

State channels this week also tried their best to promote the Chechen referendum . RTR, as expected, has overtaken the entire planet. “An Internet center has appeared in Grozny and this is now the most popular place among urban youth. It was organized by the public organization “Walking Together.” Wow! But that's not all. The state channel made a story on the Budanov theme. Following a short message about the change of judge in the Budanov case, the stories of three soldiers imprisoned for killing civilians in Chechnya were told. Posner also spent an unusually long time discussing the Chechen referendum. The following people came to the studio: Special Ombudsman for Chechnya Abdul Khakim-Sultygov, presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky, head of the local United Russia party Lecha Magomadov. Also present was deputy Aslanbek Aslakhanov, who a couple of months ago had his own opinion about what issues should be put to a referendum and when to hold it. However, his dissent somehow managed to fade away. In the discussion, he played the role of an extra; the ringleaders were Sultygov and Yastrzhembsky. Let me give you a couple of quotes that are clearer. Yastrzhembsky: “Despite the statements of our disinterested ill-wishers from international organizations, Chechen refugees in Ingushetia will vote.” Sultygov: “Residents of Chechnya know the draft constitution many times better than residents of other republics.”

The referendum is one of the main topics on TVS. The visit to Chechnya of the head of the presidential administration, Alexander Voloshin, and his statement about the possibility of signing an agreement on the division of powers with Chechnya are being discussed. According to the commentator, this indicates that Chechnya will be granted financial independence and tax benefits. An unexpected thought: “Voloshin’s mystery has given rise to rumors that President Vladimir Putin will come to Chechnya for the referendum.”

This week there was not a single usual story on RTR about how bad things are in St. Petersburg under Governor Yakovlev. Maybe everything went well with Cherkesov to Moscow? No, the St. Petersburg issue did not go unnoticed; a long interview with the new Northwestern Plenipotentiary Valentina Matvienko was shown. Revenko asked the question point-blank: “Will you go to the gubernatorial elections?” Matvienko did not answer in time, saying that there is still a lot ahead, first you need to get used to the new place. We will probably learn about this from new RTR reports.

Main topics of analytical programs

ORT <“I>The situation around Iraq (3 min.). <“I>Referendum in Chechnya (2 min.). <“I>Mitigation of the Criminal Code (25 min.). Figure: Dmitry Kozak . <“I>Referendum in Chechnya (25 min.). Figures: Yastrzhembsky, Aslakhanov, Sultygov, head of the Chechen “United Russia” Lecha Magomedov) .

TVS <“I>Conflict between the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister (7 min.). <“I>Personnel changes in the power unit (18 min.). <“I>Referendum in Chechnya (7 min.). <“I>The situation around Iraq (35 min.). <“I>The murder of Zoran Djindjic (5 min.). <“I>Sergei Mikhalkov is 90 years old (8 min).

RTR <“I>The situation around Iraq (4 min.). <“I>Personnel changes in the power unit (15 min.). <“I>Conflict in the Ministry of Finance (4 min.). <“I>Referendum in Chechnya (5 min.). <“I>Budanov’s process (5 min.). <“I>The situation around Iraq (12 min.). <“I>Birthday of Georgy Zhzhenov (5 min).