"Shamanist-communist"

As a former policeman, a participant in the Chechen wars, the opponent of the pension reform and Senator Vyacheslav Markhaev was in the center of the political crisis in Buryatia

On October 21, the latest criminal case was terminated after a series of rallies following the election of the mayor of Ulan-Ude-against Dmitry Kharaev, who was accused of spraying of tear gas in an employee of the Russian Guard.

The protests went throughout September and were connected with one of the candidates-a former policeman, a participant in the Chechen wars, a Senator-Communist from the Irkutsk region, an enemy of the pension reform by 64-year-old Vyacheslav Markhaev. On September 8, Markhaev lost to the current mayor of the city Igor Shutenkov. After that, a political crisis began in Buryatia: more than four thousand people went to rallies, claiming that the results of the elections were falsified.

"All for him"

“I personally saw Markhaev for the first time a week ago,” says a small woman wrapped in a warm scarf, diligently withdrawing circles in the dark sky with a flashlight from the phone. - It doesn’t matter to me whether he is a communist or someone else, the main thing is what kind of people he is. Who goes to the square - everything for it.

In the evening on the eve of the next rally organized by the supporters of Vyacheslav Markhaev, a dozen activists gathered on the central square of Ulan-Ude next to the main monument, the gigantic head of Lenin, in order to “strict” and “swing”-to call on their blogs to go to a rally.

The protest movement in Ulan-Ude began on September 8. On this day, the mayor of the city took place and in the evening their result became known : at the turnout, 36% was won by a member of United Russia Igor Shutenkov with a result of 52.5%; Its opponent, communist Vyacheslav Markhaev scored 36.5%. The rally on Freedom Square in support of Markhaev began on the same day.

Ex-candidate for mayors of Ulan-Ude Vyacheslav Markhaev (in the center) during an inconsistent protest against the results of the mayor of the city in the central square photo: Andrey Ogorodnik/TASS

The very next day, September 9, the protest against the falsification of the elections suddenly received a new impetus due to the protesters against the arrest of Igor Konoshanov, the Buryat associate of the Yakut Shaman, Alexander Gabyshev. The rally lasted two days and ended with power acceleration and arrests. The city authorities turned off the electricity on Lenin Square, blocked it and began the repair of the road. After that, activists, led by the deputy of the People’s Khural, communist Leonty Krasovsky created the “Free People” movement and agreed every evening to meet on Lenin Square and illuminate it with flashlights. A week later, September 15, the Communists held an already agreed rally in Ulan-Ude: slogans "For honest elections!" They were adjacent to the demand to let go of the political prisoners and stop pursuing the shaman.

- I’ll say what: if the Buryats have already been bought, then this is the edge! - one of the participants is outraged. - We are the region, there is no one behind us. Buryatov is to be taken - this is very necessary to try. We see which ones? It’s you there, in Moscow, immediately tell everyone what you need, and immediately give it all to you. And we will even meet each other - for two hours we will be here: “And how is it? What about mom? And brother? And how are the children? " - Only then let's start saying why we met. We have a sleepy kingdom here! And suddenly - it is necessary.

“I asked whom - everything is for Markhaev,” another picks up. - Buryats, Russians. Because he is an honest person for the people. It was even then, twenty years ago, it was known about him. When he defended Atlas. Do you know about Atlas?

"Independent man"

“Because of this story, they did not give him Hero of Russia,” said Valery Ivanov, former coach of Markhaev in the struggle. - He, three years before, performed a feat in Chechnya, were documents for the Hero of Russia in Moscow. But then he showed himself so that everyone understood: this is an independent person, politician. If you give a hero, he will be a governor, or even more. And did not give.

On the morning of May 5, 1998, a string of Buddhist monks wrapped in red clothes in red clothes approached the gates of the Odigrievsky Orthodox Council in Ulan-Ude. These were mainly boys-students (huvaraki), with them several lamas, including the head of the Buddhist traditional Sangha of Russia, Hambha Lama Damb Ayusheev. The monks came to prevent the export of Tibetan medicine atlas from Russia to the United States.

Atlas is 76 sheets of illustrations for Zhud-shi-the main text that contains the secrets of Tibetan medicine. The Atlas was created in the 17th century, in Buryatia from Tibet was taken out at the end of the 19th century, during Soviet persecution of Buddhists was stored in the Odigitrian Cathedral, which at that time became the “anti -religious museum”. In 1998, in agreement with the then President of the Republic, Leonid Potapov, Atlas was to temporarily leave for the United States, to the planned exhibition in New York.

Museum of the History of Religion. Exhibition "Ancient art of healing. Atlas of Tibetan medicine in Buryatia. " 2013 Photo: Interpress/PhotoxPress

“Since the original Atlas is located in Lhasa, on the territory occupied by the Chinese, this shrine was not available for Buddhists,” says the deputy director of the National Museum of Buryatia, where Atlas, Timur Dugajazhapov, is now stored. - And when in America they learned that there was a copy in Buryatia, of course, the interest was great ... And the confidence that the Atlas would return back and that nothing would happen to him was not there. And the Buddhist community opposed the export of relic.

Failure to fulfill the terms of the contract with the Americans threatened the republic with large fines, and Potapov decided on strict measures. The Atlas still went to the United States-by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the monks were dispersed to the Uin and Collector with batons with batons. A detachment of the Buryat riot police, led by Vyacheslav Markhaev, was also sent there, but the latter refused to comply with the order, and riot police did not take part in the dispersal of the monks.

“Thanks to the attention, which managed to attract to this story, including thanks to Markhaev’s act, the Atlas not only safely returned from a trip to the United States, but was also restored by the Hermitage workers,” continues Dugurzhapov. -Delivered to Ulan-Ude and received a new life. You know, Markhaev is not even a Buddhist. He is from the Western Buryats, he was born in the Irkutsk region, and they are mostly shamanists there. Even the Western Buryats often in Soviet times sent the bosses to us, to the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. Our Hamba Lama says about them: “Ah, again these shamanists-communists!”

"Uncle Stepa"

“In the native ulus in the Irkutsk region (in the village of Sharaldai of the Bokhansky district. - Approx. TD ) we have a family house,” says Marchaev. - My father, a rural teacher, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, died: he stood up for a fellow villager in front of visiting hooligans. I was 17 years old. I graduated from school and immediately became a teacher myself - took the place of my father. Because there was no one else. He remained for the elder in the family, since the brothers studied, who was in the army ... And in the 73rd year I went to Buryatia and entered the Pedagogical Institute. It is now my enemies say that I am a stranger here and a stranger there. And what am I a stranger? My family - Bulagati - wandered from the west coast of Baikal to Eastern and back and still lives on both sides.

Markhaev is a man of almost two -meter height: when he worked as a precinct in minors, he nicknamed "Uncle Stepa." The former policeman and communist, Markhaev, before the conversation, studies my documents, editorial assignment and Facebook profile for a long time, reports in passing that he does not like the democratic press, since she lives on “American money”. Having agreed to the meeting, he says thoroughly, pouring the expressions “The situation requires legal assessment” and “Legal consequences are not obvious”. It does not allow you to interrupt yourself. Slowly tapping the rhythm on the table with an edge of the palm of the palm of his hand, the thought ends, then goes on to the next.

Markhaev went to the police after an injury, due to which a sports career was interrupted: for the first years in Buryatia he studied in a pedagogical at a physical man and was engaged in a wrestling, was a master of sports of the USSR and the silver medalist of the RSFSR championship.

In 1993, Markhaev headed a new special forces - riot police - and took part as the detachment commander in the first and second Chechen campaign. In 1995, his detachment was surrounded by twenty kilometers from Gudermes.

- The situation was very difficult. The shelling round -the -clock, at night it was like during the day. The Altai, who were in the mountains ten kilometers from us, the situation was even worse: losses, wounded and it was necessary to evacuate them. The team comes: to the personnel of the regiment, the riot police move in the column through the village of Novogroznsky to help and evacuate the Altai battalion. Since several columns of the federal troops were previously destroyed there, I proposed other options: either aviation help or negotiations.

Buryatia, March 16, 2000. After a three -month business trip to the North Caucasus, a detachment of the Buryat riot police returned home. In the picture: commander of the detachment of the Buryat riot police, police colonel Vyacheslav Markhaev Photo: Zorikti Dagbaev/TASS

Markhaev volunteered to go to negotiations himself. The doctor and the doctor and the doctor went with him. And they returned, and a little later, the Buryat and Altai detachments were given a corridor. According to one of the legends, in the negotiations, Marshaev accidentally met an athlete, whom he once fought at competitions, and this helped.

“This is nonsense,” the Marhaev table chopping his palm. - The commander of the Front of the militants arrived for negotiations with us, he was not any fighter. They made inquiries how our detachment treated the local population, whether there were cases of looting or unlawful use of weapons. And everyone told them that there was nothing like that on our part.

From the war, Markhaev then brought to Buryatia 11-year-old Yusup Shidaev. The child fled to the detachment and spent a lot of time with the fighters, and then his mother asked to take the boy to save his life - the family was the first in the list of “unreliable” militants. A few years later, Markhaev also transported to Ulan-Ude and the younger brother of Yusup, Jabrail. They were brought up with the three native children of Markhaev.

Dzhabrail says briefly about the second father: "If a person went through the war and has not lost his human face, he will pass through political battles even more so."

Both brothers keep in touch with their homeland: for example, Yusupa Ramzan Kadyrov appointed a representative of Chechnya in Buryatia. Here, Yusup protects his second father at rallies: “If I do something bad, they will say either“ now, the son of Markhaev did it ”, or“ I did it a Chechen ”. And I don’t even know what is worse for me - to substitute my father or my people. I do not want one or the other. "

Squeezing bilate

- Yes, Markhaev had to be given to the tribunal then, and not imagine to the hero of Russia! - claims lawyer Belikto Dugarov. - After all, he left in Chechnya all the weapons and equipment, the checkpoint left ...

Dugarov repeats the main postulate from the editorial of the newspaper “The Path of betrayal” - this newspaper was released by the opponents of Marchaev immediately before the September elections. It said that the refusal to accelerate the monks and negotiations in Chechnya is crimes against the oath. Then, on the eve of the September elections, the REN-TV channel released a series of revealing videos about Marchaev. In them, politics was accused of “roofing” the business of his relatives, that his daughter belongs to a small cafe on the outskirts of Ulan-Ude, and a sister’s husband-several slot machines in a shopping center. Later, the journalist Ren-TV also filed an application with the prosecutor with a statement that Senator Marchaev attacked her and personally inflicted physical damage, but there was no attack on the video.

“I am narrowing about the slander regularly, and they again for my own,” objects Markhaev. - What are they still talking about me there?

After the two Chechen campaigns, Markhaev was increased - he became the head of the public order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Buryatia, and since 2004 - the deputy minister of the internal affairs. His family, boulags, is large and respected, which is extremely important in Buryatia. His older brother was a member of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, other brothers worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an episode with the atlas of Tibetan medicine could already be forgotten - if not for the obstinate character, Markhaev could remain in the system for a long time.

“But by 2007, upon reaching retirement age from the ministry, one might say, they removed me,” recalls Marchaev. - The Minister of the Interior was first Tsukruk, then Susyura. I had a tough confrontation with both.

And Markhaev went into politics: “He did not feel the old one. Forces and anger, in order to continue the struggle, has accumulated enough. In Chechnya, he still grunted with his teeth ... The war could be finished in a month, but someone needed it to continue. In Buryatia, too, I saw a lot of things: how the smugglers are “roofed”, how they plunder the forest, they steal nephritis. ”

2017. Representative from the executive body of state power of the Irkutsk region Vyacheslav Markhaev at a meeting of the Council of the Federation of the Russian Federation photo: Vladimir Fedorenko/RIA Novosti

At first he was a deputy in the local legislative body - the People’s Khurala, since 2011 - the State Duma deputy, and in 2015, communist Sergei Levchenko was elected the governor of the Irkutsk region, and Marchaev began to represent the region in which the Federation Council was born. But he did not forget Buryatia: in 2017, he tried to run for the post of head of the republic, but did not pass the municipal filter. The Federation Council was one of the five senators who voted against pension reform, in August of this year he attracted attention with a post on Instagram , in which he criticized the actions of the Russian Guard to accelerate protest in Moscow. The opponents of Markhaev spoke that Levchenko was not very pleased with such a defiant behavior of his appointment and for a long time Markhaev would not linger in Moscow.

"The people were offended"

Timur Dugarzhapov believes that it was "the charismatic personality of Marchaev forced the Buryats to get out of a sleepy state." “Buryatia never belonged to the“ red belt ”. Even though the region is very poor. There is very high loyalty - and any kind: to the authorities, to representatives of other ethnic groups ... But nothing came here. Industrialization has not reached. Perestroika, in fact, did not reach. Only crises here are felt brighter, but everything else is somehow deaf, quieter. ”

Valentina Typkesova, Executive Director of the Osin-Bokhan fraternity “Nyutag”, whose leader Marchaev remains, is sure that he was moving forward clan support. “How could Markhaev lose the elections when literally everything for him? She is perplexed. - The Bulagates, of course, for him, but the Echrims (the tribe of the Buryat, close to the Bubulat) were for him. And many who! "

“It seems to me that the people for Markhaev back in 2017 were offended when they began to clamp it-they did not allow the municipal filter in the election of the head of the republic,” explains Vladimir Prokopyev, former Minister of Mass Communications of Buryatia. - After all, he would hardly have won in those elections, the people we still vote from the Moscow protege from us out of habit. But Markhaev knew as an honest person, his presence in the elections would make these elections at least some serious event. That's why it was necessary to do this? "

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The material uses links to publications of social networks Instagram and Facebook, as well as their names are mentioned. These web resources belong to Meta Platforms Inc. - It is recognized in Russia as an extremist organization and is prohibited.