TOP-5 news April 21

Verkhovna Rada meeting of Ukraine photo: rada.gov.ua

Polit.ru offers your attention the five news of the day. The selection included the three most read news, one news selected by the editorial office, and the most unusual, in our opinion, news today.

1. Roscosmos will reduce the number of ships sent to the ISS

Within the framework of the new Federal Space Program for 2016–2025 (FKP), Roscosmos plans to reduce the production of transport unmanned spaceships of the Progress series. Instead of four ships per year, their manufacturer, Royal RSC Energia, will order three “progress” per year. The main reason is to reduce the demand for transportation of goods to the ISS by the project partners.

Rocket Progress M-20M. Photo: Federalspace.ru

Editor commentary: as Izvestia notes, five or six progresses per year were sent to the ISS four years ago, when the Space Shuttle program has already been rolled up, and the CTS COTS Orbital Transportation program, favorable to private carriers, has not yet gained momentum. Now regular flights to the ISS are operated by SpaceX Dragon ships, which can not only deliver goods to the station, but also return them to land, as well as the Orbital Sciences Cygnus. However, in Roscosmos they are in no hurry to grab their heads, since only the “progress” deliver fuel to the space station. Each ship is able to deliver about one ton of fuel into orbit. Soviet scientists began the development of transport unmanned cargo spacecraft progress in 1973. The first "truck" reached orbit in January 1978.

2. The media called Governor Tkachev a contender for the post of head of the Ministry of Agriculture

The Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev may be among the applicants for the post of Minister of Agriculture, who, according to the unofficial information, will soon become vacant due to the resignation of Nikolai Fedorov. The successor of Fedorov can be called in the very near future, it is possible that this will happen on April 21.

Alexander Tkachev. Photo: Gennady Anosov/Yugopolis

Editor commentary: In the afternoon on Tuesday, there were no documents on the transfer of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory to another position. The press service of Tkachev could not comment on the information widespread in the media. The working day of the head of the region was scheduled. Rumors about the ambulance of the current head of the Ministry of Agriculture appeared last week. Then this post was read to the governor of the Novgorod region Sergey Mitin, who already held the post of deputy Ministry of Agriculture. The candidacy of Deputy Fedorov, the former governor of the Stavropol Territory Valery Gaevsky, was also considered. It was noted that recently there have been complaints from the top management to Fedorov in connection with the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the agricultural industry. Sources of Kommersant in the State Duma called the probability of the appointment of Tkachev to the post of minister very high. According to the newspaper, the decision was personally made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

3. Pushkov will discuss with EU ambassadors the cancellation of sanctions

The ambassadors of the European Union will hold a closed meeting with the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Pushkov and discuss with it the issue of cancellation of sanctions against Russia. Pushkov said that the upcoming dialogue can be very useful after signing the Minsk agreements, “because the tension in relations with the European Union is maintained today. The European Union is also guided by this approach and is interested in contacts not only with the Russian executive branch, but also with parliamentarians. ”

Alexey Pushkov. Photo: Tehrosinfo.ru

Editor commentary: Most of the EU ambassadors agreed to take part in a meeting with State Duma deputies, in particular, to discuss the abolition of sanctions against Russia. According to the head of the EU mission in the Russian Federation, Vigadas Ushatskas, a specific decision on lifting sanctions will not be made, but “a discussion of this topic will be held, which may contribute to further decision -making in Brussels”. Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia that he intends to raise the question of canceling mutual black lists of persons who were created after the start of the conflict in Ukraine. The meeting will be held on the afternoon of April 22. It will also discuss the Minsk agreements, their implementation, the issue of investment and human rights. Pushkov recalled that in March the EU ambassadors were already invited to the State Duma to discuss relations between Russia and the European Union, but at the last moment they refused to meet.

Choice of the editorial office

Rada adopted a document on the "Remove of the Armed Aggression of Russia"

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a resolution on the "Remove of the Armed Aggression of Russia." The explanatory note states that the purpose of the bill is to create a legal basis for the claims of Russia "in connection with armed aggression against Ukraine." The document mentions all international obligations violated by Russia and the “negative consequences” of this, including human victims, the occupation of territories and the destruction of the economy of Ukraine.

A meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Photo: rada.gov.ua

Editor's comment: The bill clearly defines the start date of “Russian aggression” - February 20, 2014. On that day, the speaker of the Supreme Council of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov said that if power is replaced in Kyiv, the Crimean parliament reserves the right not to comply with the orders of the new government and consider only internal decisions legitimate. At this time, fierce clashes between the participants of the Euromaidan and the employees of Berkut took place in Kyiv. According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, 77 people died in the capital of Ukraine from February 18 to 20. A week after the statement of Konstantinov, the buildings of the Supreme Council and the Council of Ministers of Crimea were captured by armed people. The Prime Minister of Crimea was appointed the leader of the Russian Unity movement Sergei Aksenov. In mid-March, a referendum was held in Crimea, which many media christened the “referendum under the muzzle of a machine gun” due to the presence of numerous detachments of armed people on the peninsula-as it later turned out, it was Russian military. Crimea was attached to Russia.

The trick of the day

The head of the FSKN announced the role of spice in the organization of "Color Revolutions"

Synthetic smoking mixtures are used to organize color revolutions, said Viktor Ivanov, head of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN). According to him, special scientific centers are working on the methodology for using spice in “color revolutions”. Earlier, FSKN has already announced the relationship between coupling and drugs. So, the department argues that “one of the most active participants” of the Maidan were representatives of organizations involved in the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

Victor Ivanov. Photo: fskn.gov.ru

Editor commentary: At the end of 2014, more than 40 people died from spice poisoning in different regions of Russia, at least two thousand were injured. As a result of the police operation, more than 30 wholesale sales of smoking mixtures were detained. 1036 criminal cases have been instituted, more than 100 kg of psychoactive substances were seized from illegal turnover, 3.5 million drug doses equivalent, and this is only official information. Spice is a type of synthetic smoking mixtures with a psychoactive effect similar to the action of marijuana. The component of the mixtures is the synthetic analogues of tetrahydrochanabinol - the main active substance of marijuana.

A survey of the day

Readers "Polit.ru" refused to watch a movie about Putin

Polit.ru completes today's survey on the page in VKontakte. We asked readers if they would watch the film “President” dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the stay of Vladimir Putin.

Voting results:

No, I don't want to lose a few hours in vain - 44.7%

Yes, I expect a lot of information from it - 18.9%

No, I am not interested in this historical figure - 17.6%

I'll see if circumstances allow - 11.3%

Yes, I expect a lot from it as a work of art - 6.3%

"Dubrovsky" I will watch NTV - 1.3%

On Monday, it became known that on April 26, the Russia 1 television channel will show a documentary about Vladimir Putin called President. The film is dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Putin’s election for the first presidential term.

See also: Top 5 News April 20 TOP-5 News April 19 TOP-5 News April 18