Airborne Forces veterans threaten the Kremlin with the creation of an opposition Popular Front. We wanted to be outside of politics, but we are forced to do it, - say the veterans of the Airborne Forces in their open letter addressed to Putin and Gryzlov (the text of which is available to the editorial office of RIA "NR").
As the correspondent of "New Region" reports, yesterday a meeting of the Central Council of the Union of paratroopers of Russia took place (see VIDEO at the link). Outraged veterans of the Airborne Forces noted that “the dam had broken through” even after the story in “Seltsy”, where the Minister of Defense allowed himself to “scream” at the officers, it would not work to pretend that everything had stabilized.
Recall that on September 30, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited the Seltsy training center of the Ryazan Higher Command School of the Airborne Forces. According to eyewitnesses, leaving the helicopter, the minister immediately began to use obscene language at the head of the guard school, Colonel Andrei Krasov. Serdyukov repeatedly called the Hero of Russia "fucking … m" and other abusive words. The Minister of Defense explained that the reason for his anger was the wooden temple of Elijah the Prophet built on the territory of the training center.
Later, Serdyukov's deputies explained to the press that the minister was angered by the unfinished canteen and other educational facilities, "while the temple was completed completely." Representatives of the ministry argued that Serdyukov scolded the commanders harshly, but did not swear at them.
Veterans of the Airborne Forces applied for support to the Russian Orthodox Church. Representatives of the Patriarchate did not support:
“The Moscow Patriarchate has resolved all its issues - chaplains will be trained in Moscow, not in Ryazan, the temple built at the expense of the paratroopers will not be demolished. And their voice is not heard anywhere else. They fell silent. We have resolved our questions,”the participants in yesterday’s meeting said indignantly.
They say that “in Seltsy, it was not a civilian's personal insult to the hero of Russia that was voiced, but the attitude of the current regime towards the Russian army in general, and the essence of the reform is that the regime does not need an army”.
“We need those who will serve the Mediterranean and overseas interests. The fleet is gone. The Air Force, as a single force, is gone. The special forces of the GRU are partly disbanded, the rest is committed to the "land" and will no longer carry out the tasks that were before."
Airborne Forces veterans say they are ripe for formulating their political demands to the authorities. As a result, at a meeting of the Central Council of the Union of Russian Paratroopers on November 17, 2010, a draft appeal to the country's leadership was adopted.
"HP" cites it with abbreviations ":
«
Requirements of the Union of Russian Paratroopers
… Voters' expectations were in vain. The ruling party is silent. One gets the impression that the party not only lacks internal party discussions, political reason, but also the "sovereign form of internal party discipline" has become more like a mutual responsibility.
The Union of Russian paratroopers, supported by numerous political, public, trade union organizations, ordinary citizens of the country, failed to draw the attention of the ruling party to the egregious case of hazing by the Minister of Defense, the lack of law and order in the army, a catastrophic situation developing with a real level of combat readiness troops. We don't believe you!
We demand: Vladimir Putin, you, as the leader of the party, carry out the will of the voters and convey to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief the need to speak out and assess the immoral act of A. E. Serdyukov. We draw your attention - with your silence and failure to take measures, you destroy the last moral foundations in society. The society announced A. E. Serdyukov "not handshake". Serdyukov - resign!
Boris Gryzlov, we urgently, repeatedly demand that you, as the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, appoint and conduct an objective, independent parliamentary investigation into the course of military reform in the country. We have doubts about your personal position as Speaker of the State Duma.
… We are starting to prepare an all-Russian protest action "military reform under parliamentary control, Serdyukova - resign!" We disclaim responsibility for the participation of servicemen and the broad masses of the country's population in protest events. We say Stop! Next is politics.
From that moment on, the Union of Russian Paratroopers will continue to carry out its statutory tasks. But we will never betray our friends and comrades who spoke out in the fight against rudeness and lawlessness in the army and navy, worried about the country's defense capability. We, like them, believe that the resolution of the conflict has gone into the political sphere.
We are ready to support the members of the "Union of Russian Paratroopers" participating in the creation of the opposition Popular Front. You forced us to this.
By its inaction, United Russia forms a broad opposition to itself. Party of Power, think about it! In this form, we do not need such a party in power!"
