EXPLOSIVE REACTION

Towards the elections

The tension on the eve of the election of the mayor of Samara was discharged not by a political one, as one might expect, but by a very real explosion. On the evening of October 5, unidentified people blew up the car of a candidate for the post of head of the city, Viktor Tarkhov, who at that time ...

The tension on the eve of the election of the mayor of Samara was discharged not by a political one, as one might expect, but by a very real explosion. On the evening of October 5, unidentified persons blew up the car of Viktor Tarkhov, a candidate for the post of mayor of the city, who at that time, together with a security guard, was having dinner at the Armenia restaurant. No one suffered, except for the reputation of the candidate himself: eyewitnesses noted that after an hour and a half, leaflets began to appear on the streets of the city, in which it was unambiguously stated that the candidate himself had organized the explosion of his Subaru. At three o'clock in the morning, law enforcement officers detained a group of "compra" posters, however, by the morning the whole city was full of leaflets of the appropriate content.

Even if we consider that in the age of progress information spreads almost at the speed of thought, it is difficult to imagine that such a compromising action could be carried out without knowing about the explosion in advance. The next day, at about 4 pm, distributors of leaflets “For Viktor Trakhtararakhov” that were not registered with the City Electoral Committee were detained. Little understanding teenagers spent several hours at the district police station: their older comrades did not rush to help them.

On the fact of the explosion, the prosecutor's office of Samara opened a criminal case under Art. 167 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional destruction or damage to another's property by arson).

At a press conference, Viktor Tarkhov said: “I understand that I categorically do not fit the current government. And that’s where everything comes from… An emergency happens, and immediately everyone is ready to prove that I, like a non-commissioned officer’s widow, flogged myself… I only get furious from this. And the ferocious I am terrible to myself sometimes.

By the end of last week, out of 21 candidates, 18 continued to participate in the election race - three withdrew their candidacies. Viktor Tarkhov was considered the most serious opponent of the incumbent mayor Georgy Limansky.

PS Elections were held on October 8, about the results of Samarans' voting - in the next issue of Novaya.