The Kremlin asked spoiler candidates not to run in the elections. Chief Freemason of Russia: “It happens that characters come to us who dream of world domination “The presence of women in the lodge, wittingly or unwittingly, will lead to a change in the atmosphere at ritual work”

ym. It all started when the parliamentarian decided to ask the Prosecutor General to check the activities of Russian masons.

Milonov was alarmed by the fact that in Russian state There are many public and political associations, while legislation prohibits foreign and transnational companies from engaging in political activities and interfering in internal processes.

At the same time, as the deputy wrote, the so-called Masonic lodges work completely freely and try to interfere in politics. According to him, individual members of the lodges tried to participate in the elections.

“It is no secret that the Masonic Order is one of the oldest international socio-political organizations. According to open information, one of the main goals of Freemasonry is “the creation of a new world order and world government on the principles of the Order of Freemasons.” In other words, this mystical-social organization, which has representative offices and branches, including in our country, openly declares its intentions to interfere in democratic processes,” Milonov noted.

The deputy also drew the attention of the Prosecutor General to the fact that the leadership of this organization is located outside of Russia.

“The main Masonic lodges are located in France, England and the USA, and Russian Masons de jure are in some form of subordination from their foreign colleagues,”

Milonov later stated that he was ready to personally participate in inspections and was not afraid to meet with the head of the Grand Lodge of Russia (GLR) Andrei Bogdanov “at any level.” The reaction of one of the leaders of Russian Freemasons was not long in coming.

“Concerning Milonov’s appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office to inspect the Grand Lodge of Russia. We will ask the competent authorities to first conduct a forced psychiatric examination of Milonov.

And if he turns out to be a normal person, we will make counter charges of violating Art. 129 (slander) and 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement to hatred or enmity due to belonging to a social group)” - such a comment on behalf of Bogdanov appeared in a group on VKontakte called “Grand Lodge of Russia”.

Later, in an interview with one of the Russian TV channels, Bogdanov expressed his position in a little more detail.

“I think he (Milonov) has run out of ideas about what he can use for PR. He is trying to look for some topics that are more or less accessible and presented,” said the former presidential candidate.

He emphasized that the Grand Lodge of Russia is officially registered by Russian authorities and operates on the basis of a charter that complies with Russian legislation.

“We work only with funds from contributions from our members, citizens of the Russian Federation. We do not receive money from abroad. Besides,

Within Freemasonry it is forbidden to discuss politics and religion, and we do not do this. If we did this, we would be expelled from other lodges, international ones,” explained Bogdanov.

He added that currently anyone can theoretically join the Masonic lodge, but the decision on this is made by all members of the lodge by secret vote. Bogdanov also emphasized that he is firm in his desire to find out about Vitaly Milonov’s mental health, since he has doubts about the deputy’s sanity.

“Now our lawyers will see through whom and where this petition can be submitted (for a psychiatric examination of Milonov). Maybe this should be submitted to the State Duma. After all, mentally ill people should not write laws. Well, it seems so to me."

- concluded Bogdanov.

Freemasonry as a movement appeared at the beginning of the 18th century in the form of a secret society. His philosophy is based on monotheistic religions. Freemasonry, according to one version, originated from construction partnerships of masons. Even the name "Mason" or "Freemason" comes from the French word Franc-Maçon- "free mason". The main version of the origin of Freemasonry is considered to be that it originated from medieval building societies, but there are theories about more ancient origin Freemasonry, the origin of which is derived from the Knights Templar.

One current view is that Freemasonry has become more of a "secret society" than a "secret society" these days. The closed aspects of modern Freemasonry are the methods of identification among members and certain elements of rituals.

The main activities of Freemasonry themselves are called by the members of the lodge to be charity, moral improvement, as well as the development and preservation of fraternal friendship in a fraternal environment.

Candidates for Regular Freemasonry must believe in a Supreme Being. However, the candidate is not asked to explain or state exactly how he understands it. The founders of Freemasonry in Russia are often called Peter I and his associates, although there is no documentary evidence of this. The first reliable news of Masonic meetings in Russia dates back to 1731, when the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of London, Lord Lovel, appointed Captain John Phillips as Provincial Grand Master for Russia. The wide spread of Freemasonry in Russia began with the founding of several lodges by Russian General James Keith in the 1740s. The documents of the Grand Lodge of England indicate that in 1740 he was appointed Provincial Grand Master for Russia. Initially, the majority of members of Russian lodges were foreigners - officers in the Russian service or merchants, but soon the number of Freemasons, Russian by birth, began to grow.

In 1792, the activities of Masonic organizations in Russia were officially prohibited.

Under Paul I, the persecution of the Freemasons stopped, and the government of Alexander I allowed their activities, trying to put them under supervision and even use them in their own interests. However, on August 1, 1822, all secret societies, including Masonic lodges, were officially closed by the highest rescript of Alexander I. Russian Freemasonry was revived only in 1905 and existed until the official ban by the Soviet authorities in 1917. The Grand Lodge of Russia was formed in 1995 and became the first official Masonic organization created after the ban on Freemasonry and the closure of all lodges. The philosopher Georgy Dergachev was elected the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia. Later Bogdanov became the leader of this organization. As stated in the VLR group,

"Freemasonry" teaches that every person has a responsibility to make the world a better place.

Most people won't be the ones who create a cure for cancer, or end poverty, or help create world peace, but every man, woman and child can do something to help others and make the world around us a little better."

Andrey Bogdanov about the revival of the Kazan lodge, the conflict with Vitaly Milonov and women and atheists in Freemasonry

How to become a Freemason and what is the main goal of freemasons? Are there many Masons in Russia and representatives of which areas are included in this movement? What is the “Rising Sun” box recreated last year in Kazan like? Why do women and atheists have no place in the ranks of Freemasons? Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia Andrei Bogdanov answered these and many other questions in an interview with Realnoe Vremya.

“There are over 4 million members of Regular Freemasonry lodges around the world.”

- Andrey Vladimirovich, could you tell our reader about how you came to Freemasonry and what was your path to the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia?

I learned about Russian Freemasonry from a close friend in 1999. After much thought, I decided to join, although I knew very little about Freemasonry. But I knew my friend well, his principles and views on life. He couldn't join a bad organization. In 2000, I was initiated as a student of the venerable lodge “Harmony” No. 1 in the east of Moscow.

In 2001 I was initiated into the journeyman and master degree. In 2005, the venerable lodge “Citadel” No. 27 was installed in the east of Moscow and I was installed as its first venerable master. In 2006, I was elected grand donor of the VLR (Grand Lodge of Russia, - approx. ed.), and in 2007 the brothers chose me as a great master, which I still remain.

- You are a well-known political strategist; you were also a candidate for the presidency of Russia. At the same time, you head an organization that does not accept discussion of political issues and avoids this topic as much as possible. Is there any dissonance in this for you?

Freemasonry does not prohibit anyone from practicing professional activity, which does not contradict the laws of the state. In my activities I do not mention Freemasonry.

Freemasonry does not prohibit engaging in any professional activity that does not contradict state laws

How active and widely represented is Freemasonry in Russia? Do you note any noticeable differences between Freemasonry in Russia and abroad?

The Grand Lodge of Russia, which I head, belongs to regular Freemasonry, which dates back to 1717, after the creation of the first Grand Lodge in England. Regular Freemasonry necessarily adheres to the principles of loyalty to the existing government and faith in God. And in our lodges discussions on political or religious issues are unacceptable. And of course, this is the observance of the traditions of our brotherhood, which we call Landmarks.

So, there are more than 4 million people in the lodges of regular Freemasonry around the world. Lodges in the USA, Latin America, and Europe are especially significant in their numbers. So, in England there are about 300 thousand people in lodges, in the USA - more than 2 million, tens of thousands of Masons in Germany, France, Brazil, and so on.

In Russia the number of brothers is not so significant; in our jurisdiction there are a little more than one thousand people. But Freemasonry in Russia was revived only 20 years ago, while in England, France and the USA its continuous history lasts about 300 years. If there are no social upheavals in Russia like October revolution, then the number of Russian brothers will continue to increase rapidly. The operating principles are the same throughout the world, and therefore there are no significant differences between individual national jurisdictions.

- Are there many freemasons among major Russian politicians? We understand that you cannot name their names, but we still hope for at least approximate figures. And representatives of which spheres mainly belong to Russian lodges?

The rules of Freemasonry are not to name their members unless they themselves took the initiative and publicly announced their initiation into the Order of Freemasons. I can say one thing that in Russian Freemasonry there are politicians and businessmen, scientists and police officers, opera singers and military personnel, students and pensioners, university teachers and clergy.

There are more than 4 million members of Regular Freemasonry lodges around the world. The lodges are especially significant in their numbers in the USA, Latin America, and Europe.

“Empress Catherine II treated the Kazan box with favor”

Andrey Vladimirovich, last year the “Rising Sun” lodge was recreated in Kazan, which is by no means new (it was founded back in 1776). Could you please tell us why the decision was made to reopen it? ? What is she like??

In Kazan, the Rising Sun (or Luminary) lodge is one of the oldest in Russia. You correctly noted that it was created in 1776. It was part of the Grand Provincial Lodge of Russia, which was then headed by Ivan Perfilyevich Elagin. It was the first all-Russian association of regular Freemasonry, numbering more than 800 people in its ranks and having extensive international connections. Empress Catherine II treated this association with favor, contrary to established historical myths.

It is no coincidence that it was headed by the chief chamberlain of the court and a member of the Imperial Academy Sciences I.P. Elagin. In addition, the Empress’s personal secretary, as well as high-ranking government and military figures of the time, took part in the work. In Kazan, the lodge was created with the active participation of A.L. Likhacheva. He was a deputy of the provincial noble assembly and the director of a public school. Such prominent Russian Masons at that time as I.I. took part in the work of the lodge. Panaev and S.I. Gamaleya.

In total, there are 40 lodges in the VLR today. Of these, about seven were recreated: “Harmony”, “Astraea”, “Aurora”, “Muses”, “Clio”, “Golden Key”, “Rising Sun”. When in the recent past in Kazan the brothers decided to create their own lodge, it was decided not to create a new one, but to recreate the old lodge with a wonderful symbolic name. This is a tribute to those masters who spread the light of enlightenment in the 18th century. There are currently about 15 brothers in the modern Rising Sun lodge. The vast majority are from Kazan, but there are masters from neighboring regions. The social, national and religious composition is diverse, as in all Russian Freemasonry.

“In Kazan, the Rising Sun (or Luminary) lodge is one of the oldest in Russia. She was part of the Grand Provincial Lodge of Russia.” Photo by Roman Khasaev

We can't help but ask your opinion about the Masonic conspiracy theory. And have you ever met laymen who seriously asked to join the box in order to gain “world domination”?

The term "Masonic conspiracy" appeared in the second half of the 19th century. Lampoons began to actively spread in Europe and Russia with the aim of blaming some evil people for all the troubles. Secret society - this means the unknown; uncertainty breeds suspicion; and suspicion can degenerate into hatred if this is skillfully used.

This happened at the beginning of the 20th century. And then the fascists picked up similar nonsense to justify their atrocities. When they try to publicly declare such fantasies again, we feel sorry for those people who, due to their wretchedness - mental or spiritual - become the mouthpiece of such nonsense.

Of course, there are times when characters come to us who dream of world domination. But we immediately explain to them that they are contacting the wrong address, and then we stop communicating with them.

- Andrey Vladimirovich, how did yours end? Did you meet in court?

As for Vitaly Milonov, our claim against him is in judicial proceedings. And I think the above about people professing “conspiracy theories” can, to a certain extent, be attributed to Milonov.

“The presence of women in the lodge, wittingly or unwittingly, will lead to a change in the atmosphere at ritual work”

- You have repeatedly stated that the Grand Lodge of Russia has never discussed issues of religion and politics in its works. What issues are on your agenda?

Our order is an initiatory organization where the traditions of the past are strictly observed. And therefore, in the activities of modern lodges there are very few differences from what it was two centuries ago: we still care about the spiritual development of our brothers, engage in charitable projects and try to participate to the best of our ability in the fields of culture and education. The main goal of freemasons is hard work to spiritually improve oneself in order to be useful for the spiritual development of the citizens of their country. Briefly, with a certain amount of self-irony, this formula sounds like this: “We take good people and make them better.” It is issues of this order that are on the agenda of our work.

- In one of your interviews, you said that women are not accepted into Freemasonry because of their historical background - in the early years of Freemasonry they were not “free”. Now the situation has changed - the rights of women and men are equal. Isn't it time to start welcoming women into our ranks?

Regular Freemasonry is very strict about preserving traditions, including the issue of the impossibility of women participating in ritual work. This does not mean that Freemasons do not respect women. By the way, each newly initiated brother receives a rose on behalf of the lodge, which he is obliged to present after his first works to the woman whom he honors most. But the presence of women directly in the lodge, wittingly or unwittingly, will lead to a change in the atmosphere at ritual work, when the emotional component, always present in the relationship between men and women, will begin to prevail over the spiritual values ​​that prompted the brothers to get together.

Regular Freemasonry is very strict about preserving traditions, including the issue of the impossibility of women participating in ritual work

- Is it true that there is some kind of “non-traditional” Freemasonry that accepts women into its ranks and freely discusses politics? What is your position regarding this phenomenon? Is this branch of the traditional line represented in Russia?

As for such an association as the “Great East” and related organizations in some countries, they have nothing to do with regular Freemasonry. We do not consider them as Masonic and do not comment on them. And how can one give comments if such organizations violate the main principles of Freemasonry, including taking part in political activities and adhering to atheistic views?

- Historian Konstantin Rudenko, in an interview with our publication, stated: “As a historical phenomenon, Freemasonry outlived its usefulness in the 19th century. And the Masons must be treated as a fact, but a historical one, which existed, exhausted itself and ended there.” How would you respond to this?

Already in the answer to the first questions, I pointed out the number of the Brotherhood of Freemasons in the world. There are several million of us. This fact alone allows us to disagree with Mr. Rudenko’s curious statement.

Blitz survey

- How to become a Freemason?

Fill out the form on our website. Wait for an answer. You will be invited to an interview (maybe several). 2-5 masters will meet with you and ask you various questions to find out better and closer. Two masters will have to give you a recommendation. After which you will be invited to a survey under a blindfold. This is when you will be questioned by the entire lodge. You will be in the box blindfolded. The survey lasts from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. You will then be taken out and escorted to the exit. The Lodge will decide by secret ballot whether to admit you or not. The decision is considered invalid if more than two Master Masons vote against you (this does not depend on the size of the lodge). If the decision is made by you, then in a month you will be invited to initiation.

The main goal of freemasons is hard work to spiritually improve oneself in order to be useful for the spiritual development of the citizens of their country

- Has the rite of initiation into the Masons changed since the founding of the organization?

99% no.

- Are there many Russians asking to join the box?

We review up to 200 questionnaires monthly. From 5 to 15 laymen reach initiation.

- Who has no place in the ranks of the Masons?

Atheists, women, ignoramuses, unpatriots, uneducated.

- Why can they be kicked out of the box?

For everything that is unacceptable in an enlightened society, and, of course, for breaking the law.

Lina Sarimova, photo vk.com

He began his political activities in 1990 in the Democratic Party of Russia. Bogdanov, in his own words, began his political career as an ordinary activist in the Solntsevo district organization, and later created and headed the Youth Union of the Democratic Party of Russia, becoming a member of the political council of the party (he held this post until 1994). In 1991-1994, Bogdanov held various leadership positions in the executive committee of the DPR, in particular, he was the secretary of the Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Russia. On December 10, 1991, he organized a rally against the Belovezhskaya Accords. In June 1992, Bogdanov joined the political council of the “Civil Union” (leader - Arkady Volsky). That same summer, after a visit as part of the DPR delegation to Transnistria, he created a charitable foundation to raise money, medicine and food for the defenders of the Transnistrian Republic.

In 1995, Bogdanov came to work at the Novokom information and analytical center, in 1997 he became its vice president (the president of the IAC was Alexey Koshmarov), and worked there until 2002. According to a number of publications, Novokom was engaged in image-making, political technologies and professional party building, and was also mentioned in the media as a division of the Gleb Pavlovsky Foundation for Effective Politics. As an employee of Novokom, Bogdanov participated as a top manager in election campaigns in 38 regions of Russia and the CIS. A number of media outlets called Bogdanov “a kind of record holder” in the matter of party building, since he was the creator of more than a dozen federal parties. In one of his interviews, he reported that he “worked” with the Democratic Party of Russia, the United Russian Party “Rus” (he ran on the list of this party for the State Duma in the 2003 elections), “United Russia”, the Russian Party of Pensioners, the Union of Shareholders of JSC “ MMM”, the People’s Capital Party of Sergei Mavrodi, and was also involved in the creation of “Strong Russia” and the “People’s Patriotic Movement” (the latter two, according to their creator, remained unclaimed). At the same time, Bogdanov stated: “ I don't care what batch to make, the orientation depends on the customer" It was also noted that the creation of turnkey parties is very profitable business, especially when the order comes from the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, as was the case in 2000 in connection with the creation of United Russia. In 2005, Bogdanov, revealing the “kitchen of party building,” argued: “ Nowadays no one will undertake to create parties for less than 1 million dollars» .

The media writing about the DPR noted that after 1996, the party “began a period of “lethargic sleep,” when it, “like a commodity on the market, passed from the hands of one buyer to another.” Blank spots also appeared in Bogdanov’s party biography then. ": “... it is not at all clear who he was in the party (DPR) from approximately the late 90s to 2004,” noted, in particular, Radio Liberty. Bogdanov himself, in his biography on the DPR website, reported that in 1998 he was elected a member of the political council and one of the four deputy chairmen of the National Committee of the Democratic Party of Russia.

In 1999, Bogdanov headed the public relations department of the Central Election Commission of United Russia (according to some sources, he left it with a scandal). At the founding congress of United Russia on December 1, 2001, he was elected a member of the party’s Central Political Council. He led it in 2002-2003. In 2003, Bogdanov was elected executive secretary of the All-Russian Committee of Citizens for Fair Elections. In September 2004, he left United Russia.

In 2005, Bogdanov became a participant in the events that caused a split in the DPR. Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov wished to head the party, declaring his intention to create a broad democratic opposition on its basis. On December 10, 2005, at the Moscow conference of the Democratic Party of Russia, Konstantin Merzlikin, who previously held the post of head of Kasyanov’s secretariat in the government of the Russian Federation, was elected chairman of the Moscow branch of the party. The next day, this decision was reversed and the Moscow branch was headed by Bogdanov’s brother Timur Bogdanov. On December 17, the congress (later called a conference) of the Democratic Party of Russia, organized by Kasyanov’s supporters, had to be moved to the Izmailovo hotel complex, since the “Kasyanovites” were forced out of the party office building in the center of Moscow by the “Bogdanovites”, who gathered on the same day for their own congress. At it, Bogdanov was elected leader of the party and Chairman of the Central Committee of the DPR (212 congress participants voted for his candidacy, 13 people supported the ex-Prime Minister of Russia, whose name was also included in the ballot papers). He was the main developer of the party’s program “12 steps to Europe: guidelines for the decade.”

Commenting on these events, Radio Liberty, citing Bogdanov’s fellow party members, argued that the new leader of the Democratic Party of Russia “began to show himself actively only when the time came to re-register the party” (re-registration was required in accordance with the requirements of the new law obliging parties to have at least 50 thousand members). It was also noted that some members of the Central Committee of the DPR spoke of their organization as a “disposable party”, which was promised “quiet re-registration” for denying Kasyanov leadership, but Bogdanov himself denied the presence of support from the Kremlin. At the same time, a source from the MK-Novosti news agency in the State Duma suggested that the DPR brand could have been purchased by opposition businessman Boris Berezovsky in order to “revive the next cycle of federal elections.”

In May 2006, the party led by Bogdanov held the founding congress of the DPR youth union “Successors” (representatives of the party leadership emphasized that the youth organization was not being created, but was being recreated, because in the 90s it already existed, but then collapsed). However, information about who exactly headed the “youth wing” of the DPR was contradictory: Gazeta reported that the delegates supported the candidacy of the famous Internet figure Yaroslav Grekov (known on the Internet as Pug of Runet), Radio Liberty called the president of the youth union himself Bogdanova. The DPR website stated that Bogdanov became the honorary president of the movement, and the post of its executive federal secretary was taken by a student State University management Maria Sergeeva.

In September 2006, Bogdanov supported the idea of ​​a referendum on the issue of unification of Moscow and the Moscow region. He also proposed moving the capital to the town of Odintsovo near Moscow if the issue of unification is resolved positively:

All government structures can be transferred here with the exception of the presidential residence. You can get from Barvikha to Odintsovo in 5 minutes, and Muscovites will get rid of numerous traffic congestions once and for all.

In December 2006, at the next DPR congress, Bogdanov confirmed his readiness to negotiate to unite all Russian democrats and even promised, if necessary, to sacrifice his party for this. “We understand very well that if in 2007 we fail to get the right-wing opposition into parliament, then we can give up on the democratic movement in Russia,” Bogdanov emphasized, noting that the process of uniting democrats should be carried out with the participation of voters, and not through "negotiations at the top".

In June 2007, Bogdanov became the new Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia, simultaneously receiving the title of Very Worshipful Brother. Soon, in an interview, the new Bogdanov stated that Freemasonry does not have any specific political program, since it represents “a space for spiritual communication of people who are concerned about the problem of spiritual growth.” Within six months after being elected Grand Master, Bogdanov must visit at least 50 major lodges in the world to get acquainted. According to sources close to Bogdanov, the fact that the upcoming visits of the Grand Master will coincide in time with the parliamentary election campaign was supposed to help the DPR in the elections. In 2007, he hosted a program on the radio station “Moscow Speaks”, dedicated to economic and social issues.

In September 2007, the DPR held a congress, the official part of which took place in Brussels, and the “technical” part (necessary for the party’s participation in parliamentary elections) the next day in Moscow. Party lists were approved in the Russian capital. The federal list of the party was headed by Bogdanov. In addition to him, the chairman of the executive committee Vyacheslav Smirnov, as well as Bogdanov’s deputy Oleg Gimazov, were included in the top three. On October 23, 2007, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation registered the federal list of candidates from the Democratic Party of Russia for the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the fifth convocation. In support of the federal list of candidates, the organization submitted 209 thousand 908 signatures of voters, of which only 4.63 percent (3 thousand 238 pieces) were recognized as unreliable and invalid.

On November 12, 2007, the central council of the Green party, headed by Anatoly Panfilov, decided to support the DPR. Two days later, Bogdanov, on behalf of the party he led, signed a “Cooperation Agreement” between the DPR and the Green party. But this did not bring success to the DPR: in the elections held on December 2, 2007, Bogdanov’s party received only 0.13 percent of the votes and candidates from its list did not get into the State Duma of the fifth convocation.

On December 14, 2007, Bogdanov was nominated as a candidate for the post of President of Russia. The candidate for the post of head of state himself said that he was nominated not by a party whose members did not have time to hold a congress, but by an “initiative group of citizens.” At the same time, Bogdanov expressed confidence that his supporters will be able to collect the two million signatures necessary for his registration with the Central Election Commission. On January 8, 2008, he announced the successful completion of the collection of signatures in his support, and on January 23, the Central Election Commission registered Bogdanov as a candidate for the presidency of Russia.

During the election campaign, he had a serious conflict, which reached the point of filing a lawsuit with the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, first in the person of his representative Nikolai Gotsa, and then personally during the debate on the Rossiya channel.

Kommersant reported the intention of the Civil Force and the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) to “begin the process of uniting all forces on the right flank” in February 2008. It was noted that the parties “Union of Right Forces” (SPS) and “Yabloko” did not express a desire to unite with “Kremlin projects”. In August of the same year, the publication wrote about the negotiations on the unification of the year that began between the leaders of the Democratic Party of Russia and the Civil Force. However, the media suggested that in this way the parties “want to unite in order to pay off their debts” (both the Democratic Party of Russia and Civil Power, after the 2007 Duma elections, remained in large debt to the media for using free campaigning). In September 2008, after SPS leader Nikita Belykh decided to leave the party, it became known that it would become part of a new right-wing party being created by the Kremlin. The media named the DPR and “Civil Force” as other possible participants in this project. In October 2008, Bogdanov, speaking at the political council, announced his readiness to refuse to join the leadership of the new party “for the sake of uniting the democrats.”

In November 2008, the DPR, Civil Force and SPS were dissolved. The founding congress of the new party, called “Right Cause,” which took place that same month, approved its three co-chairs: they were the leader of “Business Russia” Boris Titov, as well as former deputy chairman of the Union of Right Forces Leonid Gozman and journalist Georgy Bovt. Bogdanov himself, although he co-founded the party, did not join the governing bodies of Right Cause, while his brother Timur became a member of the Federal Council of the new party. Describing the composition of the political council of the Right Cause party, the head of its Moscow region branch, Boris Nadezhdin, admitted that the DPR representatives included in it “are relatives and employees of Andrei Bogdanov.” At the same time, former members of the Democratic Party, who were not included in the “Right Cause,” organized the All-Russian public organization for the development of social technologies “Andrei Bogdanov Center,” which became the legal successor of the DPR.

In March 2009, Bogdanov, as an ordinary member of the Right Cause, put forward his candidacy for the post of mayor of Sochi, the capital of the 2014 Olympic Games. It was emphasized that such a decision was a private initiative of the politician - “the party has not made any decisions on this issue yet.” In April of the same year, Bogdanov was officially registered as a candidate for mayor of Sochi. However, in the same month, he announced the withdrawal of his own candidacy and his intention to support his rival, the acting mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov, nominated by the party “ United Russia» .

On September 14, 2011, when businessman Mikhail Prokhorov was already at the head of Right Cause, a scandal erupted around the party. After reports of the “hijacking” of the pre-election congress by opponents of Prokhorov, the leader of the Right Cause dissolved the executive committee headed by Andrei Dunaev and expelled a number of his opponents from the party, including Bogdanov, who was elected chairman of the credentials committee at the congress. The next day, the Right Cause congress continued its work without Prokhorov. He was removed from the leadership of the party, and Dunaev was appointed acting leader. The congress also overturned the decision to expel Bogdanov, after which he stated that he would remain a member of Right Cause, but did not plan to occupy any leadership positions, since he “has more interesting things to do.” Prokhorov himself left the party and announced his intention with his supporters to create a new political association.

In October 2011, the federal political council of Right Cause recommended that Bogdanov not speak in the media on behalf of the party, since this “does not contribute to the popularity of the party,” and that the election headquarters not use his image in election campaigning. In the “Right Cause” list approved by the Central Election Commission that same month, Bogdanov was number two in the elections to the State Duma of the sixth convocation. The first place was taken by Dunaev, the third - 24-year-old professional tennis player Anna Chakvetadze. According to the official results of the parliamentary elections held on December 4, 2011, “Just Cause” received only 0.6 percent of the votes and did not receive representation in the lower house of parliament. The party decided not to nominate its own candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for March 2012.

In February 2012, Bogdanov announced his resignation from Right Cause and the revival of the DPR: on February 12, a congress was held in Moscow, which decided to recreate the party and elected Bogdanov as its leader. In April 2012, President Medvedev signed a law reducing the minimum number of parties to five hundred people. In May of the same year, the DPR received registration documents, becoming the first party registered under the new law.

In August 2015, Andrei Bogdanov announced the sale of a dozen political parties created by his Center for Social Technologies. At a price of $250,000, it is proposed to replace the leadership of the party with people proposed by the buyer; for $1 million, it is proposed to organize an internal party vote on proposed issues, submit reports to the Ministry of Justice and other actions to create a working structure.

Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia

On March 28, 2015, at its annual assembly, Andrei Bogdanov was re-elected to the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Russia. According to the General and General Regulations of the Grand Lodge of Russia, Andrei Bogdanov will hold the position of Grand Master for 5 years, until 2020.

Personal life

Married. Raises three sons.

According to information released by the Central Election Commission in January 2008 about the property and income of Bogdanov and his wife Irina over the past four years, the politician himself received a salary in the United Russia and DPR parties and in the All-Russian Committee of Citizens for Fair Elections, earning only 489,640 rubles 5 kopecks (that is, an average of 10,200 rubles per month). Over the indicated four years, his wife earned 72,500 rubles from the All-Russian Committee of Citizens for Fair Elections. It was reported that the couple own two apartments in Moscow (with an area of ​​39 and 188.1 square meters) and a house in the Moscow region (with an area of ​​187.4 square meters). Bogdanov’s wife has a garage and three cars: Nissan Tiana (2006), Peugeot 306 (1998) and Audi Q7 (2006).

In October 2011, the Central Election Commission published information on the income and property of candidates for the State Duma of the sixth convocation. According to these data, Bogdanov, who ranked second on the “Right Cause” list, earned exactly 900 thousand rubles (the all-Russian public organization for the development of social technologies “Andrei Bogdanov Center” was indicated as a source of income), was the owner of two land plots and one house in the Moscow region, an apartment and a garage in Moscow, as well as four cars (a BMW 2008 was added to the three that were indicated in 2008).

According to some reports, Bogdanov's comrades in the Democratic Party gave him the nickname Chairman Bo.

He enjoys fishing and football. Awarded by the International Physical Culture sports society“Spartak” named after N.P. Starostin with a memorial sign “For merits and great contribution to the public Spartak movement.”

Scientific activity

In 2002, he became a candidate of political sciences, having defended his dissertation at Moscow State University on the topic “Political theory of pochvennichestvo (A. A. Grigoriev, F. M. Dostoevsky, N. N. Strakhov).”

Write a review of the article "Bogdanov, Andrey Vladimirovich"

Notes

1. //Kommersant from 09/17/2014
3. The XVIII Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia took place in Moscow. - MK-News, 05.06.2005
4. Bogdanov Andrey Vladimirovich. - Democratic Party of Russia (democrats.ru). - Version from 06/03/2008
5. The XVIII Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia took place in Moscow. - MK-News, 06/05/2005
6. Andrey Fefelov. "We are a party of normal people." - Tomorrow, 12/13/2006. - No. 50 (682)
7. Yulia Panyushkina. The DPR has a youth organization. - Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 11/27/1991
8. . The Kremlin is building regional elites and demonstrating the fight against corruption. - Radio Liberty, 05.29.2006
9. Vladimir Pribylovsky. Bogdanov Andrey Vladimirovich. - Anti-compromising material. - Version dated 02/13/2012
10. Results of the elections to the Duma of the first convocation on December 12, 1993. - Politics, electronic periodical. - 1995
11. The situation in the Moscow organization of the DPR. - Partinform, 03/19/1997. - No. 11 (218)
12. Alexander Moiseev. The "PROpagandists" have grown up. - Advisor, 11/30/1999
13. Mikhail Tulsky. DPR: history of the conflict. - Political News Agency, 08/02/2006
14. Version": a turnkey shipment in Russia costs 1-3 million dollars. - NEWSru.com, 04.04.2005
15. How much does a batch cost? - Simbirsk News, 04/07/2005. - No. 15
16. Igor Dmitriev, Mikhail Tulsky, Mikhail Yakovlev. Turnkey parties. - Version, 04/04/2005
17. “Version”: a turnkey shipment in Russia costs 1-3 million dollars. - NEWSru.com, 04.04.2005
18. Moska Runet will head the youth union. - Newspaper (GZT.Ru), 05/19/2006. - No. 83
19. A youth Public Chamber has been created in Moscow. - Radio Liberty, 05/18/2006
20. Bogdanov was elected leader of the Democratic Party of Russia. - REGNUM news agency, 12/17/2005
21. The Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia is choosing between Bogdanov and Kasyanov. - REGNUM news agency, 12/17/2005
22. "Successors" of the DPR. - Democratic Party of Russia (official website), 05/18/2006
23. The leader of the Democratic Party of Russia proposes to move the capital of Russia to Odintsovo (Moscow region). - REGNUM news agency, 09.13.2006
24. Olga Bolotova, Maria-Louise Tirmaste. The Democratic Party is ready for self-sacrifice. - Kommersant, 12/11/2006. - No. 231 (3562)
25. News of Russian and world Freemasonry. - Official website of the Grand Lodge of Russia, 06/30/2007
26. Sergey Osipov. Masonic secrets. - Arguments and facts, 08/01/2007. - No. 31 (1396)
27. Natalya Kostenko. Masonic-democratic nonsense. - Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 07/06/2007
28. Ilgar Musakhanov. Party minorities. - Moscow News, 09.21.2007. - No. 37
29. Sergey Ilyin. Results of the week: parties at congresses. - Vzglyad, 09/23/2007. - No. 37
30. The Central Election Commission registered the DPR for the elections of State Duma deputies. - RIA Novosti, 10/23/2007
31. The Greens supported the Democratic Party of Russia. - Russian newspaper, 16.11.2007. - № 4520
32. Results of the elections of deputies State Duma Federal Assembly Russian Federation fifth convocation. - Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (vybory.izbirkom.ru), 08.12.2007
33. A group of voters nominated DPR leader Bogdanov as a presidential candidate. - RIA Novosti, 12/14/2007
34. Andrey Bogdanov. Tomorrow I will submit documents to the Central Election Commission to register myself as a candidate for the President of the Russian Federation :). - Blog bonych.livejournal.com, 12/14/2007
35. The leader of the Democratic Party of Russia, Andrei Bogdanov, announced the successful collection of signatures in his support as a presidential candidate. - Echo of Moscow, 01/08/2008
36. The leader of the Democratic Party has completed collecting signatures for presidential nomination. - Newspaper. Ru, 01/08/2008
37. The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation registered Andrei Bogdanov as a candidate for the presidency of Russia. - RIA Novosti, 01/24/2008
42. After counting almost 99.5% of the protocols, Medvedev gains 70.23% of the votes. - RIA Novosti, 03.03.2008
43. The Central Election Commission summed up the results of the presidential election. - Newspaper. Ru, 03/07/2008
44. The final results of the Russian presidential elections have been announced. - RBC, 03/07/2008
45. Salman Ginazov, Natalya Bespalova. “Civic Force” and the Democratic Party of Russia want to unite the democrats. - Kommersant, 02/28/2008. - No. 32 (3849)
46. Maria-Louise Tirmaste. “It’s more cost-effective to create a new batch.” - Kommersant, 08/25/2008. - No. 150/P (3967)
47. DPR and “Civil Power” want to unite to pay off debts for fruitless PR. - NEWSru.com, 08.25.2008
48. Maria-Louise Tirmaste. Union of Corrected Forces. - Kommersant, 09.29.2008. - No. 175/P (3992)
49. Three parties at once, which are usually classified as belonging to the right-liberal flank, are deciding the issue of possible unification. - Echo of Moscow, 02.10.2008
50. Maria-Louise Tirmaste. Businessmen took up the “Right Cause”. - Kommersant, 11/17/2008. - No. 208/P (4025)
51. "Civil Force" and the Democratic Party announced their dissolution. - Newspaper. Ru, 11/15/2008
52. Krivobok Ruslan. The Union of Right Forces decided to self-destruct. - RIA Novosti, 11/15/2008
53. The leadership of the Right Cause party was elected. - Newspaper. Ru, 11/16/2008
54. Pyatakov Sergey. Gozman, Titov and Bovt became co-chairs of the Right Cause party. - RIA Novosti, 11/16/2008
55. Anna Perova, Valery Perevozchikov, Maria-Louise Tirmaste. There are no more roles left in Sochi. - Kommersant, 03/27/2009. - No. 54 (4109)
56. Andrey Dunaev: Participation in the elections in Sochi is Bogdanov’s private initiative. - Union of Right Forces, 03/25/2009
57. Andrei Bogdanov decided to participate in the elections for the mayor of Sochi. - Izvestia, 03/25/2009
58. Former leader of the Democratic Party of Russia Andrei Bogdanov is registered as a candidate for the post of mayor of Sochi. - Interfax, 04/03/2009
59. The Sochi Election Commission has registered a candidate from the LDPR and the ex-leader of the Democratic Party of Russia. - YUGA.ru, 04/03/2009
60. A member of the Right Cause, Bogdanov, abandoned the fight for the post of mayor of Sochi. - Interfax, 04/13/2009
61. Andrei Bogdanov withdraws his candidacy from the elections for mayor of Sochi. - Newspaper (GZT.Ru), 04/13/2009
62. Svetlana Bocharova, Ekaterina Vinokurova, Roman Badanin. Without Prokhorov. - Newspaper. Ru, 09.14.2011
63. Prokhorov's representatives talk about “hijacking the congress.” - RIA Novosti, 09/14/2011
64. Prokhorov announced the expulsion of Bogdanov and Ryavkins from Right Cause. - RIA Novosti, 09/14/2011
65. Mikhail Prokhorov dissolved the executive committee of Right Cause and expelled opponents from the party. - Kommersant, 09.14.2011
66. Prokhorov suspended Dunaev's activities as head of the party's executive committee. - RIA Novosti, 09/14/2011
67. "Right Cause" against Prokhorov. - Interfax, 09/15/2011
68. The second congress of the Right Cause removed Mikhail Prokhorov from the leadership of the party. - ITAR-TASS, 09/15/2011
69. Anatoly Bochinin. “Right Cause” intends to participate in the Duma elections and gain more than 7 percent. - ITAR-TASS, 09/15/2011
70. Bogdanov will remain an ordinary member of Right Cause. - RIA Novosti, 09/15/2011
71. Bogdanov: Prokhorov was let down by Ukrainian PR people. - IA Rosbalt, 09/15/2011
72. “Just Cause” prohibits Bogdanov from speaking in the media: if he doesn’t calm down, he will be removed from the top three in the elections. - Newspaper. Ru, 10/20/2011
73. Mikhail Rubin. “Just Cause” played into independence. - Izvestia, 10/20/2011
74. “The decision to ban Andrei Bogdanov from speaking on behalf of the party was spontaneous.” - Kommersant FM, 10/20/2011
75. . Pravda.Ru (09/20/2011). Retrieved September 26, 2011. .
76. Tennis player A. Chakvetadze entered the top three of “Right Cause”. - RBC, 09.20.2011
77. Maria Suslikova. "Breath of fresh air". - Vzglyad, 09.20.2011
78. Federal list of candidates for deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the sixth convocation, nominated by the political party “All-Russian Political Party Right Cause”. - Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (www.cikrf.ru), 10.24.2011
79. The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation announced the official results of the State Duma elections. - RBC, 09.12.2011
80. "Right Cause" refuses to participate in the presidential elections. - RIA Novosti, 05.12.2011
81. Andrei Bogdanov left Right Cause and is restoring the Democratic Party. - ITAR-TASS, 02/13/2012
82. Natalya Bashlykova. Andrey Bogdanov is reviving the DPR. - Kommersant-Online, 02/13/2012
83. Medvedev, in front of the “non-system people,” signed the law on parties, promised to improve it and set his sights on new changes. - NEWSru.com, 04/03/2012
84. The Democratic Party of Russia announced its registration. - RIA Novosti, 05/11/2012
85. Anastasia Kornya"Vedomosti", 08/05/2015
86. . Retrieved August 14, 2010. .
87. Sergey Karpachev. Masons. Dictionary. The great art of masons. - M.: “AST: Olympus”, 2008. - p. 82. - ISBN 978-5-17-051409-0, . Retrieved August 14, 2010. .(English)
88. . Retrieved August 13, 2010. .
89. The ex-leader of the Democratic Party Bogdanov was elected chief freemason for a second term. - GZT.Ru, 07/06/2010
90. S. P. Karpachev “The Art of Freemasons”, “IPK Pareto-Print”, 2015, 95 pp. ISBN 978-5-990-54931-9
91. Information on the amount and sources of income, property, bank deposits, securities and property obligations of the registered candidate for the position of President of the Russian Federation A.V. Bogdanov and his wife. - Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (www.cikrf.ru), 01/23/2008
92. Information on the income and property of candidates of the All-Russian political party “Right Cause”. - Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (www.cikrf.ru), 10.20.2011

Links

Excerpt characterizing Bogdanov, Andrey Vladimirovich

Two equally strong feelings irresistibly attracted Pierre to his intention. The first was a feeling of the need for sacrifice and suffering with the awareness of general misfortune, that feeling, as a result of which he went to Mozhaisk on the 25th and arrived in the very heat of battle, now ran away from his home and, instead of the usual luxury and comforts of life, slept without undressing, on on a hard sofa and ate the same food with Gerasim; the other was that vague, exclusively Russian feeling of contempt for everything conventional, artificial, human, for everything that is considered by most people to be the highest good of the world. For the first time, Pierre experienced this strange and charming feeling in the Slobodsky Palace, when he suddenly felt that wealth, power, and life, everything that people so diligently arrange and protect - if all this is worth something, then only by the pleasure with which you can give it all up.
It was that feeling as a result of which a hunter recruit drinks his last penny, a drunken man breaks mirrors and glass for no apparent reason and knowing that this will cost him his last money; that feeling as a result of which a person, doing (in the vulgar sense) crazy things, seems to be testing his personal power and strength, declaring the presence of a higher, standing outside human conditions, judgment over life.
From the very day when Pierre first experienced this feeling in the Slobodsky Palace, he was constantly under its influence, but now he only found complete satisfaction with it. In addition, at the moment Pierre was supported in his intention and deprived of the opportunity to renounce him by what he had already done along this path. And his flight from home, and his caftan, and the pistol, and his statement to Rostov that he remained in Moscow - everything would have lost not only its meaning, but all this would have been despicable and ridiculous (to which Pierre was sensitive), if After all this, like others, he left Moscow.
Pierre's physical condition, as always happens, coincided with his moral one. Unusual coarse food, the vodka he drank these days, the lack of wine and cigars, dirty, unchanged linen, two half-sleepless nights spent on a short sofa without a bed - all this kept Pierre in a state of irritation close to insanity.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon. The French have already entered Moscow. Pierre knew this, but instead of acting, he thought only about his enterprise, going over all its slightest future details. In his dreams, Pierre did not vividly imagine either the process of delivering the blow or the death of Napoleon, but with extraordinary brightness and sad pleasure he imagined his death and his heroic courage.
“Yes, one for all, I must commit or perish! - he thought. - Yes, I’ll come up... and then suddenly... With a pistol or a dagger? - thought Pierre. - However, it doesn’t matter. It is not I, but the hand of Providence that will execute you, I say (Pierre thought about the words he would utter when killing Napoleon). Well, go ahead and execute me,” Pierre continued to say to himself, with a sad but firm expression on his face, lowering his head.
While Pierre, standing in the middle of the room, reasoned with himself in this way, the door of the office opened, and a completely changed figure of the always previously timid Makar Alekseevich appeared on the threshold. His robe was open. The face was red and ugly. He was obviously drunk. Seeing Pierre, he was embarrassed at first, but noticing the embarrassment on Pierre’s face, he immediately cheered up and walked out into the middle of the room with his thin, unsteady legs.
“They were timid,” he said in a hoarse, trusting voice. - I say: I won’t give up, I say... is that right, sir? “He thought for a moment and suddenly, seeing a pistol on the table, he unexpectedly quickly grabbed it and ran out into the corridor.
Gerasim and the janitor, who were following Makar Alekseich, stopped him in the hallway and began to take away the pistol. Pierre, going out into the corridor, looked at this half-crazed old man with pity and disgust. Makar Alekseich, wincing from the effort, held the pistol and shouted in a hoarse voice, apparently imagining something solemn.
- To arms! Aboard! You're lying, you can't take it away! - he shouted.
- It will, please, it will. Do me a favor, please leave. Well, please, master... - said Gerasim, carefully trying to turn Makar Alekseich towards the door by his elbows.
- Who are you? Bonaparte!.. - shouted Makar Alekseich.
- This is not good, sir. Come to your rooms and rest. Please give me a pistol.
- Get away, despicable slave! Don't touch! Saw? - Makar Alekseich shouted, shaking his pistol. - Aboard!
“Get involved,” Gerasim whispered to the janitor.
Makar Alekseich was grabbed by the arms and dragged to the door.
The hallway was filled with ugly sounds of fussing and the drunken, wheezing sounds of a breathless voice.
Suddenly a new, piercing female scream came from the porch, and the cook ran into the hallway.
- They! Dear fathers!.. By God, they are. Four, mounted!.. - she shouted.
Gerasim and the janitor released Makar Alekseich from their hands, and in the quiet corridor the knocking of several hands on the front door was clearly heard.

Pierre, who had decided with himself that before fulfilling his intention he did not need to reveal either his rank or knowledge of the French language, stood in the half-open doors of the corridor, intending to immediately hide as soon as the French entered. But the French entered, and Pierre still did not leave the door: irresistible curiosity held him back.
There were two of them. One is an officer, a tall, brave and handsome man, the other is obviously a soldier or orderly, a squat, thin, tanned man with sunken cheeks and a dull expression on his face. The officer, leaning on a stick and limping, walked ahead. Having taken a few steps, the officer, as if deciding with himself that this apartment was good, stopped, turned back to the soldiers standing in the doorway and in a loud commanding voice shouted to them to bring in the horses. Having finished this matter, the officer, with a gallant gesture, raised his elbow high, straightened his mustache and touched his hat with his hand.
- Bonjour la compagnie! [Respect to the whole company!] - he said cheerfully, smiling and looking around him. Nobody answered.
– Vous etes le bourgeois? [Are you the owner?] - the officer turned to Gerasim.
Gerasim looked at the officer in fear and questioningly.
“Quartire, quartire, logement,” said the officer, looking down at him with a condescending and good-natured smile. little man. – Les Francais sont de bons enfants. Que diable! Voyons! Ne nous fachons pas, mon vieux, [Apartments, apartments... The French are good guys. Damn it, let's not quarrel, grandfather.] - he added, patting the frightened and silent Gerasim on the shoulder.
- Aca! Dites donc, on ne parle donc pas francais dans cette boutique? [Well, really, no one here speaks French?] he added, looking around and meeting Pierre’s eyes. Pierre pulled away from the door.
The officer turned to Gerasim again. He demanded that Gerasim show him the rooms in the house.
“The master is gone, don’t understand... mine is yours...” said Gerasim, trying to make his words clearer by the fact that he spoke them inside out.
The French officer, smiling, spread his hands in front of Gerasim's nose, making him feel that he did not understand him, and, limping, went to the door where Pierre stood. Pierre wanted to move away to hide from him, but at that very time he saw Makar Alekseich leaning out from the open kitchen door with a pistol in his hands. With the cunning of a madman, Makar Alekseich looked at the Frenchman and, raising his pistol, took aim.
- Aboard!!! - the drunk shouted, pressing the trigger of the pistol. The French officer turned around at the shout, and at the same instant Pierre rushed at the drunken man. While Pierre grabbed and raised the pistol, Makar Alekseich finally hit the trigger with his finger, and a shot was heard that was deafening and covered everyone in gunpowder smoke. The Frenchman turned pale and rushed back to the door.
Having forgotten his intention not to reveal his knowledge of the French language, Pierre, snatching the pistol and throwing it, ran up to the officer and spoke to him in French.
“Vous n"etes pas blesse? [Are you not injured?],” he said.
“Je crois que non,” answered the officer, feeling himself, “mais je l"ai manque belle cette fois ci,” he added, pointing to the loose plaster in the wall. “Quel est cet homme? [It seems not... but this since it was close. Who is this man?] - the officer said, looking sternly at Pierre.
“Ah, je suis vraiment au desespoir de ce qui vient d"arriver, [Ah, I’m really in despair at what happened],” Pierre said quickly, completely forgetting his role. “C”est un fou, un malheureux qui ne savait pas ce qu"il faisait. [This is an unfortunate madman who did not know what he was doing.]
The officer approached Makar Alekseich and grabbed him by the collar.
Makar Alekseich, his lips parted, as if falling asleep, swayed, leaning against the wall.
“Brigand, tu me la payeras,” said the Frenchman, removing his hand.
– Nous autres nous sommes clements apres la victoire: mais nous ne pardonnons pas aux traitres, [Robber, you will pay me for this. Our brother is merciful after victory, but we do not forgive traitors,” he added with gloomy solemnity in his face and with a beautiful energetic gesture.
Pierre continued in French to persuade the officer not to punish this drunken, insane man. The Frenchman listened silently, without changing his gloomy appearance, and suddenly turned to Pierre with a smile. He looked at him silently for several seconds. His handsome face took on a tragically tender expression, and he extended his hand.
“Vous m"avez sauve la vie! Vous etes Francais, [You saved my life. You are a Frenchman," he said. For a Frenchman, this conclusion was undeniable. Only a Frenchman could accomplish a great deed, and saving his life, m r Ramball "I capitaine du 13 me leger [Monsieur Rambal, captain of the 13th light regiment] - was, without a doubt, the greatest thing.
But no matter how undoubted this conclusion and the officer’s conviction based on it were, Pierre considered it necessary to disappoint him.
“Je suis Russe, [I am Russian,”] Pierre said quickly.
“Ti ti ti, a d"autres, [tell this to others," said the Frenchman, waving his finger in front of his nose and smiling. "Tout a l"heure vous allez me conter tout ca," he said. – Charme de rencontrer un compatriote. Eh bien! qu"allons nous faire de cet homme? [Now you'll tell me all this. It's very nice to meet a compatriot. Well! What should we do with this man?] - he added, addressing Pierre as if he were his brother. Even if Pierre was not a Frenchman, having once received this highest title in the world, he could not renounce it, said the expression on the face and tone of the French officer. To the last question, Pierre once again explained who Makar Alekseich was, explained that just before their arrival this a drunken, crazy man stole a loaded pistol, which they did not have time to take away from him, and asked that his act be left unpunished.
The Frenchman stuck out his chest and made a royal gesture with his hand.
– Vous m"avez sauve la vie. Vous etes Francais. Vous me demandez sa grace? Je vous l"accorde. Qu"on emmene cet homme, [You saved my life. You are a Frenchman. Do you want me to forgive him? I forgive him. Take this man away," the French officer said quickly and energetically, taking the hand of the one who had earned him for saving his life into the French Pierre, and went with him to the house.
The soldiers who were in the yard, hearing the shot, entered the vestibule, asking what had happened and expressing their readiness to punish those responsible; but the officer strictly stopped them.
“On vous demandera quand on aura besoin de vous,” he said. The soldiers left. The orderly, who had meanwhile managed to be in the kitchen, approached the officer.
“Capitaine, ils ont de la soupe et du gigot de mouton dans la cuisine,” he said. - Faut il vous l "apporter? [Captain, they have soup and fried lamb in the kitchen. Would you like to bring it?]
“Oui, et le vin, [Yes, and wine,”] said the captain.

The French officer and Pierre entered the house. Pierre considered it his duty to again assure the captain that he was not a Frenchman and wanted to leave, but the French officer did not want to hear about it. He was so polite, kind, good-natured and truly grateful for saving his life that Pierre did not have the spirit to refuse him and sat down with him in the hall, in the first room they entered. In response to Pierre's assertion that he was not a Frenchman, the captain, obviously not understanding how one could refuse such a flattering title, shrugged his shoulders and said that if he certainly wanted to pass for a Russian, then let it be so, but that he, despite then, everyone is still forever connected with him with a feeling of gratitude for saving his life.
If this man had been gifted with at least some ability to understand the feelings of others and had guessed about Pierre’s feelings, Pierre would probably have left him; but this man’s animated impenetrability to everything that was not himself defeated Pierre.
“Francais ou prince russe incognito, [Frenchman or Russian prince incognito," said the Frenchman, looking at Pierre’s dirty but thin underwear and the ring on his hand. – Je vous dois la vie je vous offre mon amitie. Un Francais n "oublie jamais ni une insulte ni un service. Je vous offre mon amitie. Je ne vous dis que ca. [I owe you my life, and I offer you friendship. The Frenchman never forgets either insult or service. I offer my friendship to you. I say nothing more.]
There was so much good nature and nobility (in the French sense) in the sounds of the voice, in the facial expression, in the gestures of this officer that Pierre, responding with an unconscious smile to the Frenchman’s smile, shook the outstretched hand.
- Capitaine Ramball du treizieme leger, decore pour l "affaire du Sept, [Captain Ramball, thirteenth light regiment, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for the cause of the seventh of September," he introduced himself with a smug, uncontrollable smile that wrinkled his lips under his mustache. - Voudrez vous bien me dire a present, a qui" j"ai l"honneur de parler aussi agreablement au lieu de rester a l"ambulance avec la balle de ce fou dans le corps. [Will you be so kind as to tell me now who I am with I have the honor of talking so pleasantly, instead of being at a dressing station with a bullet from this madman in my body?]
Pierre replied that he could not say his name, and, blushing, began, trying to invent a name, to talk about the reasons why he could not say this, but the Frenchman hastily interrupted him.
“De grace,” he said. – Je comprends vos raisons, vous etes officier... officier superieur, peut être. Vous avez porte les armes contre nous. Ce n"est pas mon affaire. Je vous dois la vie. Cela me suffit. Je suis tout a vous. Vous etes gentilhomme? [To be complete, please. I understand you, you are an officer... a staff officer, perhaps. You served against us . This is not my business. I owe you my life. This is enough for me, and I am all yours. Are you a nobleman?] - he added with a hint of a question. Pierre bowed his head. - Votre nom de bapteme, s"il vous plait? Je ne demande pas davantage. Monsieur Pierre, dites vous... Parfait. C "est tout ce que je desire savoir. [Your name? I don’t ask anything else. Monsieur Pierre, did you say? Great. That’s all I need.]
When fried lamb, scrambled eggs, a samovar, vodka and wine from the Russian cellar, which the French had brought with them, were brought, Rambal asked Pierre to take part in this dinner and immediately, greedily and quickly, like a healthy and hungry person, began to eat, quickly chewing with his strong teeth, constantly smacking his lips and saying excellent, exquis! [wonderful, excellent!] His face was flushed and covered with sweat. Pierre was hungry and gladly took part in the dinner. Morel, the orderly, brought a saucepan with warm water and put a bottle of red wine in it. In addition, he brought a bottle of kvass, which he took from the kitchen for testing. This drink was already known to the French and received its name. They called kvass limonade de cochon (pork lemonade), and Morel praised this limonade de cochon, which he found in the kitchen. But since the captain had wine obtained during the passage through Moscow, he provided kvass to Morel and took up a bottle of Bordeaux. He wrapped the bottle up to the neck in a napkin and poured himself and Pierre some wine. Satisfied hunger and wine revived the captain even more, and he talked incessantly during dinner.
- Oui, mon cher monsieur Pierre, je vous dois une fiere chandelle de m"avoir sauve... de cet enrage... J"en ai assez, voyez vous, de balles dans le corps. En voila une (he pointed to his side) a Wagram et de deux a Smolensk,” he showed the scar that was on his cheek. - Et cette jambe, comme vous voyez, qui ne veut pas marcher. C"est a la grande bataille du 7 a la Moskowa que j"ai recu ca. Sacre dieu, c"etait beau. Il fallait voir ca, c"etait un deluge de feu. Vous nous avez taille une rude besogne; vous pouvez vous en vanter, nom d"un petit bonhomme. Et, ma parole, malgre l"atoux que j"y ai gagne, je serais pret a recommencer. Je plains ceux qui n"ont pas vu ca. [Yes, my dear Mr. Pierre, I am obliged to light a good candle for you because you saved me from this madman. You see, I've had enough of the bullets that are in my body. Here is one near Wagram, the other near Smolensk. And this leg, you see, doesn’t want to move. This was during the big battle of the 7th near Moscow. ABOUT! it was wonderful! You should have seen it was a flood of fire. You gave us a difficult job, you can boast about it. And by God, despite this trump card (he pointed to the cross), I would be ready to start all over again. I feel sorry for those who did not see this.]
“J"y ai ete, [I was there],” said Pierre.
- Bah, vraiment! “Eh bien, tant mieux,” said the Frenchman. – Vous etes de fiers ennemis, tout de meme. La grande redoute a ete tenace, nom d"une pipe. Et vous nous l"avez fait cranement payer. J"y suis alle trois fois, tel que vous me voyez. Trois fois nous etions sur les canons et trois fois on nous a culbute et comme des capucins de cartes. Oh!! c"etait beau, Monsieur Pierre. Vos grenadiers ont ete superbes, tonnerre de Dieu. Je les ai vu six fois de suite serrer les rangs, et marcher comme a une revue. Les beaux hommes! Notre roi de Naples, qui s"y connait a crie: bravo! Ah, ah! soldat comme nous autres! - he said, smiling, after a moment of silence. - Tant mieux, tant mieux, monsieur Pierre. Terribles en bataille... galants... - he winked with a smile, - avec les belles, voila les Francais, monsieur Pierre, n "est ce pas? [Bah, really? All the better. You are fierce enemies, I must admit. The big redoubt held up well, damn it. And you made us pay dearly. I've been there three times, as you can see me. Three times we were on the guns, three times we were knocked over like card soldiers. Your grenadiers were magnificent, by God. I saw how their ranks closed six times and how they marched out like a parade. Wonderful people! Our Neapolitan king, who ate the dog in these matters, shouted to them: bravo! - Ha, ha, so you are our brother soldier! - So much the better, so much the better, Mr. Pierre. Terrible in battle, kind to beauties, these are the French, Mr. Pierre. Is not it?]
The captain was so naively and good-naturedly cheerful, whole-hearted, and pleased with himself that Pierre almost winked himself, looking at him cheerfully. Probably the word “galant” made the captain think about the situation in Moscow.
- A propos, dites, donc, est ce vrai que toutes les femmes ont quitte Moscow? Une drole d"idee! Qu"avaient elles a craindre? [By the way, please tell me, is it true that all the women left Moscow? A strange thought, what were they afraid of?]
– Est ce que les dames francaises ne quitteraient pas Paris si les Russes y entraient? [Wouldn’t the French ladies leave Paris if the Russians entered it?] said Pierre.
“Ah, ah, ah!..” The Frenchman laughed cheerfully, sanguineally, patting Pierre on the shoulder. - Ah! “elle est forte celle la,” he said. – Paris? Mais Paris Paris... [Ha, ha, ha!.. But he said something. Paris?.. But Paris... Paris...]
“Paris la capitale du monde... [Paris is the capital of the world...],” said Pierre, finishing his speech.
The captain looked at Pierre. He had the habit of stopping in the middle of a conversation and looking intently with laughing, affectionate eyes.
- Eh bien, si vous ne m"aviez pas dit que vous etes Russe, j"aurai parie que vous etes Parisien. Vous avez ce je ne sais, quoi, ce... [Well, if you hadn’t told me that you were Russian, I would have bet that you were a Parisian. There is something about you, this...] - and, having said this compliment, he again looked silently.
“J"ai ete a Paris, j"y ai passe des annees, [I was in Paris, I spent whole years there," said Pierre.
– Oh ca se voit bien. Paris!.. Un homme qui ne connait pas Paris, est un sauvage. Un Parisien, ca se sent a deux lieux. Paris, s"est Talma, la Duschenois, Potier, la Sorbonne, les boulevards," and noticing that the conclusion was weaker than the previous one, he hastily added: “Il n"y a qu"un Paris au monde. Vous avez ete a Paris et vous etes reste Busse. Eh bien, je ne vous en estime pas moins. [Oh, it's obvious. Paris!.. A man who does not know Paris is a savage. You can recognize a Parisian two miles away. Paris is Talma, Duchesnois, Potier, The Sorbonne, the boulevards... There is only one Paris in the whole world. You were in Paris and remained Russian. Well, I respect you no less for that.]
Under the influence of the wine he drank and after days spent in solitude with his gloomy thoughts, Pierre experienced involuntary pleasure in conversation with this cheerful and good-natured man.
– Pour en revenir a vos dames, on les dit bien belles. Quelle fichue idee d"aller s"enterrer dans les steppes, quand l"armee francaise est a Moscou. Quelle chance elles ont manque celles la. Vos moujiks c"est autre chose, mais voua autres gens civilises vous devriez nous connaitre mieux que ca . Nous avons pris Vienne, Berlin, Madrid, Naples, Rome, Varsovie, toutes les capitales du monde... On nous craint, mais on nous aime. Nous sommes bons a connaitre. Et puis l "Empereur! [But let's return to your ladies: they say that they are very beautiful. What a stupid idea to go and bury yourself in the steppe when the French army is in Moscow! They missed a wonderful opportunity. Your men, I understand, but you are people educated - should have known us better than this. We took Vienna, Berlin, Madrid, Naples, Rome, Warsaw, all the capitals of the world. They fear us, but they love us. It doesn’t hurt to know us better. And then the emperor ...] - he began, but Pierre interrupted him.
“L"Empereur,” Pierre repeated, and his face suddenly acquired a sad and embarrassed expression. “Est ce que l"Empereur?.. [Emperor... What is the emperor?..]
- L"Empereur? C"est la generosite, la clemence, la justice, l"ordre, le genie, voila l"Empereur! C "est moi, Ram ball, qui vous le dit. Tel que vous me voyez, j" etais son ennemi il y a encore huit ans. Mon pere a ete comte emigre... Mais il m"a vaincu, cet homme. Il m"a empoigne. Je n"ai pas pu resister au spectacle de grandeur et de gloire dont il couvrait la France. Quand j"ai compris ce qu"il voulait, quand j"ai vu qu"il nous faisait une litiere de lauriers, voyez vous, je me suis dit: voila un souverain, et je me suis donne a lui. Eh voila! Oh, oui, mon cher, c"est le plus grand homme des siecles passes et a venir. [Emperor? This is generosity, mercy, justice, order, genius - this is what an emperor is! It is I, Rambal, telling you. The way you see me, I was his enemy eight years ago. My father was a count and an emigrant. But he defeated me, this man. He took possession of me. I could not resist the spectacle of grandeur and glory with which he covered France. When I understood what he wanted, when I saw that he was preparing a bed of laurels for us, I said to myself: here is the sovereign, and I surrendered myself to him. And so! Oh yes, my darling, this is the most great person past and future centuries.]
– Est il a Moscow? [What, is he in Moscow?] - Pierre said, hesitating and with a criminal face.
The Frenchman looked at Pierre's criminal face and grinned.
“Non, il fera son entree demain, [No, he will make his entry tomorrow,” he said and continued his stories.
Their conversation was interrupted by the cry of several voices at the gate and the arrival of Morel, who came to announce to the captain that the Wirtemberg hussars had arrived and wanted to place their horses in the same yard in which the captain’s horses stood. The difficulty arose mainly because the hussars did not understand what they were told.
The captain ordered the senior non-commissioned officer to be called to him and in a stern voice asked him which regiment he belonged to, who their commander was and on what basis he allowed himself to occupy an apartment that was already occupied. In response to the first two questions, the German, who did not understand French well, named his regiment and his commander; but to the last question, without understanding it, inserting broken French words into German speech, he answered that he was a quartermaster of the regiment and that he had been ordered by his superior to occupy all the houses in a row. Pierre, who knew German, translated to the captain what the German was saying, and The captain's answer was conveyed in German to the Wirtemberg hussar. Realizing what he was told, the German surrendered and took his men away. The captain came out onto the porch, giving some orders in a loud voice.
When he returned back to the room, Pierre was sitting in the same place where he had sat before, with his hands on his head. His face expressed suffering. He was really suffering at that moment. When the captain left and Pierre was left alone, he suddenly came to his senses and realized the position in which he was. It was not that Moscow was taken, and not that these happy victors ruled it and patronized him - no matter how hard Pierre felt this, this was not what tormented him at the moment. He was tormented by the consciousness of his weakness. A few glasses of wine and a conversation with this good-natured man destroyed the concentrated gloomy mood in which Pierre lived during these last days and which was necessary for the fulfillment of his intention. The pistol, the dagger, and the coat were ready; Napoleon was arriving tomorrow. Pierre also considered it useful and worthy to kill the villain; but he felt that now he would not do it. Why? - he didn’t know, but he seemed to have a presentiment that he would not fulfill his intention. He fought against the consciousness of his weakness, but vaguely felt that he could not overcome it, that the previous gloomy system of thoughts about revenge, murder and self-sacrifice had scattered like dust at the touch of the first person.
The captain, limping slightly and whistling something, entered the room.
The Frenchman's chatter, which had previously amused Pierre, now seemed disgusting to him. And the whistling song, and the gait, and the gesture of twirling his mustache - everything now seemed offensive to Pierre.
“I’ll leave now, I won’t say a word to him again,” thought Pierre. He thought this, and meanwhile he was still sitting in the same place. Some strange feeling of weakness chained him to his place: he wanted but could not get up and leave.
The captain, on the contrary, seemed very cheerful. He walked around the room twice. His eyes sparkled and his mustache twitched slightly, as if he was smiling to himself at some funny invention.
“Charmant,” he said suddenly, “le colonel de ces Wurtembourgeois!” C "est un Allemand; mais brave garcon, s"il en fut. Mais Allemand. [Lovely, colonel of these Württembergers! He is German; but a nice fellow, despite this. But German.]
He sat down opposite Pierre.
– A propos, vous savez donc l "allemand, vous? [By the way, do you know German?]
Pierre looked at him silently.
– Comment dites vous asile en allemand? [How do you say shelter in German?]
- Asile? - Pierre repeated. – Asile en allemand – Unterkunft. [Asylum? Refuge - in German - Unterkunft.]
– Comment dites vous? [How do you say?] - the captain asked incredulously and quickly.
“Unterkunft,” Pierre repeated.
“Onterkoff,” said the captain and looked at Pierre with laughing eyes for several seconds. – Les Allemands sont de fieres betes. “N"est ce pas, monsieur Pierre? [These Germans are such fools. Isn’t it so, Monsieur Pierre?],” he concluded.
- Eh bien, encore une bouteille de ce Bordeau Moscovite, n "est ce pas? Morel, va nous chauffer encore une pelilo bouteille. Morel! [Well, another bottle of this Moscow Bordeaux, isn’t it? Morel will warm us another bottle. Morel !] – the captain shouted cheerfully.
Morel served candles and a bottle of wine. The captain looked at Pierre in the light, and he was apparently struck by the upset face of his interlocutor. Rambal, with sincere grief and sympathy on his face, approached Pierre and bent over him.
“Eh bien, nous sommes tristes, [What is it, are we sad?],” he said, touching Pierre’s hand. – Vous aurai je fait de la peine? “Non, vrai, avez vous quelque chose contre moi,” he asked again. – Peut etre rapport a la situation? [Perhaps I have upset you? No, really, don’t you have something against me? Maybe regarding the position?]
Pierre did not answer, but looked affectionately into the Frenchman’s eyes. This expression of participation pleased him.
- Parole d"honneur, sans parler de ce que je vous dois, j"ai de l"amitie pour vous. Puis je faire quelque chose pour vous? Disposez de moi. C"est a la vie et a la mort. C"est la main sur le c?ur que je vous le dis, [Honestly, not to mention what I owe you, I feel friendship for you. Can I do something for you? Use me. This is for life and death. I tell you this with my hand on my heart,” he said, hitting his chest.
“Merci,” said Pierre. The captain looked intently at Pierre the same way he looked when he learned what the shelter was called in German, and his face suddenly lit up.
- Ah! dans ce cas je bois a notre amitie! [Ah, in that case, I drink to your friendship!] - he shouted cheerfully, pouring two glasses of wine. Pierre took the glass he had poured and drank it. Rambal drank his, shook Pierre's hand again and leaned his elbows on the table in a thoughtfully melancholy pose.
“Oui, mon cher ami, voila les caprices de la fortune,” he began. – Qui m"aurait dit que je serai soldat et capitaine de dragons au service de Bonaparte, comme nous l"appellions jadis. Et cependant me voila a Moscou avec lui. “Il faut vous dire, mon cher,” he continued in the sad, measured voice of a man who is about to tell a long story, “que notre nom est l"un des plus anciens de la France. [Yes, my friend, here is the wheel of fortune. Who said I wish I would be a soldier and captain of dragoons in the service of Bonaparte, as we used to call him. However, here I am in Moscow with him. I must tell you, my dear... that our name is one of the most ancient in France.]
And with the easy and naive frankness of a Frenchman, the captain told Pierre the history of his ancestors, his childhood, adolescence and manhood, all his relatives and property, family relationships. “Ma pauvre mere [“My poor mother.”] played, of course, an important role in this story.
– Mais tout ca ce n"est que la mise en scene de la vie, le fond c"est l"amour? L"amour! “N"est ce pas, monsieur; Pierre?” he said, perking up. “Encore un verre.” [But all this is only an introduction to life, its essence is love. Love! Isn’t it so, Monsieur Pierre? Another glass. ]
Pierre drank again and poured himself a third.
- Oh! Les femmes, les femmes! [ABOUT! women, women!] - and the captain, looking at Pierre with oily eyes, began to talk about love and his love affairs. There were a lot of them, which was easy to believe, looking at the smug, handsome face of the officer and at the enthusiastic animation with which he spoke about women. Despite the fact that all of Rambal's love stories had that dirty character in which the French see the exceptional charm and poetry of love, the captain told his stories with such sincere conviction that he alone experienced and knew all the delights of love, and described women so temptingly that Pierre listened to him with curiosity.

The Kremlin asked the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge Andrei Bogdanov and political strategist Vyacheslav Smirnov not to participate in the presidential elections. The authorities intend to avoid the “carnivalization” of the 2018 campaign, experts say

Andrey Bogdanov (Photo: Gleb Shchelkunov / Kommersant)

Fewer candidates

The presidential administration asked political strategists Vyacheslav Smirnov and Andrei Bogdanov, who intend to run as presidential candidates from the parties of the Third Force bloc, not to do this. A source close to the administration told RBC about this and was confirmed by an interlocutor in the leadership of one of the bloc’s parties.

According to a source in the party, their nomination has been discussed with Smirnov and Bogdanov several times since the beginning of autumn. “At first they forbade me, then they supported me, then they dissuaded me, then they told me to definitely go, then they said that I shouldn’t,” said RBC’s interlocutor. He also said that other representatives of the Third Force, which unites ten parties, will not run for election. “They all want to go, but will they find sponsors? Without the Kremlin’s go-ahead, it’s unlikely,” concluded RBC’s interlocutor.

What is the "Third Force"

Andrei Bogdanov announced the creation of the “Third Force” on September 22. The bloc included the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR), the Monarchist Party, the Green Party, the Communist Party of Social Justice, the People's Party of Russia, the Union of Citizens party, the Social Democratic Party of Russia, the Civic Position party, and the People's Alliance party. and the Russian Veterans Party. Bogdanov then explained that the purpose of creating the bloc was to nominate presidential candidates. He did not rule out that the bloc would nominate several candidates based on the results of the primaries. Smirnov planned to run for election from the “Union of Citizens”, Bogdanov - from the Democratic Party of Russia.

Bogdanov, who was initiated into the Masonic lodge in 2001 and elected grand master in 2007, told RBC that no one from the presidential administration approached him with requests.

Smirnov did not answer the question of whether the presidential administration approached him with a request not to run for election. “As a rule, smart sponsors ask us whether the Kremlin supports the nomination of a particular candidate, and then ask us to call them from there,” said the political strategist. “Unfortunately, the Kremlin seems to only support [Boris] Titov.”

The press service of the Ombudsman for Entrepreneurs, who is from the Growth Party, did not comment on Smirnov’s words for RBC.

Other potential participants presidential elections - Boris Yakemenko, Andrei Bazhutin and Ekaterina Gordon - told RBC that no one had approached them with such requests. The presidential administration did not contact Ksenia Sobchak (she is from the “Civil Initiative”), her press secretary Ksenia Chudinova told RBC. “From the very beginning of the campaign, Sobchak has been saying that the Kremlin is trying to strangle her in its arms. What calls? We are working as usual, no one called us,” she emphasized.

Stepan Sulakshin, who nominated himself from the unregistered New Type Party on June 17, told RBC that no one has contacted him yet, but he expects “a similar call.”

Video: RBC TV channel

Against carnivalization

Bogdanov and Smirnov are “cheerful and very creative” political strategists with “good knowledge of Internet technologies,” political consultant Dmitry Fetisov told RBC. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the authorities first decided to allow them to participate in the elections, he suggested. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev described them in the same way. “They are reproached for the commercialization of the political process and cynicism, but they simply fit into the system,” he told RBC. “Very creative guys, they also have a sense of humor.”

Smirnov and Bogdanov have worked together since the 1990s. In 1991, Smirnov headed the executive committee of the Youth Union of the Democratic Party of Russia, the head of which was Bogdanov. In 1996, Smirnov became director of the regional department political programs information and analytical center "Novocom", and in 1997 Bogdanov took the post of vice president of the center. Before the 2008 presidential elections, both political strategists were in the top three of the federal DPR list. Bogdanov also participated in the elections - but not from the party, but from the “initiative group of citizens”, receiving 1.3% of the votes and taking last place.

Vyacheslav Smirnov (left), Andrei Bogdanov (center) and deputy chairman of the party’s central committee Oleg Gimazov (right) (Photo: Yuri Martyanov / Kommersant)

Political strategists also have worked in the election headquarters of other candidates - in particular, they helped the governor Krasnoyarsk Territory in 1993-1998, Valeria Zubov in the elections for the head of the region in 1998 (he ultimately lost to Alexander Lebed) and Dariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of Nursultan Nazarbayev, in the elections to the Kazakh parliament in 2004 (she became a deputy from the Asar party).

Experts agreed that Smirnov and Bogdanov more than once used shocking techniques - for example, a television lottery in 1999 in Sayanogorsk, which later became known as “Smirnov’s scam.” Then voters were shown fake ratings of candidates in mayoral elections and asked to place bets on the participants. As a result, Pyotr Ovchinnikov became mayor, whom the creators of the pseudo-ratings put in first place.

“They could organize a lively debate, they could try to divert attention from some topic that is inconvenient for the main candidate, somewhere they could openly troll his opponents,” says Fetisov. “There are now enough people running for election a large number of other shocking candidates - for example, Gordon and Sobchak,” Kalachev added. “Excessive carnivalization is not good for business,” he explained. “Farce and farce are not included in the plans of the moderators of internal political processes.” That is why political strategists will not run for office, the expert believes.

With the participation of: Olga Ageeva

Former Russian presidential candidate Andrei Bogdanov announced his intention to run for mayor of Sochi

39 year old Russian politician arrived in Sochi with the intention of "quickly handing over Required documents to register your candidacy for mayoral elections"

Bogdanov noted that he has his own vision of how Sochi should prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

He “would be interested in participating in elections that have federal significance in light of the Olympic Games,” said the politician, now a member of the pro-Kremlin Right Cause party.

In 2008, Bogdanov participated as a candidate in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation as a self-nominated candidate supported by the political council of the now self-dissolved Democratic Party.

The candidacy of Bogdanov, who, among other things, is one of the leaders of Russian Freemasonry, will join the list of already registered 20 potential contenders for the post of mayor of Sochi.

Among the candidates for the post of mayor of the municipality of Sochi are acting. Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov, Solidarity movement activist Boris Nemtsov, businessman Alexander Lebedev, representatives of local political and business circles.

Acceptance of documents for registration of candidates ends on March 26, one month before the election date on April 26.

"Grand Master of the Grand Lodge" of Russia

Andrei Bogdanov not only does not hide, but also advertises the fact that he is the “Grand Master” of the “Grand Lodge of Russia,” that is, he heads this Masonic organization.

The director of the Institute of Russian Civilization, O. Platonov, believes that “Belonging to Freemasonry is absolutely unacceptable for a politician living in Russia.” “Freemasonry,” he noted, “is a criminal society whose roots stem from Judaic teachings.” The scientist noted that Freemasonry pursues its main goal - achieving world domination. In Russia, and not only in Russia, he added, all the most terrible political crimes have always been associated with representatives of Freemasonry. It is enough, for example, to recall the assassination attempt on Catherine II, the villainous murder of Emperor Paul I, and the Decembrist rebellion. Modern researchers of Freemasonry agree that the February Revolution of 1917, which marked the beginning of a bloody orgy in Russia, was also carried out with the direct participation of “freemasons.”

It is also known that the Councils of the Russian Church Abroad in 1921 and 1926 condemned Freemasonry and declared it inadmissible for Orthodox Christians to belong to Masonic lodges. “Therefore, both in Russia and in other countries, Freemasonry, due to its pronounced criminal nature, for a long time was banned. Meanwhile, the goals of Freemasonry have not changed in any way since then. My opinion is that Masonic lodges should not exist on Russian territory. And if the authorities allow their existence, then it is necessary that the Freemasons must give a regular quarterly report on their activities, including sources of financing. In addition, personal records of all Masons should be kept, that is, in other words, all their activities should be under the control of the state. And if all this is carried out, then I think that many Masonic organizations operating legally in Russia will simply go underground. And even now, many of the existing Masonic lodges are not officially registered, since their representatives believe that they should not report to the authorities,” noted O. Platonov.

Source:

Other articles in People:

9 Nov 2016	22 Sep 2016	13 Sep 2016