Pensioners in the villages of Karelia choose power: reporting "New"

How does “political mobilization” look like in a village adjacent to the fake children's concentration camp dedicated to the “Finns atrocities” during the Second World War? What do old people who live in a village who survived a wave of forest fires think about Russian politics?

In the elections in Karelia, a member of United Russia Valentina Pivnenko won, sitting in parliament for more than twenty years. The second place at the former chairman of Yabloko Emilia Slabunova, the party managed to maintain its representation in the Legislative Assembly of the republic. The special teams of Novye traveled dozens of polling stations in remote areas of Karelia to see how people who recall the authorities every few years - on the eve of the next elections vote.

Secret vote near a children's concentration camp

- Where would I turn away here ... Let me go into the house, into the kitchen?

- Tamar, this is a secret vote, Tamar! - Enrages the presiding judge in the commission.

- Lord my God, secret ... Seryozha! Seryozha, give me a chair! I did not want to vote this time, we never held the light in the village. But I think: the devil would be with him ... let it not be worse.

Tamara tries to come up with how on the porch of her house, laid down by basin with apples, to equip a booth for voting. The "Cabin" is built from chairs. Bulletins fly in different directions. As a result, we all together collect them on the porch. Members of the commission turn away: "We do not look, we do not look."

Tamara's husband Sergei Petrovich first announces that he will vote “against all”, and then for three minutes to go to the room with ballots - to ensure the secret of voting. Returns. Sergei Petrovich cast his vote “Party of Pensioners” - “Like a Pensioner”. Folds the ballots, takes off his glasses.

“So,” suddenly, replacing the tone of a good acquaintance to the reporting bureaucratic, he almost cries a member of the commission. - Show how many forms you have! The observers and I will check so that there is no stuffing.

Sergei Petrovich does not even understand what he could do, returns the ballots in confusion.

“Well, for now, tell my daughter hello,” the head of the commission waves because of the gate.

A neighbor Valentine in a colorful scarf sits in the grief of the tops and watches what is happening. Almost laughs:

-And for whom to vote, girls? Who is they choosing? Everything was decided without us. The first year, or something, do you live in the world? All the voices who need it have already been calculated - he passed. Now they are noisy, they will come to the chairs-a lot of things will be done for the people? The main thing is to climb. We are periphery for them. Aborigines!

The visiting election commission is a raid by the depths in the village of Vatnavolok. This is a hundred kilometers from Petrozavodsk, on the shore of Lake Onega. In some places, the jacket is similar to the cemetery of abandoned boats. The road to him leaves after the rain. There are no lamps on the street. In Vannavolok, pensioners remaining in the village should vote. Locals say that the young have left here for a very long time. There is no work. Auto -shop with products is trying to come twice a week. The village almost died.

But over the past year, the watercolor still got a lot.

At first, in the spring, a fake concentration camp was built at the entrance. The “Historical Reconstruction of the Camp” was created by the head of the Open Opportunity charity foundation Natalya Abramova, who created the project to “preserve historical memory”. The funds for him went from the presidential grant. As planned by the creators, the project was to recreate the life and life of young prisoners of Finnish resettlement camps. It was planned that Karelian schoolchildren will come here on the weekend on excursions.

Grandmothers in the Vatnavolok are sure that now the camp is already dismantling. The barrier sealed with ribbons blocked the path of the flashlights, which leads to plank huts. The watchman forbids to go to the territory - he says that the camp is closed, and if they find out that there were journalists, he will “hit” him. But because of the trees, observation towers still come out.

In the summer, construction equipment came to the long -suffering gut. But for another reason - to build a trout farm.

Pensioners are worried that production will violate the ecology of Lake Onega. According to them, the water there is already muddy, although several years ago it was used for drinking.

"Show me where Zhirinovsky, girls"

- Where do you have Maria Evstifeevna here? - shouts the head of the commission to a man with a cigarette.

- Yes, here is a neighboring house. Well, you have a delegation ... six people per grandmother!

The election commission in white robes and protective screens on their faces makes his way to the house of Maria Evstifeevna. She is 90 years old. She sees us from the window. Blinds in a smile. Beautiful - in a bright purple sweater. He does not see one eye-because of an unsuccessful operation several years ago in Petrozavodsk. One lives, but sometimes a daughter comes to her. Last year, Maria Evstifeevna buried her third son.

She seems to be glad to come the commission.

- Come in, girls, I will treat you with grapes, pour tea. I had a magnifier somewhere here ... And for whom to vote?

“We cannot advise you,” a member of the commission cuts down strictly, but smiling.

- And who are you all for? For Zhirinovsky? He yells a lot, said that loans and housing and communal services will be written off to everyone. Well, who do you advise me?

- Who do you want to vote for.

-I don't care. If only there was a benefit. Putin - thanks, gave ten thousand. I, see what I bought for myself ...

Maria Evstifeevna proudly shows a fresh purchase. Trimmer for kosba. He says he will mow herself. To tear the grass itself - already hands are hurt.

“Well, show me where to put a daw,” Maria Evstifeevna recalls our business. - Show where Zhirinovsky, girls. Well, show it! What are you afraid of? The lawsuit, or what?

“I have no right to tell you,” the main thing in the commission turns away, but moves to the table. - Let's read with a magnifying glass. Freedom and ... what is there? "Freedom and justice" the party.

- Why do not you have the right to prompt if I am half -wilted?

- Here is your LDPR.

- Well, come on, I'm for them.

- Well, I only read you! - laughs a member of the commission. - And this is called the "Secret of Voting" ...

- Well, okay.

Maria Evstifeevna still does not want to let go of the commission. Smiles, thanks that he came, asks to stay for tea. Then he apologizes: "You will forgive me that I am here to myself ... I pick it up in the garden, and then you came." “You told you what you got caught, this is also correct,” the chairman answers knowingly.

Maria Evstifeevna also tells us about the painful.

- I was born in the Novosibirsk region, I met my husband there. In 1952 they moved here, to the mother -in -law. My husband drank all my life, I sat hungry. I gave birth to four children. Three of my guys died. Valery, Vladimir and Igor. She buried everyone here. Two years as Igor died - oncology and heart. His legs did not have both - burned in the apartment. He fell asleep, and the heater of the hot set fire to everything there. His wife later also died of booze. Their child died at five.

- There was a terrible life, girls, scary ... I won’t wish anyone. It's good that everything is different now.

Maria Evstifeevna retired back in 1981 - at 50: “For disability, three thousand are given to me,” Mary Evstifeevna lies, bending her fingers. - Then, when I was 80 years old, they gave four thousand. And for 90 years they added one thousand and 754 rubles 4 kopecks. Where did they pick these pennies? "

The mother -in -law's house has already begun to rot, and then the daughter of Maria Evstifeevna took on a loan - with this money a new house was built, the one in which the pensioner lives now. In fact, on the rocky shore. From the bath you go out into the endless lake.

Democracy on the ashes

This summer, an emergency regime was introduced in Karelia. The republic was covered by forest fires. The fire came close to Naystenyarvi, a village three hours from Petrozavodsk, in July. Some of the people were evacuated, some remained with their houses. Most rushed to extinguish the forest with rescuers. The riding fire was thrown over the crowns of pines.

In September, hundreds of charred trunks in the forest resemble the fire. Coal from them is showerled with pieces to the ground. At the local cemetery - a canvas from a black ash. The fire came close to the graves. Several of them hooked. And somewhere somewhere did not reach the whole meter-the inhabitants stopped.

Before the polling station, you need to go through ruins and garbage remaining from empty houses. An abandoned logging building. The ceilings of old grocery stores broken through. Tested wooden cabins of street toilets.

Pugachev plays from the door of the House of Culture. A string of pensioners is in a hurry to the door - here is an polling station. A strong man in the form of a fire department comes out. Squinting, stops on the edge of the stairs.

Sergei tells how he spent the night in a fire engine at the railway station, where the forest was burning. How the neighbors brought food there. As received a bonus of nine thousand. Sergei voted for the LDPR: “You watch Zhirinovsky on TV-it seems to say something good, it’s practical. Maybe something in the country will change. ” The girl takes the arm of Sergei, but she says that she is for “fair”. Smiles: “One” is already tired! ”

“My son traveled to the station every day, participated in extinguishing, I jumped after him,” says the next voter, pensioner Valery Mikhailovich. - I am already 76 years old. He says: Dad, sit in the back. But I wanted to. I was eager. I say: let's even drag the hoses, drag the water. Dad, sit. And if a tree collapses on you? And I say: will it not collapse on you? The main role, of course, was played by helicopters. But people played a big role. People stood up. If I were a leader, I would have given the orders to people because they climbed into the fire without regretting myself, not thinking that the family will suffer.

In the ballots, Valery Mikhailovich placed a tick opposite the “Just Russia”.

- I really like Mironov. It seems to me that he is a man of a large soul. What exactly I like in him, I won’t tell you now. But, in my opinion, his words do not diverge from the deed. He tries, but so far he doesn’t succeed. I like how he says - he does not look aside, looks into his eyes and speaks directly. He cuts the truth in Russian.

Valery Mikhailovich, he says, was not going to vote for “United Russia”: “She completely seized the power of the riots. It seems to me that in Russia, it seems, on the one hand, life is getting better, and on the other hand, there are a lot of mess, especially in our periphery. I have been living here for 53 years and as the water was muddy and dirty, and remained. In our taps, it flows dark and dirty, unsuitable for drinking. We don’t even wash with this water. ”

A member of the commission Alla runs out on the stairs to smoke.

Sighs. He says that there are only pensioners on the site, because there are no young people in Nystenyarvi.

Only women who gave birth to children here: “Husbands everyone had to do. Families are disintegrated because of this, there is no work here, but the men do not return back-Alla is driving, wraps up in a jacket. “And the girls are just nowhere to go.”

"In December, my Alyosha was killed"

- God, I didn’t take glasses ...

-Well, there you’ll somehow put a checkmark.

- So, frankly, I didn’t even meet the candidates.

- Aunt Masha, what are you, had to read all night!

- Yeah, "right now." Communists: "We will return socialism." Fools, or what? Zhirinovsky: "We will not raise prices." Who will listen to you?

Aunt Masha and his niece rise to the polling station. The niece says that she herself will not even vote, but the aunt responsibly approached the elections, even worries that she does not know the names in the ballots.

Maria Petrovna is an intelligent, beautiful woman. She is 70 years old, but she is shy about her age, she says: “I am so ancient, you are now scared, I have been living here, I’m working as a librarian.”

- She gave her voice for the “Apple” ( the Party “Apple.” - Ed. ), - Maria Petrovna smiles. - Oh, for the "green alternative." Because it's tired of this environmental situation. Children, old people go to allergies. Allergy around. And then, I am terribly sorry for the animals. I now took two animals in the shelter - a dog of Mukhtar and a thoroughbred cat Leo. I feel sorry for them, I feed them, I look after them, ”Maria Petrovna tells about the pets.

This year was terrible for her.

- In December, my son Alyosha was killed. Before the house, there, at that entrance, - Maria Petrovna shows to the porch of a two -story wooden house, whispers: - Only one pensioner called the police. And she did not come. The husband said: I won’t go to vote. The authorities did nothing to save my son.

Maria Petrovna waves her hand and wants to leave, but then she stops and leans on the railing: “And then Koronavirus - 10 days. Everyone tells me: you have SARS. And I was already no, the temperature is 39. All the diseases that I have been accumulating in 50 years - everyone returned to me. "

Then fires began.

- We almost went crazy, how scary it was. They put documents in the car, but did not leave. The policeman arrived, says: "Let's evacuate." We will not. We will be near the house. I have two sons in the cemetery. Mother. And thank God, our village was saved. If in the morning I got up and did not hear that the helicopter was coming with this battery of water, such a chest horror began. In the soul it became so bad. And then you hear the whisper of the helicopter, and he always flew over our house, and you are so rejoicing that they will extinguish again.

"Our president stopped traveling for the cordon"

In some areas in the region, on Sunday dinner, the turnout was approaching one hundred percent.

Villagora village. The plot there was composed in the building of the former feldsher-obstetric station, closed more than ten years ago. It's cold inside. There is a stove, but does not drown. White-green walls remind of the medical past of the site. A policeman is watching from the window. 34 people were to vote here - by Sunday, 29 people were noted.

In total, in Karelia, the turnout was 39.72%. On Friday and Saturday, pensioners who cast their votes to United Russia mainly came out of the sections of Petrozavodsk.

Vitaly Georgievich slowly wanders from the site, leaning against the wall. He thanks the guard at the exit. Says: “I am an old orthodox. Therefore, he voted for United Russia. She drags this WHO so much. Drags confidently. "

Vitaly Georgievich refuses to talk about pension reform - he is "a pensioner for a long time, and this is not serious."

“I am very pleased that Koronavirus appeared in the world,” continues Vitaly Georgievich. - Our president stopped traveling for Cordon. Finally, he had time to engage in the state. He saw: honest mother, where is the money?

On Sunday, especially in the evening, there were a lot of young people who cast their vote “apple” or “growth party” or just -ases, and, as a single -mandate, Slabunova.

“Most of all, Slabunov causes me,” says Anatoly, a man of about forty. - The rest of the characters is fog for me. And Slabunova - local, sensible things say. What is very sympathetic to me is a teacher by education. I am a teacher myself. Historian by education. And I can say: our people vote - it would not be worse than now. We are afraid of all kinds of “new people”, “green alternatives” - because it will be worse. And those who do not go to the polls do not understand one thing. No matter how many people come, at least two - the elections will still take place. So it’s better to go.

Anatoly "Yabloko" does not support. Therefore, he gave a voice to Slabunova as a person. From the parties chose - "Party of Pensioners." Mom is a pensioner.

Slabunova in the window

The Yabloko retained the faction in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia, returned to the Petrozavodsk City Council. But while there was a counting, even these prospects were almost gone.

The headquarters of Emilia Slabunova the size of one room is on the ground floor of the office center. At midnight from Sunday to Monday, only one window on the ground floor burns in the building. Only Emilia Edgardovna, rushing about with a marker in the hands of a huge home -made board, scribbled with numbers. Red marker is the indicator of Slabunova and “Yabloko”. Blue - Pivnenko and United Russia.

Members of the headquarters thank the telephone of observers dictating data from the sites: “You have done a very important job today. You are my hero. Thank you very much. "

Slabunova adds on the speakerphone: "You are our hero!"

Emilia Edgardovna says that at this moment the difference with Pivnenko in Petrozavodsk has 377 votes so far. In one section, she is ahead of Pivnenko a hundred votes, on the other - she is one hundred. Party indicators in a neighboring cell vary with personal flabberry catastrophically.

- Well, Navalny, of course, hit us in the party. I mean the call of a “smart vote” not to vote for small parties. Смотрите, какая разница между моими голосами и партийными — особенно в Заксобрание. Это нам крайне, конечно, нежелательно. Потому что я же здесь во главе списка.

— Но при этом люди, выходящие с участков, говорят, что хоть и не голосуют за «Яблоко», сто процентов за Слабунову.

— Люди у нас здесь голосуют за людей. Но Слабунова возглавляет список «Яблока» в Заксобрание. And what is the result? За Слабунову, но она потом в Заксобрание не попадет, а у меня тысяча запросов, вал обращений. И кто потом будет людям помогать?

У нас же публичной политики как таковой нет. У нас по телевизору рассказывают про партии и про то, как устроена вся эта власть? Тут уже людям с незнамо каким образованием приходится просто по полкам раскладывать про то, как формируется представительная власть на всех уровнях. Что такое «пройдут по партийным спискам» — это вообще…

Эмилия Эдгардовна присаживается на стул чуть выдохнуть, пока наблюдатели прекращают звонки. Смотрим в таблицу.

— Двадцать лет наша тетенька сидит в Госдуме и еще пять лет будет, — говорит тут Эмилия Эдгардовна. — И на пять лет снова ее все потеряют и забудут. Чтобы когда-нибудь ее выступление кто-то услышал…

Кто-то из штаба восклицает: «А знаете, что она ответила на вопрос, почему голосовала за повышение пенсионного возраста? Потому что денег у нас не было бы на выплаты всем пенсий».

— А то, что люди всю жизнь работали и заработали на эти пенсии? — задает риторический вопрос Слабунова.

Мы уезжаем из штаба в два ночи. По тем данным, что поступают, — Заксобрание не гарантировано, Слабунова — не депутат Госдумы. Эмилия Эдгардовна крепко жмет руку и старается улыбнуться: «Главное — не упустить Заксобрание… У нас же только Псковская область, Санкт-Петербург и Карелия. It is forbidden".

24 тысячи 160 избирателей в республике проголосовали за Слабунову. 46 тысяч 520 человек — за Пивненко.

«Яблоко» прошло в Заксобрание — два депутатских мандата.