The United Russia faction fluctuates along with the general line. As soon as the Minister of Defense announced that the military department was not going to conscript students, State Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov said that his faction was against the abolition of deferments for students. I wonder if Mr. Gryzlov was just as principled when Sergei Ivanov, speaking in the Duma in December, spoke of his intention to send students to barracks and shave the foreheads of “talented balalaika players.”

At the very moment when, at the end of last year, President Vladimir Putin handed Ramzan Kadyrov to Ramzan Kadyrov in a festive atmosphere, the subordinates of the deputy prime minister Chechnya dragged from the houses and took away the relatives of another president, Aslan Maskhadov in an unknown direction.

A commission consisting of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad worked for a year, designed to resolve controversial issues that hindered the unification. The issue of property and, in particular, lands taken away from “foreigners” was by no means the last. Now the leaders of the ROCOR are outraged. “I believe that if this is the attitude towards us, then we must stop the negotiation process now,” said Bishop Gabriel of Manhattan.

On February 3, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov arrives in Moscow to sign an agreement with Gazprom. In addition to gasification of Chechen villages, Alkhanov expects to receive financial aid in the amount of 100 million rubles from the concern, as well as forgiveness of old debts for supplied gas worth 5.5 billion. Thus, the subject of the Russian Federation decided to try to follow the path of Belarus and Ukraine, which are also in no hurry to pay for Russian gas.

In the regions New "Extremely"? February 2, 2005 Alexander Golts Vladimir Putin sent his amendments to the State Duma Committee on the Law “On Countering Terrorism”. And these amendments shed light on the reasons for squabbles in the leadership of Russian special services, which at the end of December became the property of publicity.

The Kremlin begins a reform, the result of which will be the administrative collapse and bankruptcy of the country. One or almost as happened in 1917 and 1991. This week, the president introduced the candidacy of Sergei Darkin, still the current Governor of Primorye, for approval of the Legislative Assembly of the region. So the first appointment of the head of the region from the Kremlin took place.

“We believe that the method of protest fasting does not bring results, and therefore does not justify itself. We decided to try a new way to express our protest, namely, to eat, eat, and eat all day long until complete exhaustion or until the government completely resigns.” This statement was made by a group of Moscow students who chose the Grandmother's Pancakes cafe for their event. The initiative can only be welcomed, but young people should remember: without vodka they won’t get much.

The minister considers it necessary to revive pre-conscription training for young people in schools. “If our young man is able to do pull-ups on the bar several times, it will be useful not only for him, but for the nation as a whole,” said Sergei Ivanov. The “nation as a whole” in the modern world needs, first of all, brains. It is useful if you are also in a healthy body. The priority of muscles is a feature of totalitarian regimes and slave-owning eras.

Kuchma is accused of organizing the kidnapping of journalist Gongadze, accepting bribes, abuse of power and much more. Communists and socialists are in favor of bringing Kuchma to criminal liability, but, of course, they will not decide the future fate of the ex-president. Surely Viktor Yushchenko has complex feelings towards Kuchma, so he may well agree to an objective investigation of his activities. The results of such an investigation are difficult to predict today.

In addition to 20 deputies, the authors of the monstrous message to the Prosecutor General’s Office demanding a ban on Jewish organizations are 500 more people. The letter was withdrawn, but, according to the REK leadership, this “does not change either the openly anti-Semitic text or the fact of its wide coverage on the Internet and in the press.” In fact, the review means only one thing: there was pressure from the Kremlin.

The advisability of including some candidates on the list is more or less clear. But how the assistant to the head of the presidential administration, a certain E. Shkolov, ended up on this list and why he should be among those who will determine the policy of the oil carrier is a mystery. It is only known that he used to be the chief federal inspector in the Ivanovo region, then he represented the president in the Central District.

It must be said that the amount of compensation for the abolition of benefits looks very impressive: up to 200 percent of the official salary. To be fair, it should be noted that President Putin was the initiator of the immediate improvement in the financial situation of military personnel, police officers and rescue workers.