Black cardinal of the Kremlin. "Gray" cardinal of the Kremlin will change color

The Internet is full of publications based on rumors whether Vladislav Surkov will remain in the administration of the new-old Russian President Vladimir Putin or not.

One can only speak of this unusual state institution that controls what is happening in the occupied territories by comparison with the British Colonial Office, created to conduct business in British North America and other colonies of the British Empire in 1768-1966.

The British colonies gained independence a long time ago, but Russia still has them - with the status of "unrecognized" or "partially recognized". Wherever the Kremlin initiated separatist wars, the Russian army helped them “win” and left the troops ostensibly for protection. Everything turned out the same as in British India or French Algeria. The only difference is that Russia does not yet intend to give freedom to those who at the beginning of the separatist wars wanted it. Colonization and its management took different forms - from the Ministry for CIS Affairs to the Office of the President of Russia for socio-economic cooperation with the CIS member states, Abkhazia and "South Ossetia". In addition to them, in various Russian departments there are units responsible for the presence of Russian troops, the Russian FSB, for the payment of pensions, benefits, and so on, writes Oleg Panfilov for Krym.realii.

Even before Putin's re-election, rumors began to circulate that Vladislav Surkov, Putin's "grey eminence", might be fired. About his sins later, because, in the end, a few weeks ago it became known that the presidential department "by colonies" was divided between the same Vladislav Surkov, under whose command the Ukrainian occupied lands continue to remain, and Abkhazia and "South Ossetia" were given to a new manager - Oleg Govorun, head of the Russian President's department for socio-economic cooperation with the CIS member states, Abkhazia and "South Ossetia". Thus, Surkov lost a tidbit, outwardly calm Georgian territories, but much more interesting compared to Transnistria.

He is still engaged in Donbass, which indicates that Putin will not leave him idle

Why did Surkov stay in the position of controller over the occupied Caucasian territories for a long time? A little about the "hero" under whose control the current political elite of Abkhazia and "South Ossetia" was formed. Aslanbek Dudayev (real name and surname of Surkov, according to some sources - KR), whose Chechen relatives called Asik, was born to Zoya Antonovna Surkova from Andarbek Danilbekovich Dudayev on September 21, 1964. A few years later, according to the official version of the biography, dad began to serve in the GRU, participated in a number of special operations in Vietnam. However, periodically in publications the fact of service in military intelligence was emphasized, including with the fact that the newly minted Vladislav Yuryevich served in the Soviet army, according to the testimony of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, he served in the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate. It is very difficult to imagine Surkov in the image of Rimbaud, but after the service he got a job as a bodyguard for Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It was the Soviet year 1987, and why a Komsomol official needs a bodyguard is a mystery of the formation of a new post-Soviet business elite.

All further activity, up to the appearance of Surkov in the corridors of power as an assistant to the head of the presidential administration of Russia in 1999, was connected with his search for his place "closer to the sun" as a PR man and inventor. He is credited with the idea of ​​creating several parties in power and youth organizations, he attracts the attention of the new owner of the Kremlin, especially when in 2003 he comes up with a way to tie Chechnya to Russia after two wars and the mistrust of most Chechens. It is difficult to say whether the genes have begun to speak, but, most likely, Ramzan Kadyrov and the entire system of the new Chechnya are also the brainchild of Surkov.

On September 20, 2013, Surkov once again (for the third) time took the post of Assistant to the President of Russia, having received another assignment to deal with issues of relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as supporting pro-Russian forces in Ukraine. At the same time, he oversees the activities of the media and, apparently, strengthens propaganda, which received official status in the Russian Doctrine of Information Security, signed by Putin in September 2000 - since then, being a state journalist has become honorable and profitable. Now Surkov, who presented himself as a PR specialist and political strategist, had a free hand, obedient television explained the situation in the country and the world, as Surkov and his colleagues in the presidential administration and government built it.

Surkov is a romantic nature, writes poetry and lyrics for songs, allegedly enjoys symphonic music and composes his own opuses, wrote the novel "About Zero", communicates with rock musicians, plays the guitar himself. If anyone throws up his hands and exclaims about a creative and gifted person, he will be wrong, because in Russia many dictators "dabbled" in creativity - from Stalin to Andropov, and talent in "virshopping" and knowledge of musical notation is no exception for a modern Kremlin official. Putin "chizhik-pyzhik" on the piano taps. However, in politics he is more conservative, he is used to dealing with the territories under his control and politicians harshly and uncompromisingly, always adhering to one goal - they must unconditionally support Russian policy.

Why did they flood Surkov? He was so active, he often traveled to Abkhazia, talked with all the "presidents". In 2017, a big trouble happened in Abkhazia - the situation was not just explosive, it threatened to get out of the control of the Kremlin. First, murders and rapes occur almost every week in Abkhazia. The puppet authorities prefer to remain silent about the scale of the criminal situation, hiding the official figures for the number of crimes. The quality of crimes has changed - not just people with criminal inclinations, but representatives of the Abkhaz "elite", people from "respectable families" began to rape and kill. The second reason is the activation of political opponents of the current "president" of Abkhazia, Raul Khadjimba. The entourage of the previous "president" Alexander Ankvab decided to take revenge - they found a large amount of compromising material on Khadzhimba, including how Vladislav Surkov and his staff manipulated the elections in 2014.

This became known by accident - after hackers were able to hack the email of Surkov's department. In the fall of 2016, documents chronologically related to 2013 and 2014 were disclosed, others - for two years, 2015 and 2016 - are being studied by the Ukrainian special services, since they refer to the period of the Maidan, the occupation of Crimea and the conflict in Donbass. The Georgian part is limited to the same period, when there was a usual routine - the Kremlin solved the internal political problems of the occupied Abkhazia and "South Ossetia", allocated money for the budgets of "independent states". Compared to Ukrainian, Georgian materials are not so sensational, they only confirmed the already known facts.

However, in this case, the opponents of the current "president" of Abkhazia saw not only the manipulation of political life on the part of Surkov's department, but also a political search, or, more simply, the identification of people loyal to the Kremlin among the so-called Abkhaz elite. A curious document is entitled “Key Figures with whom it is Necessary to Establish Relations in the First Place”, in which a member of Surkov's apparatus characterizes the Abkhazian nomenklatura. “Shamba Taras Mironovich - skirmisher, “People's President of Abkhazia”; motive - to remain in history (born in 1938); Mikvabiya Artur Artemovich, member of the Committee on Economic Policy - as a media person, lawyer of the association; motive: the son works in the Government of Moscow, craves fame, money - he joined the opposition only when he lost his business; Kishmaria Merab Ilyich, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia - Influence through the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. You can offer the Hero of Russia; Tania Astamur Georgievich, FNEA co-chairman - incentive: money + guarantees of a place in the future configuration of the power model; Butba Beslan Tikovich, businessman, deputy, Dzyapshba Leonid Yuryevich, leader of the "Civil Union of Abkhazia" - both are needed to split the opposition's Coordinating Council; both have motives: money and a place in the future configuration of the power model.

The main reason for the Kremlin's anxiety in the occupied territories of Georgia is not so much the "elite" as banal theft. Russian political scientist Nikolai Silaev noted the difficult situation in which Surkov was sent to oversee "South Ossetia". After the 2011 crisis and corruption scandals around the post-war restoration of the republic, Tatyana Golikova was appointed curator, who spent almost a year figuring out the fate of Russian trenches. After this exhausting process on both sides, Tatyana Golikova moved to the Accounts Chamber, and Vladislav Surkov took the place of the curator. There is no lesser scale of theft in Abkhazia, but at least something is produced and sold there, in contrast to “South Ossetia”, which is fully supported by the Kremlin.

Whom they just did not predict as Surkov's successors - from Modest Kolerov to Vitaly Mutko. In the end, the names of two figures appeared who would become the governor-general of the occupied territories. They are Oleg Govorun, the new head of a department in Putin's administration, and Sergei Chebotarev, appointed Russian minister for the North Caucasus. And if the first is a personnel bureaucrat who has been working in the presidential administration of Russia since 2000, who also managed to be the Minister of Regional Development of Russia for half a year (on April 6, 2018, he is included in the US sanctions list). The second figure is Colonel of the Russian army Sergei Chebotarev, who in 2011 oversaw the presidential elections in "South Ossetia", which turned out to be the most scandalous in the history of the republic. Apparently, the current "President of South Ossetia" Leonid Tibilov, a protege of Colonel Chebotarev, who until 2011 commanded the Russian military base in Bambor, Abkhazia, participated in the first war in Chechnya.

Therefore, relations between the Kremlin and the occupied territories of Abkhazia and "South Ossetia" will become more pragmatic than under Surkov - romantic and full of intrigues. It's hard to say what this is connected with, Georgia retains the hope that the territories will return sooner or later, and the formalization of relations is only part of the return process. However, in the near future one should not flatter oneself, just as one should not write off Vladislav Surkov, he is still an influential figure, and it is difficult to guess where he will emerge. He is still engaged in the Donbass, which indicates that Putin will not leave him idle.

Reprinted with permission from Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, 2101 Connecticut Ave, Washington 20036, USA

Some call him the "Russian Machiavelli", the "puppeteer of the Kremlin" or even "Putin's Rasputin". However, everyone agrees that Vladislav Surkov is the most powerful adviser on the Russian political scene.

At 47, this lover of jazz, rap and surrealistic painting is the main ideologist of power. “A brilliant, cynical manipulator, he is indispensable to the current system. The fact that Putin has been at the pinnacle of power for eleven years now is a great merit of the intelligent and absolute shameless Slava,” Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Center, told the magazine.

Now his task is to ensure that the decisions made in the Kremlin pass without a hitch in the Parliament. After all, everyone knows very well that the Duma decides nothing. The task of Glory is to hold the presidential elections on March 4, 2012 as plausibly as possible.

Everything should go according to the already written scenario: Vladimir Putin should triumphantly return to the presidency, which he had to vacate in 2008, since the constitution forbids running for a third presidential term, the authors of the article remind.

So who is he, this "Kremlin puppeteer"? First of all, Surkov is a theoretician. We owe him the concept of "sovereign democracy", a euphemism that defines the current autocratic system in Russia.

"Our democracy is like a stage set," says Boris Nadezhdin, one of the leaders of the Right Cause liberal party, which is not represented in the Duma. It's no secret that Russian pluralism is a sham, that the seven permitted parties are, in fact, controlled by the Kremlin. They must report regularly to Surkov.

The "Kremlin puppeteer" does not ignore the communists. “Now Surkov is strengthening the oppositional role of the communists of the current government. Today he holds Zyuganov in high esteem,” the magazine quotes former KGB general and now oppositionist Alexei Kondaurov.

Nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky enjoys no less attention. Those who refuse to cooperate, such as Boris Nemtsov, are left out. These parties are denied registration and, in fact, existence.

Slava is omnipotent, he has unlimited power, he can create political power “out of nothing” and then, as unnecessary, destroy it. The most obvious example of this is the Pensioners' Party, created a few months before the 2003 parliamentary elections. Who remembers her now?

Another example. In the spring, the Kremlin, for the sake of the pro-European-minded liberals, "squandered" the liberal "Just Cause". Oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov was called to the leadership. However, Right Cause could not get into the Duma: the billionaire not only does not report on his actions to Surkov, he gathered around him Putin's open ill-wishers.

Exactly five months later, Prokhorov was dismissed. “There is a puppeteer in this country who has privatized the political system and is defrauding our leaders. His name is Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov, ”the offended Prokhorov said in front of the cameras, who nevertheless decided to stand as a candidate for the elections on March 4, 2012.

Surkov, probably offended. And he was right. Indeed, for him, real democracy does not exist at all. “The most important thing for him is to influence people and maintain the illusion of freedom. For him, the only freedom is art,” says Richard Sakwa, a professor from Kent, in a weekly journal.

Hence his love for the poetry of the beatnik king Alain Ginsberg, for gothic rock (he writes songs for the Russian band Agatha Christie). On the wall of his office, next to a photo of American rapper Tupac Shakur, there are photos of Einstein and Che Guevara.

Glory loves art. His last publication in the Art Khronika magazine is about Joan Miro. Surkov is also a writer. His most significant work remains the novel Near Zero.

So who is Vladislav Surkov? Good question. Slava is not like anyone: neither a former KGB officer, nor a native of St. Petersburg, like most of the “Putin clan”. Surkov is a Chechen by his father. This stroke in the biography of the "Kremlin puppeteer" was kept secret for a long time.

In 2005, after he abandoned his political ambitions, Slava's origins were declassified. It is clear that with such a stain on his biography, Surkov would never have been able to take a leadership position.

There is one more touch to Surkov's biography. Or rather, a curiosity. Vladislav Yurievich began his career with Khodorkovsky. From 1991 to 1996, he held senior positions in the Menatep Association of Credit and Financial Enterprises, which was headed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Then the Menatep bank logo adorned buses, trams, city walls. In the late 1990s, Surkov served as director of the public relations department of Alfa Bank and the ORT television channel.

In 1999, Vladislav Surkov was appointed assistant to the head of the presidential administration of Russia. Glory officially and now holds this position. So, Vladislav Surkov served first Putin, now Medvedev, and after the presidential elections in the spring of 2012, he will again serve Putin, whom he considers "God sent to Russia."

Vladislav Surkov probably compares himself with Konstantin Pobedonostsev, who was an adviser to three tsars - Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, and for whom the European power structures of Russia were not suitable.

Or with the Siberian peasant Grigory Rasputin, this mystical adventurer who had an incredible influence on the last Russian emperor, thanks to his talent as a "seer and healer." (The heir was sick with leukemia.)

Or is he comparing himself to Communist Party ideologue Mikhail Suslov, one of the most influential figures of the Soviet era? In any case, Vladislav Surkov can be satisfied with himself, - say the authors of the article in Express, Alex Gilden and Alla Shevelkina.

Meet. Sergei Borisovich Ivanov. Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.

Born January 31, 1953 in Leningrad in a family of employees, Russian. He grew up without a father, was fed by his mother. Maternal uncle was a sea captain. "None of the relatives worked in intelligence" ("Vek", N44 (409), November 3-9, 2000).

He studied at the Leningrad secondary school N24 on Vasilyevsky Island - a specialized school with in-depth study of the English language. He played in the school basketball team, which from 1966 to 1970 was the champion of the city. In high school, he decided to become a diplomat. In 1970 he entered the translation department of the philological faculty of the Leningrad State University (LGU) named after A. Zhdanov, from which he graduated in 1975 with a degree in English.

At the university he was an active member of the Komsomol, was a member of the "exit" commission from the Komsomol. By the end of his studies at the university, he was "offered to work in the organs" ("Vek", N44 (409), November 3-9, 2000).

In 1977 he graduated from the Higher Courses of the KGB of the USSR in Minsk. In 1982 he graduated from the Moscow "101 school" of the First Main Directorate (PSU) of the KGB of the USSR (now - the Academy of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, also called the Red Banner Institute named after Yu. Andropov).

After graduating from the university in 1976, he worked in the KGB of the USSR - first the Second Directorate (counterintelligence), then the First Main Directorate (PGU, foreign intelligence). In 1976-77. - an employee of the 1st (personnel) department of the KGB Directorate for Leningrad and the Leningrad Region, where he worked in the same unit together with Vladimir Putin ("We met when, after graduating from university, we got into one very small unit of one rather big organization .. We worked together for two years ... After which I left Leningrad virtually forever, but he remained "(Izvestia, November 9, 2000). Subsequently, he continued to maintain relations with V. Putin ("... they did not forget each other, sometimes called up, sometimes they were long periods of failures - when they went abroad. "(Izvestia, November 9, 2000). From 1981 to 1991 he worked in the central apparatus of the KGB - in the system of the First Main Directorate (PGU), started as an operative of the PGU.

Throughout his conscious life, S. B. Ivanov worked/served exclusively for the state in various government positions.

For some reason, it is generally accepted that the head of the Kremlin administration, Sergei Ivanov, is an extremely closed person. Well, yes, he served in intelligence. Gives interviews reluctantly - also true. But he lives in a simple village near Moscow (albeit not the cheapest) and did not even enclose his house with an impregnable wall. Satisfied only with a decorative fence. But residents of the Mytishchi club village "Green Cape" still prefer to speak evasively about their neighbor:

Different people here. Mostly businessmen, but there are also officials. For the sake of one, they even block Dmitrovka.

By the way, the reconstruction of the Dmitrovskoye Highway is now being carried out by the ARKS group of companies Gennady Timchenko, a friend of Putin, who, together with Ivanov, fell under Western sanctions. In the meantime, there is a heliport at the service of an official in the village, not far from the pier for yachts.

Sergei Ivanov's house is located on the first line of the Pestovsky reservoir, along the embankment with a decorative lawn and the inscription "Green Cape" trimmed on it, so that the helicopter certainly does not miss. Often, especially on holidays and weekends, locals walk past. Not prohibited. Only the presence of a camera is not welcome:

Better hide, the house is under the protection of the FSO.

Like? That is the same.

Art critic's opinion:

"The house was built in the style traditions of Arts and crafts ("Arts and Crafts") - a trend in English architecture and art that flourished in the late 19th - early 20th centuries in Great Britain. The ancestor of the style was William Morris (1834–1896), a very interesting figure - an artist, writer, designer, socialist who dreamed of the revival of manual labor, which would save civilization.

This style combines functionality with elements of medieval and folk architecture, as well as romanticism. Its distinctive features are the clarity of the constructive solution, the asymmetry of the composition, the use of the texture of the material as an expressive means, the pointedly steep silhouette of the roof, and the pronounced verticals of the chimneys. Naturally, Tudor architecture is also present among the sources of artistic imagery.

As for the customer, we can assume that he is a person with good taste, very pragmatic, well versed in the values ​​of modern Western society, flexible, but with pronounced rational-conservative preferences in the aesthetic sphere. It is possible that he was educated on the shores of Foggy Albion (Ivanov, a well-known Englishman, studied the language at the Ealing Technical College in 1974.). And, of course, not experiencing acute material need.

This is to the question of spirituality and primordially Russian values, which high-ranking officials love to talk about so much. As you can see, they will leave these values ​​to you, while they themselves prefer to lead a Western way of life.

Ivanov's wife, Irina, acquired the land in Zeleny Mys in October 2010, and the ownership of the house is dated May 2011. That is, the house was built precisely taking into account the tastes of the official. The total cost of the mansion and 29 acres of land can reach up to $10 million. Where the Ivanovs get such funds from is a mystery.

Although it is worth clarifying that the financial partner of the village is Gazprombank, in which the youngest son of an official, Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov, has worked since 2004.

As usual in modern Russia, he is as talented as high-ranking parents. Since February 2008, he has been appointed a member of the board and first vice president. But the abilities of the son of the head of the Presidential Administration are not limited to this. Concurrently, he holds a number of other positions in other financial and commercial structures. Namely:

is a member of the Board of Directors of "Armenian-Russian Export-Import Bank - Gazprombank Group" CJSC, "Gazprombank Leasing" CJSC, "Khimmash Group" CJSC, "Outpost Management" CJSC, "Izhora Plants" OJSC, "United Machine-Building Plants" OJSC, Atomstroyexport CJSC, Gazprombank-invest LLC, Carbon Trade & Finance SIGAR SA, and also holds the post of Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sibirgazbank CJSC. At the end of March of this year, it became known that Sergei Sergeevich took another "bread" position. He became vice-president of Sberbank. Enviable career growth, isn't it? And he achieved all this by the age of 36. Face talent. True, with such talents, it is surprising that Ivanov's youngest son makes his career exclusively in state-owned banks and companies. Well, let's not talk about sad things.

Since 2009, Sergei Borisovich Ivanov has been declaring a plot of just over 2 hectares that he owns. As we found out, the site, bought six years ago, is located in the Kaliningrad region, north of the village of Sinyavino, on the very shore of the Baltic Sea. At first, Ivanov indicated his hectares as agricultural land, it seems like he is watering cucumbers on them. But in the cadastre it is noted that the site is intended "to accommodate residential houses of the manor type." There are no homesteads, however.

Vladislav Surkov secretly performs the functions of the special representative of the Russian president in Ukraine, two sources close to the Kremlin told Gazeta.Ru. He has the authority to negotiate with the Ukrainian establishment, the right to conclude informal agreements.

Recently, the official has been in Kyiv at least twice - at the end of January and last Friday, February 14. Both times he was received by Viktor Yanukovych.

Information that, as an assistant to the president for interaction with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he would also oversee the Ukrainian direction, appeared immediately after the return of the former “gray eminence” of domestic politics to the Kremlin. However, high-ranking Kremlin officials, both in unofficial conversations and publicly, categorically denied information about Surkov's “Ukrainian mission”.

At the end of December, the situation changed: the information that Vladislav Yuryevich was still working “on the Ukrainian front” became almost common knowledge in the Kremlin and near-Kremlin circles. However, the sources of Gazeta.Ru either refused to report what tasks were assigned to the presidential aide or found it difficult.

An interlocutor of the publication, who is familiar with the situation, told Gazeta.Ru at the end of last year that Surkov could be “officially constituted” as an official in charge of not only the Abkhazian and South Ossetian, but also the Ukrainian direction. In other words, Surkov's "Kyiv activities" would have been "formalized" officially. At the same time, the source emphasized that it was too early to "constitute" an official - we had to wait until the situation in Ukraine became calmer. But the situation has not just calmed down. The country began a civil war.

Perhaps this is related to the fact that

Surkov's activities on the "Kiev front" are still classified. If Russian news agencies report about the official's trips to Abkhazia and South Ossetia from time to time, then there is complete silence about visits to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, as Gazeta.Ru found out, Surkov has been to Ukraine at least twice lately. And both times I met with. The first meeting took place at the end of January, the second - on February 14.

“I personally saw Surkov in Kyiv a few days ago,” Yevgeny Kiselyov, a well-known TV journalist who has been living in Ukraine for several years, confirmed to Gazeta.Ru. - He met with high-ranking officials. Surkov told me that he travels here often and a lot.”

Surkov is behind the scenes performing the mission of the president's special representative in Ukraine, a source close to the Kremlin told Gazeta.ru:

“He can negotiate, conclude informal agreements. This is actually an ambassador. Zurabov (the current Russian ambassador to Ukraine - Gazeta.Ru) is like a soap bubble.”

Vladislav Surkov really received a mandate from Putin to interact with representatives of the Ukrainian leadership and local elites on the widest range of issues, another source close to the Russian presidential administration confirms. In his opinion,

no matter how events in Ukraine end, Surkov's mission will remain the same. The two states have too close political and economic ties that cannot be severed in the event of a change of power in Ukraine.

According to Gazeta.Ru, during a secret visit to Ukraine on February 14, Surkov also spoke with at least one government official, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul. Earlier, the Ukrainian press called him one of the candidates for the post of head of the Cabinet. A source familiar with the situation claims that only economic issues were discussed at the meeting with Vilkul, namely the project for the construction of a transport passage through the Kerch Strait.

On the same day, February 14, Surkov visited the Crimea. Information about this visit was later leaked to the Ukrainian press and was eventually confirmed by the press service of the Council of Ministers of the autonomy. According to the press service, at a meeting with the head of the Council of Ministers Anatoly Mogilev, the Russian official also discussed issues related to the construction of a passage through the Kerch Strait.

“Surkov oversees social and economic relations with all CIS countries, Abkhazia and South Ossetia (the corresponding department, headed by Oleg Govorun - Gazeta.Ru, is subordinate to the assistant to the president). And Ukraine is no exception,” emphasizes one of the sources of Gazeta.Ru.

According to him, the two main areas that the assistant to the president "is in charge of" are issues "related to the economic interaction of the Russian-Ukrainian border territories" and the aforementioned project for the construction of a crossing across the Kerch Strait.

Gazeta.Ru asked the press secretary to comment on the information about the unspoken "special representatives", as well as the economic tasks of Surkov in Ukraine. "I can't confirm," he said.

Georgy Chizhov, vice-president of the Ukrainian bureau of the Center for Political Technologies, emphasizes that when Surkov was appointed assistant to the president, the situation in Kyiv was fundamentally different than it is now. “It is unlikely that Surkov managed to do something,” the expert believes. The effect of his activities in the future can be, according to Chizhov, only in one case: if the official "formulates the position of Russia in relation to Ukraine." “Until recently, officials' statements boiled down to the fact that Ukraine is not quite a state, but in some sense a part of Russia. But such a position is not constructive. In the future, it will lead to the fact that Kyiv will leave the orbit of Moscow’s influence,” Chizhov believes. Therefore, the expert continues, a different position should be formulated: Ukraine is Russia's partner.