Administration of the President of Russia Russian officials, deputies and employees of state corporations can return their relatives who live abroad to their homeland, sources told Znak. “Snob” collected stories of the children of Sergei Lavrov, Elena Mizulina, Dmitry Peskov and other prominent statesmen who have lived or still live abroad for a long time.
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov
Peskov’s eldest daughter, 18-year-old Elizaveta, has been studying in France almost all her life. “From the age of 9, we began sending our daughter to study at a boarding school in France, where she subsequently studied for several years.<…>After graduating from school, Lisa decided that she wanted to live and study in Russia, she entered the ISAA (Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University), but a year later she realized that she missed France, with which she had too much connected, and where there was a lot left childhood friends. She returned to Paris and entered business school at the luxury marketing department,” Ekaterina Peskova, Peskov’s ex-wife and Elizabeth’s mother, said in one of her interviews.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Ekaterina Vinokurova (nee Lavrova) graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in political science. After this, Lavrov’s daughter studied economics in London. IN last years Ekaterina lives in Moscow and heads the Russian branch of the Christies auction house, the world leader in sales of works of art.
Senator from the Omsk region Elena Mizulina
The senator's son Nikolai, having received a diploma from the Moscow state institute international relations, studied at the Universities of Bern and Oxford. He married Spanish citizen Patricia Gonzalez and lives with her and their two children in Brussels. Nikolay is a partner in the Mayer Brown law firm, which defends the rights of the LGBT community.
Leader of the LDPR party Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his son, State Duma deputy Igor Lebedev
Lebedev's children and, accordingly, Zhirinovsky's grandchildren studied at an American school in Switzerland (The American School In Switzerland), to which their parents made substantial donations. So, in the winter of 2014, the Lebedevs sent the school 60 thousand Swiss crowns (about $6,784).
According to the official version, Zhirinovsky’s grandchildren received secondary education at a boarding school at the Moscow State University. state university. In 2014, they were exposed by blogger Giorgi Jakhaia. “Zhirik, who so waters the West with everything he can, really sent his grandchildren to the American School. Well, at least they’ll come out normal,” wrote on his Facebook, posting a screenshot of a page confirming the statement from the school’s official website and links to pages with information about sponsors.
Assistant to the President of Russia Andrei Fursenko
The son of the former head of the Ministry of Education and Science, Alexander, received his education abroad: a bachelor's degree from New York University in 2001 and a second degree from Stanford Law School in 2005. Since then he has been practicing law in the states of California, Illinois and New York.
State Duma Deputy Vyacheslav Fetisov (United Russia faction)
Anastasia, the 25-year-old daughter of Vyacheslav Fetisov, a senator from the Primorsky Territory until recently, and a former famous hockey player, entered graduate school at the New York University School of Cinematography in May 2016 and is preparing to become a director. “I will miss Moscow madly, but I have been striving for this since my third year. I look forward to opening the second chapter of my life in New York - now as a graduate student at New York University! wrote she's on her Facebook.
Anastasia was born in the USA. When she was 12 years old, the Fetisov family returned to Russia. At that time, Anastasia did not yet know how to read and write in Russian.
State Duma Deputy Sergei Zheleznyak (United Russia faction)
In 2012, the head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Alexei Navalny, reported that the politician’s 3 daughters were studying abroad. Thus, Ekaterina, one of the deputy’s daughters, was at that time studying at an American school in Switzerland together with Zhirinovsky’s grandchildren (her education, according to Navalny’s calculations, cost Zheleznyak 21.8 million rubles), and the other, Anastasia, was studying at Queen Mary University in London (Zheleznyaki paid 1.9 million rubles over 3 years). Their sister Elizaveta, Navalny believes, also studied in London, but the oppositionist failed to establish an educational institution. All photographs and posts on social networks that Navalny referred to have already been deleted and were preserved only on his blog.
Alexey Anatolyevich Navalny is a lawyer, popular opposition blogger and public figure, founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, chairman of the Progress Party. Formerly a member of the board of directors of Aeroflot. He ran for mayor of Moscow in the 2013 elections and took second place.Navalny's main activities are aimed at combating corruption. Among the loudest FBK investigations Navalny and his team - the case of Igor Chaika (son of Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika), Vladimir Yakunin's "fur storage facility", Dmitry Peskov's watch, Vladimir Pekhtin's real estate, Sergei Shoigu's mansion, Igor Shuvalov's plane and "tsar-apartment", Dmitry Medvedev's "secret empire". Navalny also actively advocated for ratification in Russia of Article 20 of the UN Convention, which provides for punishment for the illegal enrichment of officials.
In 2013, Navalny was found guilty in the “Kirovles case”, but three years later the European Court of Human Rights recognized the case as politically fabricated and sent the verdict for review, but the court again returned a guilty verdict.
In December 2016, Navalny announced his intention to take part in the 2018 presidential elections.
Childhood. Education
Alexey Navalny was born in the military town of Butyn near Moscow. His father, Anatoly Navalny, a native of the Chernobyl region, graduated from the Kiev Military School, after which he was assigned to Moscow. Mom, Lyudmila Ivanovna, grew up in a village near Zelenograd, graduated from the State University of Education, worked as a laboratory assistant at a research institute that produced microelectronics, and later worked at a woodworking factory. 
In 1993, Navalny’s parents opened a wicker weaving workshop in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region on the basis of a bankrupt factory, where Lyudmila Navalnaya had previously worked.
In 1994, the young man graduated from the Alabino school in the village of Kalininets near Moscow and entered the Faculty of Law Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, missing one point for admission to Moscow State University. In 1999, he became a student at the Financial Academy at Russian government, studied at the Faculty of Finance and Credit, and in 2001 received a diploma in the specialty " Securities and stock exchange business."
Much later, in 2010, he became a fellow of Yale University's Yale World Fellows program. Every year the university selects about 15 gifted people, mostly from third world countries, and invites them to Yale for six months to study global problems our society.
Labor and business
While still studying at RUDN University, Navalny got a job as a lawyer at Aeroflot Bank. In 1997, he registered Allekt LLC, and in 1998 he began working for the ST-group of the Chigirinsky brothers (now Snegiri). He worked there for about a year, dealing with currency control and antimonopoly legislation. In 1999, two things happened - Navalny left ST-group and received a law degree.Social and political activities
In 2000, Alexei Navalny joined the Yabloko democratic party and was a member of the party’s Federal Political Council. Two years later, he was elected to the regional council of the capital branch of Yabloko. From 2004 to 2007, Navalny headed the apparatus of the Moscow regional branch of the party. 
In 2007, Navalny was expelled from Yabloko. The reason given was “causing political damage to the party, in particular, through nationalist activities.” As Navalny himself stated, the real reason for his expulsion is the demand for the resignation of Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky.
In 2004, Navalny founded the “Committee for the Protection of Muscovites,” a citywide movement that opposes corruption in urban planning and the violation of citizens’ rights. A year later, Alexey, together with like-minded people, became the founders of a new youth movement called “YES!” He also began to coordinate the “Police with the People” project.
Since 2006, Navalny has coordinated the “Political Debates” project and acted as chief editor of the “Fight Club” program on TVC.
In 2007, he co-founded the national democratic movement “People” along with the writer Zakhar Prilepin and Sergei Gulyaev. It was planned that “People” would subsequently join the “Other Russia” coalition, but this did not happen.
Political debate between Navalny and Lebedev
In 2008, Navalny founded the Union of Minority Shareholders, an organization that defended the rights of private investors.
Navalny took part in the nationalist “Russian March” marches. In 2008, he witnessed the brutal detention of the leader of the “Slavic Union” Dmitry Demushkin by riot police, and was ready to defend him in court.
In 2008, information appeared about the creation of the “Russian National Movement”, which included the organizations “ Great Russia", "People", DPNI. Navalny stated that the movement plans to participate in the State Duma elections. But in 2011 the movement ceased activity.
Navalny's video in support of the People movement
In 2009, Navalny became a freelance adviser to the governor of the Kirov region, Nikita Belykh, who, as the site’s editors want to note, was arrested in the summer of 2016 on charges of taking a bribe.
Anti-corruption activities
In May 2008, Navalny announced on his blog that, together with like-minded people, he intended to find out why oil from large Russian state-owned companies was being sold by trader Gunvor. According to Alexey, he contacted the heads of Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft, but received no clarification. By the way, Navalny is a minority shareholder of the companies “Surgutneftegaz”, “Rosneft”, “Gazpromneft”, “VTB”.At the end of 2010, Navalny announced the creation of the RosPil project, which intended to combat abuses in public procurement. By May 2011, the project reported on the discovery of fraud in state auctions amounting to 1.6 billion rubles, and with the help of RosPil participants, fraud amounting to 337 million rubles was stopped. The project received an award international competition blogs of The BOBs as the most useful resource for society.
In 2011, Navalny registered the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). Economist Sergei Guriev and entrepreneurs Vladimir Ashurkov and Boris Zimin invested in the project.
“The Party of Crooks and Thieves” – the author of this famous Internet meme is Alexey Navalny. The phrase was born on February 2, 2011 on the air of Finam FM. Soon information appeared that ordinary party members were offended and were planning to sue. In response to this, Navalny initiated a poll on his blog: “Is United Russia a party of swindlers and thieves?” 96.6% of respondents, total which amounted to 40 thousand, answered “yes”.
Navalny on Fimam FM
In mid-2011, Alexei Navalny launched the Internet project “RosYama” within the framework of FBK, which was supposed to encourage the Russian authorities to improve the condition of roads in the country. On the project pages, users posted pictures of damaged roads, on the basis of which the system generated complaints to the traffic police. If there was no response within the required time frame, RosYama employees sent a letter to the prosecutor’s office.
At the beginning of 2012, Navalny and his team launched the RosVybory project to monitor the presidential elections. About 17 thousand observers took part in the project.
Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation positions itself as the only non-profit organization in Russia that investigates acts of corruption among the highest echelons of power.
The FBK has repeatedly come under the radar of the head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, to whom the Foundation attributed the presence of a “modest” dacha near Domodedovo with an area of several tens of hectares. Most of all, Internet users were struck by a separate room given over to a “fur storage room.”
A lot of noise was caused by Igor Shuvalov’s private plane discovered by Navalny, on which his Welsh Corgi dogs flew to exhibitions, as well as by the official’s purchase of apartments on one floor of an elite high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment. FBK estimated the total cost of apartments in pre-renovation condition at 600 million rubles.
Navalny in the Moscow mayoral elections
Alexey Navalny nominated his candidacy for the post of mayor of Moscow in the early elections in 2013 from the RPR-Parnas party.And about. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin commented on Navalny’s actions as follows: “To be honest, I don’t know what prospects candidate Navalny has. We did everything possible to register him so that Muscovites would have the opportunity to have a greater choice among candidates for mayor of Moscow.”
Prosecutions. The Kirovles case
On December 5, 2011, that is, the day after the State Duma elections, Alexey Navalny spoke at an authorized rally on Chistoprudny Boulevard. Muscovites who came to the rally expressed disagreement with the election results and made accusations of fraud against the election commission and the United Russia party. 
After this action, Navalny and like-minded people went to an unauthorized march to the Russian Central Election Commission, where he was detained by the police. The next day, Navalny was found guilty of resisting law enforcement officers and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. Navalny was released on December 21.
On May 9, 2012, Navalny was again sentenced to arrest for 15 days. This time – for participation in an illegal public event on Kudrinskaya Square, the so-called People’s festivities,” which became a mass sign of protest against the dispersal of the “March of Millions” that took place earlier, on May 6. The march participants were unhappy with the fact of Vladimir Putin's inauguration. Navalny appealed this detention and arrest to the European Court of Human Rights.
In May 2011, a criminal case was opened against Alexei Navalny under Art. 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – “causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust.” The point was that Navalny and businessman Pyotr Ofitserov, the owner of the Vyatka Forestry Company, allegedly misled the director of the State Unitary Enterprise Kirovles, Vyacheslav Opalev, as a result of which he signed a contract unfavorable for his enterprise and suffered damage of 16 million rubles.
Navalny denied guilt, citing bias in the case, since shortly before this he had presented information on cuttings at Transneft on his blog, and also accused Opalev of “creating completely unthinkable schemes” for the sale of timber. According to Navalny, he achieved the dismissal of Opalev and a full audit of Kirovles, which was the reason for initiating the case.
Navalny: “The truth about Russia, power and Putin”, 2011
After the proceedings, the case was dismissed on April 10, 2012. The reason is the lack of evidence of a crime. It was later resumed by order of the leaders of the Investigative Committee. However, on May 29 of the same year, the order to terminate the case was canceled.
The case came back to court in April 2013. The testimony of prosecution witnesses indicated that the cooperation of Kirovles with VLK was unprofitable for the former. However, VLK’s partners testified that the timber was shipped to them at market prices, and they have no complaints against both defendants in the case. The governor of the Kirov region, Belykh, who spoke at the trial, also stated that the activities of VLK did not harm the region.
On July 18, 2013, Navalny was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine (500 thousand rubles), Ofitserov was sentenced to four years in prison and a similar fine. The sentence was carried out during Navalny's election campaign for the mayoral elections.
During the appeal hearing that took place the next day, Navalny and Ofitserov were released on their own recognizance. During further consideration, violations were discovered when making a guilty decision, and the real terms were replaced with suspended sentences while maintaining the fine. Alexey Navalny appealed to the ECHR, which in February 2016 confirmed the violation of the rights of the accused in the Kirovles case, but did not recognize the case as politically motivated, as Navalny and Ofitserov’s lawyers insisted.
The Kirovles case: the last word Navalny
At the end of 2016, the court again began considering the Kirovles case. The new sentence, according to Navalny, repeated the previous one verbatim. The defendants were again sentenced to 4 and 5 years probation. On the same day, the ECHR condemned the sentence, calling the goal of the entire process to exclude Navalny from political process countries.
Alexey Navalny 2018
In December 2016, Navalny announced that he intended to take part in the 2018 presidential elections, thereby launching his election campaign, during which he, together with like-minded people, opened a number of election headquarters in largest cities Russia.Alexei Navalny aims to run for president
In March 2017, the Foundation posted on YouTube a 50-minute film “He’s Not Dimon to You,” which was an investigation into a “multi-level corruption scheme” with the participation of Dmitry Medvedev. Three weeks later, rallies of thousands took place across Russia, with participants demanding answers from Medvedev about the information contained in the video.
“He’s not your Dimon”
On March 26, during an unauthorized rally on Tverskaya Street, Alexei Navalny was detained by law enforcement agencies. He was given a fine (20 thousand rubles) for organizing an unauthorized rally, and was also given 15 days of administrative arrest for “resisting the lawful demands of a police officer.”
On June 12, Russia was swept by a second wave of opposition rallies. This time, Alexey did not have time to leave the entrance when he was detained by the police. The Simonovsky District Court of Moscow arrested him for 30 days, accusing him of multiple violations of the rules for holding rallies: on the evening of June 11, he called on supporters to go to an unauthorized procession on Tverskaya Street, where a festival of re-enactors was taking place at that time, instead of the agreed rally on Sakharov Avenue. In total, more than 800 people were detained during the opposition rally in Moscow.
As part of the election campaign, the politician held a number of large-scale rallies in Russian cities.
The Central Election Commission denied Navalny registration on presidential elections because of his conviction in the Kirovles case, despite the decision of the ECHR, which recognized him as politically engaged. After this, Alexey called for a boycott of the elections and named the date of the all-Russian voter strike - January 28.
How Mikhail Prokhorov bought a villa from Alexander Khloponin
For the rally against the inauguration of Vladimir Putin “He is not your king” (held on May 5, 2018), ten days later, Navalny was arrested for 30 days. The election campaign ended, and FBK returned to its main activities: it caught Mikhail Prokhorov in bribing Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin, found a Parisian apartment for 2 million euros from propagandist Aram Gabrelyanov, etc.
Personal life of Alexei Navalny
Alexey Navalny is married. The oppositionist's wife's name is Yulia, her maiden name is Abrosimova. They met in 1999 at a resort in Turkey. The couple has two children: daughter Daria (born in 2001) and son Zakhar (born in 2008). 
For a long time the couple lived in a small apartment in one of the panel houses on Lyublinskaya Street, Maryino. However, at the end of 2016, the oppositionist announced that he was looking for housing to rent, as his grown-up children began to feel cramped living in one room.
Alexey Navalny now
In August 2018, FBK published a video investigation involving State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and his 82-year-old mother Lidiya Barabanova, a former school teacher. The oppositionist cited evidence that the woman owned an apartment worth more than 200 million rubles, as well as several businesses, one of which was registered quite recently. Navalny’s team argued that Barabanova was a front person for registering companies, and that their true owner was her son. The video caused a wide resonance, given that a few days earlier Volodin publicly predicted the complete abolition of pensions in the absence of pension reforms and advised the people gathered in the hall to play more sports in order to live up to retirement age.FBK: Apartment and business of Vyacheslav Volodin’s mother
If you find an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl+Enter
In which he accused State Duma Deputy Speaker Sergei Zheleznyak of “deceit” and “hypocrisy.” The blogger consistently cites the deputy’s statements about patriotism and illustrates them with photographs from the life of his daughters studying in elite educational institutions Abroad.
Navalny begins by saying that there are several reasons to “hate” Zheleznyak: he is one of the initiators of the law on Internet censorship, he also has a legislative background on the law “on foreign agents,” and he is a co-author of amendments to the law on rallies.
Using the example of Zheleznyak, Navalny comes to the conclusion that United Russia members do not connect the future of their children with Russia. The deputy sent three of his four daughters to study abroad - to London and Switzerland.
The blogger is outraged that this fact does not prevent the deputy from making the following statements: “It is very important that value guidelines, love for the Motherland, and patriotism are formed from childhood and are an integral part of the process of educating and becoming a citizen”; or “You can’t be a patriot for several hours a day. If you are a citizen of your country, you must connect all your actions with it.”
Navalny posted the results of his investigation on his blog. The oppositionist refers to the official website of a Swiss school “for elite children”, where one of the deputy’s daughters, Ekaterina Zheleznyak, studies. Under the link, Alexey Navalny publishes a photo from the site, which depicts the students’ crafts. Under one of them there is a signature: “Ekaterina Zheleznyak.” The oppositionist also names the cost of schooling: 2.4 million rubles.
The deputy’s eldest daughter Anastasia, Navalny writes, also studied at a Swiss school, after which she entered the university in London. Navalny publishes a screenshot of Anastasia’s page on social network Facebook, where Queen Mary University of London is listed in the “education” column. According to the oppositionist, studying at this university costs 630 thousand rubles per year.
Navalny’s third daughter Elizaveta did not escape Navalny’s attention either. He provided a link to the girl’s VKontakte page, where she publishes photographs with the caption “A few views of London and more.” The oppositionist also quotes Elizabeth’s post: “Hello, dear London! Goodbye good old Moscow! I will try to never give up and regret anything) Sincere thanks.”
Then the oppositionist moves on to the deputy himself, describing his property. “Judging by his declaration, he is the owner of a very beautiful, rare Chrysler Prowler car. The first concept Chrysler Prowler appeared at the New York Auto Show in 1993. The cars are assembled by hand. More than 11 thousand wealthy American collectors purchased this car for their collections. The latest and most unique Chrysler Prowler, specially created in a single copy for the public historical organization National Multiple Sclerosis Society, was sold at the New York branch of the world famous Christie's auction for $175,000. Patriotic!” — the oppositionist wrote, referring to his income statement.
According to Navalny, deputy Zheleznyak also owns a Lexus RX 350 worth 2.8 million rubles and two apartments with a total area of 437.6 square meters. m.
At the end of the recording, Alexey Navalny summarizes everything written, stating that Zheleznyak’s official income is 3.5 million rubles. According to the oppositionist, the deputy pays 4.3 million rubles annually for his daughters’ education.
Navalny reminds the deputy of the ban on Americans adopting Russian children, contained in the Russian response to the “Magnitsky list,” which Zheleznyak supported. “He himself sent three children abroad, but he will stand up as a barrier so that some unfortunate three-year-old autistic person, lying in dirty diapers and with prospects of only having a nursing home at the age of 18, is taken abroad,” the blogger is indignant.
A few hours later Sergei Zheleznyak commented on Navalny’s “compromising evidence” on his Facebook page.
Accusing the oppositionist of “pouring a bucket of slop on him and his children,” the deputy asks his opponent: “If you constantly feel like there is a stink around you, think about it, maybe you are the reason?”
“He and his team didn’t find anything illegal or obscene against me, so Alexey decided to engage in distortion and fraud with publicly available data,” is how Zheleznyak assessed Navalny’s research.
Next, the deputy unfolded evidence of the groundlessness of the reproaches addressed to him. He recalled that he came to the Duma from the position of managing director of the large company News Outdoor, where his work “paid quite decently,” and received a severance pay of several tens of millions of rubles, on which he paid taxes.
“Therefore, all of Alexei’s controversial and inaccurate fabrications, even if taken on faith, were within my means. Therefore, all the indignation about my property and funds for the education of my children is groundless. I was never a swindler or a thief and never got dirty with bribes and cuts,” Zheleznyak noted.
Before explaining why his children study abroad, he emphasized that he “has always advocated the development modern education“We, in Russia, have dialogue and cooperation with the world’s leading universities, grants for talented children from families experiencing financial difficulties, allowing them to receive the right education where it is best given.”
Responding to accusations of hypocrisy, Zheleznyak said that it is necessary to “distinguish real patriotism from leavened patriotism.”
He doesn’t see anything unpatriotic about his daughters studying abroad. “They will get an education, come home and be useful to the country in the capacity in which they want,” Zheleznyak wrote.
United Russia expanded its understanding of patriotism: “Patriotism does not mean walking in bast shoes, weaving vines, listening only to the balalaika and buying, with tears in your eyes, low-quality goods produced in the neighborhood. True patriotism lies in realizing oneself in the country and for the good of the country. If there is a high-quality Russian product, and there are many of them, there is no need to buy a foreign analogue for budget funds!”
Zheleznyak noted that he is not afraid of being included in the “Magnitsky list.”
“I’m not eager to go there and I’m not shaking for foreign treasures. I’ve been to many countries in my life, everywhere there are a lot of problems, but we need to put things in order here, in our Motherland. No one will do this for us; it is naive to rely on overseas uncles; no one has canceled international competition. As for my daughters, if my right to enter the countries where they study is deprived, it will be unpleasant, but we will survive. They will return and complete their studies here,” the deputy concluded.
Summing up the current “information noise” raised by Navalny, Zheleznyak wished him that “no scumbag would ever use his children, trying to do him harm.”
How to deliberately and quickly drive away voters
Political technology is not an absolute craft. And it depends on the context and discourse. You cannot use American technology in Russia, and Russian technology is useless in America. And every person who has ever tried to apply something in his political practice knows this from his own experience.
And what does this experience tell us? This experience tells us that Russian voters do not like ostentatious wealth. A textbook example here is the election video of the SPS party, filmed in 2003. Boris Nemtsov, Anatoly Chubais and Irina Khakamada are flying in a business jet, sitting in white leather chairs and discussing the fate of Russia. Just one video led to disaster: the party's technologists quarreled, the headquarters collapsed, the party lost the elections and was never able to recover. Every Russian political strategist remembers this story and will tell it to you if you wake him up at night and ask him what not to do in the elections.
The second postulate, known to every Russian technologist, says: there is a right-wing liberal electorate, but it does not decide the elections. Therefore, any Russian right-wing liberal party always ended any of its campaigns with the pension issue - that is, with an approach to the electorate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. And after flying on a business jet in white leather seats, you won’t go to the electorate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. They won't understand you.
Now, armed with this basic knowledge, let's look at Alexei Navalny. The man who, according to him, is going to become president. The other day, observers interested in the campaign could see how Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov opened a headquarters in Sochi via Skype and... from Cyprus. Where he, according to him, was “on FBK business.” The next day, observers learned that Alexei Navalny himself and his wife flew to Paris. On the weekend. And although Mr. Volkov said that these were slander and that candidate Navalny was in Moscow and was working with documents, the ubiquitous Life provided the public with video recordings of both the departure and arrival of the tribune.
When a man takes his woman to Paris for a weekend, this evokes every approval from me as a man. I respect Navalny for taking his wife to a romantic place.
But in the current context and discourse, Alexey Navalny is not just a man. He is a presidential candidate, although unofficial, but named. Can a presidential candidate in a country whose population has lost 20 percent of its real income over the past 30 months take his wife to Paris for the weekend? Let us remember about the SPS business jet and about the electorate that we will ultimately have to reach. And who has never been to Paris at all.
This is me, mind you, I haven’t asked anything about money yet. But we do not know about any declared sources of income for the Navalny family, except for the Anti-Corruption Fund. And everything looks exactly as you thought - that Volkov went to Cyprus, and Navalny went to Paris with FBK money. About effective use which Navalny reported to all of us the other day. And in front of me too - after all, I once donated 500 rubles to him. Just to then wonder where they spent it. Now I know where they were spent - on Paris. No, as a man, I am not at all against the fact that Navalny used my 500 rubles to take his wife to drink champagne and eat oysters. But why then tell us about some other people’s corruption? After all, this is who she is.
However, let's move on to the most interesting part. Mr. Navalny’s wife, the beautiful Yulia, is not at all sitting in the kitchen waiting for her husband to take her to Paris for the day. No, she also travels. And a few days before Paris, she took her children... to the United States of America. Where will they study English language at a children's language camp.
Well, it is necessary to study English, and every parent decides for themselves where their children will do this. But what does this look like from the perspective of a potential voter? Here's how: a Russian presidential candidate takes his children to study in the United States at a time when the United States is introducing harsh and unfair sanctions against Russia. Of course, I understand that the trip was planned long before any sanctions. But if it had been canceled due to sanctions, it would have greatly increased Navalny’s voter base. Why wasn't this done? I'll explain it to you below.
Navalny told us many times about unscrupulous Russian officials whose children study abroad. He told us about their crazy, ostentatious spending. And he promised that when he comes to power, everything will be different.
But personally, I cannot afford to take my wife to Paris for the weekend. It's expensive for me. Although I work very hard. And when Navalny manages to arouse my sincere anger towards officials who send their children abroad, I immediately see that he himself sends his children abroad. So what is the difference, Alexey? Why should I vote for you if you are no different from those you are against?
And now, as I promised, I will explain. Of course, Navalny and Volkov are not fools, and everyone understands this as well as I do. They just... are not going to participate in the elections. They understand that they will not be registered. They understand that even if they are registered, they still won’t win, because it’s simply impossible. And if this is so, then there is no point in flirting with a large electorate. You just need to continue to deceive your small, nuclear electorate, adherents who can’t even grow grass - they will still continue to believe in the divine essence of the tribune. And they will continue to give money. Which, in fact, is what is required of them.
Therefore, headquarters will, of course, continue to open. And people will continue to bring money. And then the Central Election Commission will finally refuse registration and you can only throw up your hands: alas, we tried...
And then the volunteers will shrug their shoulders and go their separate ways. And millions will remain.
A correspondent for the news agency “Politics Today” visited a tavern where the cream of protest is discussing the future of Russia. And I found out what was bothering bohemia.
The father of nations Stalin, the leader of the proletariat Lenin, the “demon of revolution” Trotsky and the gravedigger of capitalism Marx look from the walls. Unlike the heroes of the films, Navalny’s elite circle is not going to hide in huts. Unlike the revolutionaries of the past, they come from wealthy families.
Meeting point
"Would you like to join? There is one place...” , advised a man with Navalny posters in the Rokossovsky Boulevard metro area and did not give the address of the blogger’s headquarters.
Bar near the China Town metro station.
A friend told the poster about the establishment. I wasn't there myself. It's difficult to get there. Only the “cool guys” gather there.
“Close to the internal workings of the headquarters”, - the volunteer warned.
The young man spoke spiritually about the upper circles that were inaccessible to him, unobtrusively demonstrating his Omega watches. The brand name shimmered in gold letters on the flaking dial.
How to get
It’s really not easy to get into an establishment in the capital. There are strict security guards at the entrance. People of two categories are allowed inside: those whose names are on the list, and those who undergo face control, also known as a dress code.
The Politics Today correspondent chose the third path. One of the girls, whose name was on the list of VIP guests, helped us into the bar. She introduced the journalist as her friend and led him along.
Inside
Complying with the dress code is a delicate matter, but not in in this case. The main criterion at the entrance is the presence of the brand, not taste. Young people from wealthy families wear trendy clothes here.
The area is replete with familiar names from Dolche & Gabbana to Chanel. Out of embarrassment for one’s own appearance one has to, as they say, lower one’s eyes, but this does not help. The bar's regulars walk from table to table in Balenciaga (56,300 rubles) and Alexander Mqueen (82,300 rubles) sneakers, and the fair sex wear elegant pumps from Jimmy Choo (72,400 rubles) and Dior.
Prices
The next obstacle on the way to " closed society» - menu. The prices are not communist: cocktails are served in cut glasses for 500 rubles. On the non-alcoholic drinks page - espresso for 380 rubles.
However, the atmosphere itself is friendly. Noticing the correspondent’s confusion, the bartender decided to support him and treated him to coffee at the establishment’s expense. At a table nearby there was a bored interlocutor. Not from Navalny's elite headquarters. The headquarters itself meets in the “secret room”.
Chamber of Secrets
This is a separate room. It is also used for banquets or small celebrations. Bohemia from the opposition is not looking for reasons to celebrate. Behind closed doors they are frequent guests.
Inside the room there are two tables, bookshelves with the works of Marx and Engels. The interior is decorated with a “Be Prepared” pennant, a pioneer bugle and a red canvas with a hammer and sickle on it. Most often, groups of 5 to 15 people come here.
Salt of the earth
Representatives of golden youth gather for meetings. First and second year students from wealthy families. Schoolchildren, no less spoiled with pocket money, sometimes follow them.
Meetings at “headquarters” resemble a party for adult children, rather than meetings of political activists. During the evening, one table can spend from 40 to 70 thousand rubles. They have no problems with money.
What are they talking about
“Young rebels” spend their evenings drinking expensive alcohol, the degree of which is increased by conversations about the “fate of Russia.”
“All conversations are very clumsy. Some complex bill? Why understand it if you can immediately say that our government is the worst in the world. Here Navalny keeps up with the next release on YouTube,”– the interlocutor told the journalist.
They talk about volunteers and Navalny’s most prominent activists who are detained on the streets. Sympathy for supporters and abstract plans for their “salvation” remain just words. Visitors prefer to watch rallies and other illegal events indirectly, from their feeds on social networks.
“Watching TV is not in fashion these days, reading books is too lazy, and I’m already stuck in my studies. They have half a session to close from pocket money I have to, so I can only buy a new Ipnone a month after release, and not immediately. And watching videos on the Internet where they are directly addressed with an appeal about the “terrifying situation in the country” is very fashionable. For them, this is the ambiance of high society conversations. It’s great and not difficult at all,”– he explained.
Relationship with staff
The main thing that reveals the high position of parents is the lordly manners of their children. They are used to being waited on everywhere, the interlocutor says:
“Children of rich parents, who are covered from all sides, are just starting to go on strike. Against what is the question. They have everything. Perhaps this is where the problem lies. Melancholy eats away. Youth is romance, 20-year-old young people have always been, are and will be driven by revolutionary sentiments.”
The waiters do not share the views of the young people, but visitors are welcome - they don’t skimp.
“It is clear that they treat the Navalnovites condescendingly and even with a degree of hostility. The majors irritate them with their arrogance, idleness, and narrow-mindedness. Although still, they cannot help but rejoice at their visits. Such companies leave a lot of money, and if you’re lucky, even tea,”– he remarked.
The average tea in Moscow is 10 percent of the bill. What comes out of the table is five to seven thousand rubles.
End of the feast
Conversations about Russia's troubles continue until the morning, teenagers drink a lot. By morning, official cars come to pick them up, some call a personal driver, others leave in a luxury taxi. Sometimes Navalny's supporters are unable to leave the bar on their own and have to be carried out. The staff helps drivers with this. Experienced drivers leave waiters additional bonuses for silence.
“This is the key to the safety of families: the prodigal son disgraces his father, and his adventures remain behind the tightly closed doors of the bar. In the morning everyone forgets about it,”– the interlocutor stated.
Navalny’s last rally in greater Moscow was small. In the crowds where the correspondent watched the protest, there were ordinary guys. The most expensive shoes that met the eye were Vans sneakers for an eighth-grader.
The teenagers did not understand what was happening around them and in the crush they injured each other. They were taken away from the rally by paddy wagons, also in some ways official vehicles.
On the morning of September 24, a service bus took away the spiritual leader of the “bar protest” from the doors of the special detention center. Alexei Navalny served 30 days of administrative arrest for repeated organization of an unauthorized event in January 2018 in the center of Moscow.
The blogger was taken to the Danilovsky police station, where he was charged with yet another uncoordinated protest. This will be discussed again at a meeting of Navalny’s “elite headquarters” today or tomorrow evening.
