Behind Moscow

Cycle " Elections Flour "

Behind Moscow.

The story of how the authorities canceled the elections in two capitals

Project team, September 4, 2019

In the summer of 2019, Russian officials solved two difficult tasks: to elect a person by the governor of St. Petersburg, whom they laugh even in the Kremlin, and not to let the opposition into the Moscow parliament. The Project tells how much it was done.

The bottoms did not want to see me, but the tops could not talk about me without laughter

Venedikt Erofeev, "Moscow-Petushki"

In early summer, Vladimir Putin stopped mass rallies in Moscow with one meeting with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Since June 7, Moscow was seething due to the detention on the "drug" article by journalist Ivan Golunov. The police generals assured the Kremlin that the journalist actually traded drugs, although inconsistencies in the case testified to the opposite and threatened to lead to mass protests three months before the elections to the Moscow parliament. A few days later, Putin called Kolokoltsev to himself and set the task: personally to figure out everything, conduct examinations and release the journalist if he was not to blame. This was told to the “project” by an informed interlocutor who participated in the proceedings of the case, the same earlier told the “project” by the editor -in -chief of “Echo Moscow” Alexei Venediktov. The examinations confirmed that the charges were falsified, the journalist was released, and the protests ceased.

But the calm in the capital was short -lived. In July, Muscovites reached rallies again-now because of the unremarking for the elections to the Moscow City Duma of all opposition candidates.

Moscow

Request for public opinion

In the spring, officials responsible for elections in Moscow conducted election polls of public opinion. Their results were retold by three interlocutors close to the city hall and the Kremlin. The data received terrified them. It turned out that pro -government candidates do not have sufficient support in at least nine districts (45 of them), including throughout the center. Even the starting ratings of the opposition Ilya Yashin and Lyubov Sobol, who wanted to be elected to the Moscow City Duma from the Central Administrative District, allowed them to count on victory with a successful election campaign.

The city hall’s positions were weak in some districts outside the garden ring. Oppositionists Dmitry Gudkov in the North-West and Julia Galyamin in the north had the chances of winning. And even where there were no stellar oppositionists, the positions of pro -government candidates were still unstable - for example, in the Academic District and Kuzminki. Former State Duma deputy from United Russia, Elena Nikolaeva, running in Kuzminki, refused to believe for the results of the surveys that the officials told her for a long time - her rating was so low, recalls a familiar lean candidate.

Problematic constituency of Moscow

In the center

43rd district

Arbat, Presnensky, Khamovniki

Nyuta Federmeser was considered from power, but later she refused to run. The new authority of the candidate is Dmitry Koshlakov-Krestovsky. I wanted to run from the opposition, but Love Sobol was not registered. Nonal, according to the authorities, the candidate is Sergey Mitrokhin.

44th district

Zamoskvorechye, Tagansky, Tver, Yakimanka

Supported by the mayor's candidate - Ilya Sviridov. Candidate from the Communist Party-Elena Shuvalova

45th district

Basmann, Krasnoselsky, Meshcansky, Sokolniki

Basmann, Krasnoselsky, Meshchansky, Sokolniki. The pro -government candidate is Valeria Kasamar. An unregistered opposition candidate is Ilya Yashin.

Outside the center

5th district

Filevsky Park, Khoroshevo-Mnevniki, part of Schukino

The candidate from the authorities is Roman Babayan. An unregistered opposition candidate is Dmitry Gudkov.

6th district

Golovinsky, Levoberezhnaya, Khovrino, part of the Western Degunino area

The candidate from the authorities is Mikhail Balykhin. The candidate from Yabloko - Evgeny Bunimovich.

8th district

Airport, Sokol, Voikovskaya

The candidate from the authorities is Vadim Kumin. An unregistered opposition candidate is Ivan Zhdanov.

9th district

Begovoy, Savelovsky, Timiryazevsky, Khoroshevsky, part of Beskudnikovsky

The candidate from the authorities is Andrei Medvedev. Unregistered Opposition Candidate - Julia Galyamin

23rd district

Kuzminki, part of Lublin, part of the Ryazan

The candidate from the authorities is Elena Nikolaeva. Communist Party Candidate Elena Gulicheva.

37th district

Academic, Gagarinsky, Lomonosovsky, part of Vernadsky Avenue

In this district, only representatives of the system opposition are running - Alexander Romanovich from Just Russia and Nikolai Gubenko from the Communist Party. An unregistered opposition candidate is Elena Rusakova.

Even the classic technologies of the authorities did not work. In the district, which includes the airport, the Falcon and Voikovskaya, it immediately became clear that any candidate at least somehow connected with the authorities was doomed to defeat. Therefore, the city hall made a deal with the Communist Party, promising that a member of United Russia, Ekaterina Kopeikina, formally self -nominated, will not conduct a campaign, but in fact the city government will support the communist Vadim Kumin, says an interlocutor close to the capital's leadership. Of course, in exchange for loyalty after being elected to the Moscow City Duma. Kumin himself told the “project” that he was “wrong” to call someone’s protege, except for the Communist Party. But this did not help: polls showed that Kumin could lose to the director of the Corruption Fund Ivan Zhdanov.

The results of the work of sociologists were reported to the mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the leadership of the presidential administration. It was the polls that finally assured the authorities, and so in recent years that Navalny’s comrades -in -arms were not configured to the admission to the elections that oppositionists cannot be included in the ballots. “In 2013 (when Alexei Navalny was admitted to the election of the mayor of Moscow and he received 27% -“ Project ”) believed that it was strategically allowed the society to release a steam of discontent and give the opportunity to vote for opposition candidates. Now the performances have changed: they said that it was necessary to prevent Navalny’s associates from going to the Moscow City Duma so that they do not become serious politicians to the State Duma of 2021 and did not go there already, ”the interlocutor who participated in the meetings about the elections in Moscow reports.

The fact that this is fraught with big problems on the streets was not thinking at the end of spring.

Petersburg

Bibabo Putin

At the time of the beginning of the election campaign in St. Petersburg, the headquarters of Alexander Beglova received a task from the Kremlin - to win with a result of at least 55%. Such an attitude was also given with an eye on the experience of 2013 in Moscow, when Sobyanin received 51% of the vote, and the opponents suspected that one percent for the mayor’s victory in the first round was thrown away. The result of Beglov was to look more confident, but the very first measurements of the rating showed that the candidate was far from the desired numbers. The Kremlin’s behavior added horror by Beglov’s behavior, which at some moments made the chances of his election generally ghostly. According to the source of Project at the headquarters of Beglov, there he constantly circulated the rumor that the leadership of the Kremlin’s domestic political unit invites the president to replace the governor. The most famous case of this kind is described by the little -known term “bibabo”.

The correspondent of the “Project” noted: when the Kremlin officials want to say something about Beglov, they do not name his last name, but simply make a gesture that imitates the glove doll (it is “bibabo”):

The video was made in April this year, when the governor spoke to the employees of the St. Petersburg Puppet Theater. He portrayed how King Saltan represents him, Beglov, gathered. “Hello, uncles and aunts. I am King Saltan, ”said Putin, 69-year-old ally of Putin, referring to the audience, among whom there were not a single child. “Do you know who I brought to you to visit?” Well, tell me, who is this young man with a mustache? What is his name? Uncle Sasha. Uncle Sasha, hello! ”

This case is only one of a series of dubious speeches by Beglov. In February, veterans complained : they cannot ensure that the authorities erect a monument in the area. In response, Beglov took a wallet out of his pocket and handed the elderly a five -thousandth bill, says a witness to the meeting.

“The public behavior of the governor is a continuous failure,” the interlocutors of the “project” in the administration of the region admit. Political technologists even began to “hide” the chief candidate, allowing us to attend events with his participation only to journalists of loyal resin publications and limiting his communication with the press to a minimum. And the unsuccessful jokes of Beglov are asked to cut out of the shooting and not give on the air, the interlocutors of the “project” among city journalists say.

But this was not enough. Three Kremlin departments had to go to work in St. Petersburg at once - the internal policy department, the management of the State Council, the Department of Public Relations, several interlocutors at the headquarters of Beglov and in the Kremlin - and three political technology companies, including specialists from Yevgeny Prigozhin, told the project. And they began to save Beglov.

Moscow

Elections funeral

At first, the Kremlin’s plan and the city hall, who decided to prevent Navalny’s associates, were not completely cannibal. Firstly, the authorities did not want to refuse to register at once to all candidates from the opposition. “The main thing was not to register candidates such as Sobol and Yashin (Lyubov Sobol and Ilya Yashin -“ Project ”). And, for example, Mitrokhin (the former Leader of Yabloko Sergey Mitrokhin - “Project”) could also register, ”says one of the interlocutors. As a result, Mitrokhin was registered by court decision in mid -August, when the authorities needed to calm the protests.

Secondly, the authorities hoped to agree with some opposition to cooperation. There was a conversation that you need to go to negotiations with Yashin and convince him to voluntarily refuse to participate in the elections, says a person close to the city hall.

But this plan began to fall apart very quickly. The officials never reached the attempt to talk with Yashin - they simply could not figure out what could be offered the opposition for which he would sacrifice the election campaign. And when checking the signatures-according to the law for registration, a candidate for the Moscow City Duma-a self-nominee must collect signatures of 3% of the residents of the district, that is, about five to six thousand people-it turned out that the quality of the subscription sheets of Sobol and Yashin is much better than those whom the city hall was ready to allow, including Mitrokhin. During the campaign, a group was even discovered that falsified signatures allegedly in the interests of Mitrokhin. After that, it was decided not to register anyone at all: handwriters suddenly “found” the signatures of dead people in the documents of the opposition.

The interlocutors of the “project” in the Kremlin are now joking evil: the curator of the funeral market of Moscow could not come up with anything better than finding “dead souls” in the signatures of the opposition.

This is a joke with a subtext. Less than a year ago, Sobyanin replaced the officials responsible at the city hall for the elections. This block was headed by two people who have never been engaged in voting campaigns so far: Vice-mayor Natalya Sergunina, who had previously been responsible for property issues, and the first deputy head of the apparatus of the mayor, Alexei Nemeryuk, who guides the Department of Trade and Services, and in this position, who oversees the funeral services market. Now Nemereyuk combines the posts of the head of the department and the first deputy head of the apparatus.

The elections for these two people were so new that they even returned to the headquarters even sent to an honorary link to the post of deputy chairman of the VEB Vyacheslav Shulenin - until last year, it was he who was engaged in election at the city hall, they say Schulenin’s acquaintance and a person close to the leadership of the mayor's office.

The scale of the problems became clear in the second half of July, when Moscow began to resent because of the withdrawal from the elections of almost all opposition candidates. Then the "senior comrades" from the Kremlin joined the elections.

Petersburg

Escort services

- Well, how much can an escort select? - Nervously spoke in an interview with the correspondent of Project Technologist, who participated in the coordination of candidates for the governors of St. Petersburg. Unlike the Moscow campaign, the elections in St. Petersburg were immediately engaged in the Kremlin, nevertheless Beglov-a long-standing acquaintance of Putin, and even a protege of a friend of the president, businessman Yuri Kovalchuk. The officials did not bring to the collection of signatures to the opponents, deciding to independently choose weak opponents to an unpopular candidate, and with strong - to agree.

The first to exclude Oksana Dmitriev, a rating St. Petersburg policy with considerable experience. Even in the winter of the opposition, they began to invite to conversations in Moscow, to the presidential administration, about then she confidentially met with the vice-governor of St. Petersburg and Kovalchuk’s henchman Lyubov Prezheva in her office in the building of the city parliament, the interlocutor, close to the city authorities, claims. Soon after that conversation, Dmitriev began to publicly praise Prekhaeva, and then completely announced indifference in the elections. The authorities acted with the Dmitrieva method of Knut and Gingerbread, promising “problems” in case of solving “gratitude” in exchange for refusal, the former official of the St. Petersburg administration said. Dmitrieva went towards and “was satisfied” with the proposals made then, the interlocutor, close to the leadership of the Kremlin administration, reports the result of negotiations - she also promised her the chair of the State Duma deputy, three interlocutors of the “project”, whom she lost according to the results of the 2016 elections. The public position of Dmitrieva is as follows: she herself refused to participate in the elections, since the municipal filter is obviously impossible to pass.

Having barely agreed with Dmitrieva, the headquarters of Beglova was faced with a new problem. In June, sociologists recorded the growth of the rating of a candidate from the LDPR - a young blond, the father of four children Oleg Capinov. Officials were so frightened by the growth of the Girinian rating that he had to “persuade” him from the struggle. As a result, on June 25, captains withdrew from the elections and, at the invitation of Beglov, headed the city committee on interethnic relations. Three interlocutors of the “Project” in the executive and legislative power of the city say that Kapinova had influenced his acquaintance of the Kremlin official Alexei Mikheev. When appointing captains, albeit with ornate reservations, but said: "Russia for Russians."

But even this did not solve problems. By the end of August, ordinary employees of the Beglov headquarters ceased to show the results of the polls. “The authorities repeat to us that now the rating is 52%, but apparently, these are high numbers,” the staff officer said on the terms of anonymity. This was confirmed by the interlocutor close to the Kremlin, who received the data of closed polls - according to him, the Rating of Beglov began to grow, but did not reach 55%desired. Then another obstacle was found at the headquarters-in the person of the 73-year-old communist Vladimir Bortko. In the second half of August, there were fears that he could involuntarily unite the protest electorate, so you need to agree with him about removing from the race, the interlocutor at the headquarters told the “project”. As a result of August 30, Bortko, after a conversation with the Kremlin, voluntarily refused to participate in the elections. He tried to “keep his face” to himself and the authorities, saying that he did not want to play “in a torn fool”, and the Kremlin allegedly persuaded him not to get out of the race.

So Beglov was left without any serious opponents. On the day of voting, voters will see his name in the company of two people who have no chance of winning, the interlocutors at the Beglov headquarters, - Nadezhda Tikhonova and Mikhail Amosov, the leader of Fair Russia, is the niece of the leader of Fair Russia.

Moscow

Elections racketeers

After the unauthorized rally on July 27, Kremlin’s employees tirelessly phoned State Duma deputies, offering to make statements that should scare street protests in Moscow, sources in the Kremlin and the State Duma say. The interlocutor in the lower house describes: many parliamentarians did not burn the desire to fulfill the order, climbing in history, which does not concern them. So, after reflection, the head of the Duma Security Committee Vasily Piskarev did not begin to make a statement. He denied this information, transmitting through an assistant that he had “no one” with anyone. As a result, the mission was taken upon by the deputy chairman of the Ecology Committee Mikhail Starshinov - he proposed allowing the police to detain participants in protests for 72 hours, and at the same time increase fines for unauthorized rallies.

All these initiatives were developed in the Kremlin. But they were not going to accept them, they were invented with one goal - to intimidate the participants in mass protests to reduce the number of Muscovites who went to the streets, the federal official claims.

But quite seriously, the authorities used a much more effective intimidation tool - arrests. Через несколько дней после митинга 27 июля чиновники сели отсматривать кадры прямого эфира телеканала «Дождь» и съемки оперативников — так они решали, кого из участников несанкционированного митинга следует отправлять под арест, а кого не трогать , рассказал «Проекту» собеседник, близкий к силовым структурам. Правда, эти списки постоянно менялись в зависимости от политической ситуации. Всего подозреваемых было 17 человек. Но после скандала с режиссером Дмитрием Васильевым, который оказался в камере без необходимого ему как диабетику инсулина, чиновники решили избежать скандала и попросили силовиков прекратить его преследование . В итоге Васильев был отпущен без предъявления обвинения. А после того, как митинги стали менее массовыми, и по мере приближения дня голосования пятерых фигурантов дела отпустили, а еще двоих, включая студента ВШЭ Егора Жукова, перевели под домашний арест. Но двух фигурантов дела суд уже успел отправить в колонии, а многих лидеров протеста, в том числе Навального, Яшина и Гудкова, держали под административным арестом, чтобы они не могли своим примером выводить людей на улицы.

Cooked by "Moscow business"

Осуждены

Иван Подкопаев Признан виновным в том, что распылил газ из перцового баллончика в полицейских. Приговорен к трем годам лишения свободы.

Данила Беглец

Признан виновным в том, что потянул за руку сотрудника правоохранительных органов. Приговорен к двум годам лишения свободы.

Были под арестом, но отпущены:

Сергей Абаничев

Владислав Барабанов

Dmitry Vasiliev

Даниил Конон

Валерий Костенок

Чтобы, как говорят кремлевские политтехнологи, «перебить повестку», в мэрии думали организовать в пику протестующим «патриотический митинг» — наподобие тех, что собирали на Поклонной горе во время протестов в 2011-2012 годах. Выступить на этом митинге предложили самому мэру. Однако Собянин выходить на митинг категорически отказался , рассказывает собеседник, близкий к руководству мэрии. А еще в самом начале кампании мэр отклонил идею политтехнологов фотографироваться с кандидатами в Мосгордуму.

Это решение Собянина, а также последующие действия руководства страны показывают отношение властей к собственным кандидатам и их возможностям.

На юге

On leave

Начало августа президент встретил как всегда — в отпуске. А Кремль — тоже как всегда — эту информацию скрывает. Пресс-секретарь президента Дмитрий Песков даже заявил , что Путин вовсе не отдыхал. Но еще с 29 июля, то есть в разгар протестов, журналистов перестали приглашать на мероприятия с участием главы государства , рассказывает собеседник в крупном СМИ, а на сайте kremlin.ru стали публиковать так называемые «консервы» — заранее записанные встречи главы государства с чиновниками или информацию о телефонных переговорах Путина.

Судя по всему, отпуск президент проводил на юге. Потому что через неделю после начала отдыха, 6 августа, журналистов пригласили на один день в Сочи осветить несколько мероприятий с участием Путина. Именно туда, в отпуск, лидеру страны привезли пострадавших от наводнения жителей Иркутской области. Уже на следующий день наступил новый период «консервов». Только в день очередного протестного митинга, 10 августа, президент появился на публике, уже в Крыму — там он посетил байк-шоу и сам прокатился на мотоцикле. На юге Путин оставался до середины августа, при этом он то отменял несколько публичных мероприятий в Сочи , там у него было совещание по модернизации здравоохранения, но после отмены в Сочи международного саммита Путин, по словам собеседника в Кремле, решил вообще отказаться от появления на публике, то появлялся перед камерами в Крыму и Анапе. С юга Путин уехал лишь 19 августа — на саммит во Францию.

Однако и после этого странности с графиком первого лица продолжились. В конце августа его ждали в регионах, где в сентябре пройдут выборы, — например, в Мурманской и Астраханской областях. Чиновники ожидали, что президент своим приездом поддержит избирающихся там губернаторов , рассказывает человек, участвовавший в подготовке визита Путина в регионы. Но Путин внезапно передумал ехать, заменив визит, например, в Мурманскую область встречей с губернатором в своем кабинете в Кремле. При этом в регионы, где губернаторов не выбирают, например, Саратовскую область и Татарстан, президент летал. Собеседник «Проекта» предполагает, что Путин не хотел участвовать в предвыборном турне на фоне неприятных событий в Москве и в целом падения рейтинга власти.

Последовали примеру Путина и другие кремлевские чиновники: например, в разгар протестов глава президентской администрации Антон Вайно отдыхал в Европе . О том, что в конце июля Вайно был в дорогом отеле в Биарицце, сообщала ранее русская служба Би-би-си. Собеседники «Проекта» уточняют, что он там отдыхал с семьей.

Москва — Петербург

Конечная без конца

Больше всего кремлевские чиновники опасались принципа домино: того, что протесты из Москвы перекинутся в Петербург — об этом корреспонденту «Проекта» говорил чиновник администрации президента. Поэтому даже на самые незначительные акции в северной столице стягивали много полицейских. К радости властей жители Петербурга не вышли массово на улицы, но и голосовать за Беглова тоже не захотели — до сих пор закрытые опросы не показывают, что ему гарантирован искомый результат , говорит собеседник в штабе.

Это означает, что для получения 55% властям придется применять административные методы — в этом уверены четыре опрошенных «Проектом» человека, имеющих отношение к организации кампании Беглова. Все условия для этого созданы: городские власти решили устроить голосование на сильно удаленных от города участках: в соседней Ленинградской и Псковской областях, якобы по просьбам уезжающих из Петербурга дачников. Организовать там наблюдение сложно, а вбросы, напротив, легко.

В Москве ситуация похожа — мэрия по-прежнему нервничает, что ее кандидаты победят далеко не во всех округах , рассказывает человек, близкий к столичному штабу. Закрытые опросы , их результаты «Проекту» пересказал источник, близкий к штабу, показывают, что претенденты от власти могут проиграть допущенным до выборов малоизвестным кандидатам (их поддерживает команда Навального в рамках проекта «Умное голосование»), в четырех округах:

Округа на поражение

6-й округ

Головинский, Левобережный, Ховрино, часть района Западное Дегунино

Кандидат от власти — Михаил Балыхин. Кандидат от оппозиции — Евгений Бунимович.

8-й округ

Аэропорт, Войковский, Коптево, Сокол

Кандидат от власти — Вадим Кумин (КПРф), кандидат от оппозиции — Дарья Беседина (осталась после недопуска Ивана Жданова).

37-й округ

Академический, Гагаринский, Ломоносовский, часть Проспект Вернадского

Кандидат от власти — Александр Романович («Справедливая Россия»). Кандидат от КПРФ — Николай Губенко (остался после недопуска Елены Русаковой).

43-й округ

Арбат, Пресненский, Хамовники

Кандидат от власти — Дмитрий Кошлаков-Крестовский (кандидат от ЛДПР). Кандидат от «Яблока» — Сергей Митрохин (получил регистрацию по суду после недопуска Любови Соболь).

Подобное поражение, как утверждают собеседники в Кремле и мэрии, власти не страшно, правда, при одном условии: если после выборов массовые протесты не вспыхнут вновь.