Evening Medusa

March 29. Peskov defends deputy Slutsky

Fire in Kemerovo

The doors to the cinema hall, where dozens of people died during a fire in Kemerovo, were closed by one of the visitors. This was told by Igor Vostrikov, who lost three children, his wife and sister in the fire. According to him, the CCTV footage shows that when “there was already thick smoke in the corridor”, “some man decided to lock the door, block the cracks and wait for the rescuers” . “But rescuers, as you know, did not arrive,” Vostrikov said. Yesterday , his relatives filed a complaint against the actions of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with the prosecutor 's office .

On the site of the "Winter Cherry" they can break the square, the mayor of Kemerovo said today. In the square, it is proposed to plant trees in memory of each deceased and install a memorial. "No one will go there, even if it is restored - there the heart will break at the entrance," the mayor said.

Other news

Yulia Skripal is on the mend , said the UK National Health Service . Her condition is no longer assessed as critical; Doctors say she is recovering quickly. This is not the only news in the Salisbury poisoning case - police said last night that the poison was most likely applied to the doorknob at Sergei Skripal's house. All details are here .

Criminal authority Shakro Molodoy was sentenced to nine years and 10 months in a strict regime colony. He was tried for extortion from the owner of the cafe Elements. In 2015, a shootout took place near this institution, which resulted in a high-profile corruption case: three high-ranking officers of the Investigative Committee were arrested for allegedly taking money for the release of one of Shakro Molodoy's henchmen. Today, the prosecutor's office asked to sentence the former head of the internal security department of the Investigative Committee, Mikhail Maksimenko, to 15 years in a strict regime .

Three members of the Christian State organization received two years in prison for setting cars on fire near the office of lawyer Alexei Uchitel. At the crime scene, they scattered leaflets with the text "Burn for Matilda."

Peskov about journalists and Putin

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov came to the student program at the HSE Faculty of Journalism - and clearly felt more relaxed than at a regular briefing.

Commenting on the situation with deputy Slutsky, Peskov compared the journalists who suffered from harassment with the victims of Harvey Weinstein, and those with prostitutes: according to the presidential press secretary, Hollywood actresses slept with the producer for the sake of their career and money.

Peskov also explained why Vladimir Putin did not come out to the participants of the spontaneous rally after the fire in Kemerovo. It turned out that he is "a very specific, pragmatic president" who is "far from populism." “It’s impossible to speak in Putin’s style with a crowd of several thousand people,” Peskov explained.

"They make Novichok, we make lightsabers"

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, speaking at the London Mayor's Easter banquet, delivered a speech on the crisis in relations between the UK and Russia, in which he mentioned Crime and Punishment and Star Wars. Here is her translation .

At first we were told that the Novichok substance never existed. Then they said that it was, but now everything is destroyed. Then they said that his stocks were in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia or the United States. And the other day, they even named the creator of “Novichok” [Prime Minister of Great Britain] Theresa May. Over the past few days, we have heard that Sergei Skripal may have suffered an overdose. That he decided to commit suicide and at the same time tried to kill his daughter. That this attempted murder is revenge for how the UK allegedly poisoned Ivan the Terrible. Or that this is all to disrupt the World Cup. The British Foreign Office has already counted 24 versions of these ridiculous conjectures. I am very glad that 27 countries have decided not to listen to this nonsense anymore.

Report from Volokolamsk

Our special correspondent Ilya Zhegulev spent the weekend in Volokolamsk, where protests over the landfill have been going on for many weeks, and wrote a report about the relationship between citizens and authorities in this city.

Mayor of Volokolamsk Pyotr Lazarev is ready to tell, it seems, about everyone who was at the spontaneous action near the hospital. For example, about the man who grabbed [the head of the Volokolamsk district] Yevgeny Gavrilov by the breasts and promised to “put glasses up his ass”, Lazarev says this: “Andrey's name is. He is a calm, normal guy, law-abiding. I have never seen such manifestations. They brought it." “Another acquaintance is a former investigator in general,” he continues. “Can you imagine how far it has come that even law enforcement officers are already starting to riot?”

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