Maksakova took Voronenkov away from the family and abandoned her own children for his sake. What will Maksakova get after the murder of Voronenkov? Voronov is Maksakova’s husband
Meeting the love of your life is probably your greatest luck. And all lovers dream of living together hand in hand, helping each other and overcoming all obstacles together. This is what Maria Maksakova thought, who in 2015 tied the knot with Denis Voronenkov.
Dmitry Voronenkov and Maria Maksakova. Photo: Facebook of Maria Maksakova
Their love story deserves to be made into a movie. He is the one the police are looking for, she is sincere and loving, giving up everything for her husband.
They met in the State Duma, where both worked as deputies. He is from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and she is from United Russia.
Voronenkov said that this woman captivated him with her endless kindness and sincerity. He still couldn’t stop admiring her beauty and listening to her beautiful voice.
And Maksakova herself fell in love without memory and completely lost her head. She considered the desire to be together to be a fixed idea in a relationship.
On March 27, 2015, the couple signed at the Kutuzovsky registry office in Moscow. He is 43 years old, she is 37 years old. Instead of a lavish wedding, the newlyweds had a buffet at the recently opened Philharmonic-2, where instead of the usual toastmaster performances, opera arias were performed.
Maksakova and Voronenkov never ceased to glow with happiness. They were not embarrassed by the surprise of their colleagues and different political views. They were simply crazy about each other and did not notice anything around them. He called her “my star,” and she called him “a true fan.”
Both the marriage and the birth of the child were “blessed” by the then speaker of the lower house of parliament, Sergei Naryshkin - he maintained close relations with the deputy couple and even sang at their wedding.
And their happiness knew no bounds. Maksakova literally glowed all over, because under her heart she was carrying a child from her beloved man. Trouble came unexpectedly. During a rehearsal at the Mariinsky Theater she became ill and was urgently taken to the hospital with a suspected miscarriage. Later she herself would write that she lost twins in the second month.
The singer connected the tragedy with the persecution of her husband. Denis Voronenkov was suspected of organizing fraud and raider seizure of a building in the center of Moscow.
A year later, Maksakova became pregnant again, and already in April 2016, deputies State Duma celebrated the birth of the first “inter-factional” child. This is how parliamentarians named the heir to deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and United Russia. Happy parents gave the boy the name Ivan. On this occasion, all State Duma workers were treated to free food at the buffet.
Photo: instagram.com/omskdenisenko
And then a dark streak began in their lives. After the failure in the 2016 elections and criminal prosecution, the family fled to Kyiv. In December, Maksakova and her husband received Ukrainian citizenship, and Voronenkov testified against former president country of Viktor Yanukovych.
Maria Maksakova, former senior lecturer Russian Academy music named after the Gnessins and soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, continued to give concerts in Kyiv, and traveled around Europe. Just the other day she released a video for “You Will Be Mine.” Information also appeared in the media that the singer had her fourth child - the first two, son Ilya and daughter Lyuda, appeared in her pre-Voronenkov period.
Let us remind you that today Maria Maksakova’s husband, Denis Voronenkov, was in the center of Kyiv.
A year ago, the husband of opera diva Maria Maksakova was shot dead, with whom he fled from Russia to Ukraine shortly before the tragedy. Having lost her beloved husband, the singer did not return to her homeland, continuing to live and work in Kyiv. And while Maria’s older children are with their father in Moscow, she is raising her two-year-old son Vanya and adult daughter Voronenkov from her first marriage to Svetlana Makeenko.
True, Maksakova managed to establish good relations with not all the relatives of the deceased politician. So, she avoids meeting with Voronenkov’s mother. In the “Actually” program, Lyudmila Nikolaevna met with her son’s first wife in order to jointly resolve a family conflict that prevents the elderly woman from seeing her little grandson.
Lyudmila Nikolaevna and Svetlana had not seen each other for many years, so they could not hold back their tears on the day of their long-awaited meeting. Voronenkov’s mother admitted that she always treated his first wife as her own daughter, especially since she was only 17 years old when she became part of their family.
Later, even after her divorce from Denis, she communicated with his loved ones - spent holidays together and often called each other.
“Everything was great for us. I came to their house as a child, they called me daughter, I called them mom and dad. It has always been this way. I studied in 10th grade in Minsk. Denis is at the political school. We were preparing a concert for the holiday of March 8th, they came to us, and that’s when we met. And on August 5 we had a wedding,” said Svetlana.
In 1992, Svetlana gave birth to a daughter, who was named Ekaterina. Then the family had a very difficult time: they did not have enough money to live. To get out of poverty, Voronenkov even worked as a waiter on a ship, and this became fateful for him. There he made his first acquaintances with representatives of the criminal world. “He drove cars, bought TVs, scammed someone,” she admitted ex-wife politician, noting that he always dreamed of earning a lot.
The hope for a luxurious life literally blinded Voronenkov - he began to devote less time to his family, and then began to cheat on his wife. “When my mother felt all this, she told me: “Daughter, this is my son, but if so, then leave him,” said Makeenko.
And later a serious conflict arose between the spouses, in which Denis raised his hand to her for the first time. The reason for the quarrel was betrayal - Svetlana found him at home with another woman. Having learned about her son’s cruelty, Lyudmila Nikolaevna stopped communicating with him.
“He was angry that I came. And he attacked me with his fists. He didn't let me into the house. At night I left for Minsk,” recalls Svetlana.
Evgeny, a friend of Voronenkov, confirmed that after the incident Svetlana’s face was indeed badly damaged. The man wanted to shelter the girl with him, but Denis categorically forbade it, claiming that this would ruin their friendly relationship.
According to Svetlana, infidelity is not the only reason why she wanted to divorce Denis. Several times the politician encouraged her to have intimate relationships with several people. "We were at home. His friend and his wife came to us. We played cards. He said that whoever loses will change everything,” Makeenko said.
The program experts recalled that Voronenkov had a business in the porn industry, but did not achieve success in this field in Ukraine.
Despite rumors that Voronenkov is still alive and his murder was staged, Makeenko is sure that it was hers who was lying in the coffin. ex-husband. She forgave him for his insults and humiliation, but did not forget - Voronenkov turned her life into hell. “He didn’t pay me a penny in child support. I survived on my own,” says the woman.
Makeenko communicates well with Maksakova. Voronenkov’s wives met in absentia three years ago, talking on the phone. Then the singer turned to her with a question that worried her extremely. “Masha was surprised that Denis did not communicate with his mother. He himself cried and worried about this. Masha wanted all the children to be together. I believe her, she loved Denis,” admitted Svetlana.
Now Makeenko and Maksakova are brought together by another misfortune - both cannot receive the deputy’s inheritance that is due to them. “The apartment on Malaya Gruzinskaya, where Katya lived, should have been hers, but Yulia (the politician’s second wife - editor’s note) prevented this,” Svetlana shared.
According to Makeenko, it was Yulia’s family that covered up Voronenkov’s deceptions, his dissolute sex life and other frauds.
23/03/2017
Former Russian State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov was shot dead in the center of Kyiv. According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko, the investigation is considering two versions of the murder: in the case of Viktor Yanukovych and in the case of smuggling within the FSB. Bloggers discuss the Russian trace in the bloody murder and Voronenkov’s role in the power behind the scenes of the Kremlin.
U The killer Voronenkov had already died in the hospital from gunshot wounds. The bodyguard of the former deputy fired several bullets at him. Interesting details were reported by politician Ilya Ponomarev, who said that Voronenkov was going to meet him.
“Denis Voronenkov was killed at 11-25 near the Premier Palace. He was coming to meet me. There are no words. The security guard managed to wound the attacker. The version is obvious - I said that Voronenkov is not a swindler, but an investigator who is mortally dangerous for Russian security forces. My deepest condolences to Maria Maksakova...,” writes Gudkov in on your Facebook.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the murder of Mr. Voronenkov showed “the clear handwriting of the Russian special services.” Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called Mr. Poroshenko’s statements “absurd.”
“Whoever killed Voronenkov, this should have been expected. The too brazen couple fled to Kyiv. They gave interviews, boasted, and made a fuss about themselves. Some people didn't like the impudence. I personally don't like traitors. Now it’s clear that I’m not the only one who doesn’t like traitors.”
Journalist Oleg Kashin reports one version of the crime: “People around Maria Maksakova’s family believe that the singer’s former common-law husband, thief in law Vladimir Tyurin, was involved in the death of her husband, ex-State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov. According to producer Vladimir Sergeev, who is well acquainted with Maksakova’s family, Tyurin used connections in the criminal world to get rid of Voronenkov and return Maksakova to Russia, since she left their common children in St. Petersburg: son Ilya and daughter Lyudmila.”
Politician Dmitry Gudkov cannot look at photographs in which Maksakova arrives at the scene of her husband’s murder: “On the murder of Denis Voronenkov. I’m scared to look at photographs of Maria Maksakova from the scene of the murder and scared to read what they’re writing in her comments now.
I don't know what the murder is connected with. The very first and obvious motive is testimony in the case of Yanukovych’s treason. There is a direct interest of Russia here - remember the confusion with the ex-president’s letter on the deployment of troops. It appeared, then disappeared, then it was, then it wasn’t. The Russian authorities lied, which means the plot was important to them.
However, he was no less important for Yanukovych. Ilya Ponomarev says that he posed a danger to the intelligence services.
My condolences to Maria Maksakova and all the relatives and friends of the deceased.”
On the murder of Denis Voronenkov. I’m scared to look at photographs of Maria Maksakova from the scene of the murder and scared to read what they’re writing in her comments now.”
Christina Ursu (Kyiv)
Ex-deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, spouses Denis Voronenkov and Maria Maksakova, surprisingly easily became citizens of Ukraine and made several resonant statements in the local press. Voronenkov, who voted for the annexation of Crimea to Russia and spoke out for the creation of Novorossiya, sharply changed his point of view. In an interview with Ukrainian journalists, he spoke about the annexation of the peninsula, corruption in his homeland and support for the Maidan. And most importantly, the former parliamentarian acted as one of the main witnesses in the criminal case against the ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, which is being conducted by the Prosecutor General's Office. What political future awaits the defectors - in the material of the Kyiv correspondent of RT.
- globallookpress.com
- Komsomolskaya Pravda/Global Look Press
Russian ex-deputies Denis Voronenkov and Maria Maksakova unexpectedly received Ukrainian passports. Last fall they emigrated to Ukraine, a few months later they became citizens of a neighboring country and have already managed to communicate with local journalists. In a scandalous interview with the Ukrainian online publication Censor, Voronenkov made a number of loud statements. For example, he said that the decision to “annex” Crimea was made by one person, power in Russia has been “usurped,” and “the FSB uses psychotropic drugs to suppress the will and subjugate people in the Lefortovo detention center.” “Because of the struggle that I waged openly, there will also be an extraordinary approach to me. It was a matter of my life and health. Several high-ranking people directly told me that I was overestimating my capabilities and it was better for me to leave Russia. I took these warnings seriously,” he told Censor.
Changeable views
A few years ago, Denis Voronenkov’s views were different. For example, in 2014, he voted for the annexation of Crimea to Russia, and on his Twitter he welcomed the emergence of a new state - Novorossiya.
- globallookpress.com
- Serguei Fomine/Russian Look
In an interview with Censor, Voronenkov stated that he “didn’t vote himself” - they “voted for him with a card.” The former State Duma deputy did not file any complaints about the actions of his fellow party members.
What made him quickly leave Russia and radically change his views? Cases are being investigated against the ex-deputy under several articles of the Criminal Code, including “Organization of falsification of the unified state register legal entities" and "Fraud." The Investigative Committee of Russia established that Denis Voronenkov took part in fraudulent activities for the illegal sale of a building in Moscow with a total area of about 1.5 thousand square meters. meters and a market value of 127 million rubles. In May 2016, Transparency International employees discovered that two offshore companies were registered in the name of Denis Voronenkov in the British Virgin Islands - Tarrington Real Estates S.A. and Kaul Engineering Ltd. The ex-deputy explained his appearance in the Panama Papers, which caused a lot of noise, by the machinations of the special services. Now the former parliamentarian is wanted.
Denis Voronenkov's wife Maria Maksakova was found to have German citizenship, which she hid during the State Duma elections: Russian deputies are prohibited from being a citizen of a foreign state. Now Maksakova is already violating the norms of Ukrainian legislation, which prohibits having dual citizenship.
Political future
Obtaining Ukrainian citizenship is a complex procedure, which in practice is impossible to complete in a few months. To do this, in particular, you need to reside continuously in the country for at least five years, speak the state language and abandon your previous passport.
But even if you have all the documents and successfully pass the exam, the procedure itself often drags on for years. For example, a simpler document - a residence permit - can be issued within six months. The fugitive Russians could not fulfill all these conditions.
The granting of another citizenship strangely coincided with Denis Voronenkov’s willingness to cooperate with the Ukrainian investigation.
“I testified in the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine in the case of the ex-President of Ukraine Yanukovych, who really betrayed his country, was involved in the mass murder of people, who fled to another country and called on the troops of another state to destroy their people. I believe that this person should not have received asylum in Russia, but a fair trial,” he said in an interview with Censor. Another fugitive Russian deputy, Ilya Ponomarev, gave similar testimony to the prosecutor’s office.
- globallookpress.com
- Liu Yiran/ZUMAPRESS.com
Voronenkov himself does not hide the fact that he intends to take part in Ukrainian politics, and Maria Maksakova plans to perform at the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. Shevchenko. But gaining a foothold in local government offices is not so easy. This, for example, is evidenced by the experience of Maria Gaidar, former deputy governor of Odessa Mikheil Saakashvili. She did not last even a year in her position, during which she was unable to demonstrate significant achievements, and disappeared from public view.
https://www.site/2017-02-16/voronenkov_i_maksakova_chem_zapomnilis_v_gosdume_deputaty_perebezhchiki
One Satan
Voronenkov and Maksakova: what are the defector deputies remembered in the State Duma
Facebook of Denis Voronenkov
the site studied the parliamentary heritage of the spouses Denis Voronenkov and Maria Maksakova, deputies who decided to move to live in Ukraine. Voronenkov is now criticizing the Russian authorities, he himself has been put on the wanted list, and his wife, a famous singer, has been deprived of her positions and status. After reading the bills and speeches of two deputies, the site’s journalists came to the conclusion that sometimes the deputies acted contradictorily and opportunistically, but they could not be called absolutely loyal servants of the regime.
Maksakova’s bills: female circumcision, patronage of the arts and the fight against phonograms
Maksakova’s creative nature manifested itself in her work in the State Duma. Both bills she personally developed were returned to the author - the State Duma apparatus considered that she had violated the regulations.
The first bill, solely authored by Maksakova, consists of two parts. One concerns people who are judged by pedophile articles. Maksakova suggested that the courts should not assign them a suspended sentence if the crime against the sexual integrity of a minor was of a recurring nature, and proposed introducing mandatory psychiatric examinations in colonies where those convicted of such crimes are serving their sentences.
Facebook of Denis Voronenkov
However, in the second part of the bill, she proposes to give the courts the opportunity to impose a deferred sentence until the child reaches 14 years of age for pregnant women, fathers and single mothers who are tried not only on pedophile charges, but also for committing terrorist attacks, encroachment on the life of a government official, forcible seizure authorities or armed rebellion.
She introduced this bill in September 2016. In the same month, Maksakova developed another bill, which was also then returned to the author. In it she suggested introducing criminal penalties for female circumcision by amending Article 136 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (around this time the media wrote a lot about cases of female circumcision in Dagestan).
“Discrimination committed against a minor on religious grounds and expressed in partial or complete removal of external genitalia, explained by the goals of a religious cult, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7 to 10 years,” was the formulation of Maksakova. In an explanatory note, she writes: “The Russian Federation, in accordance with Article 14 of the Constitution, is a secular state. No sacred cults can serve as a justification for “female circumcision,” since thereby individual dogmas are placed by their followers above the norms of the fundamental law of the country, which is the same for all citizens, regardless of their religious views.”
Maksakova’s name also appears in bills of a reactionary nature. So, in July 2012, she co-authored an addition to the bill "About foreign agents» in terms of establishing restrictions on their economic activities. The main author of the bill was the head of the Duma Security Committee Irina Yarovaya.
Maksakova also signed (along with hundreds of other State Duma deputies) the bill introduced by the leaders of all Duma factions and State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin “On measures of influence on persons involved in violations of human rights and freedoms.” The bill was adopted and created the possibility of forming in Russia analogue of the American “Magnitsky list”, that is, a ban on entry to US citizens who have committed crimes against Russian citizens or who have encroached on their rights and freedoms, including by making “unreasonable decisions.”
A significant part of the bills in which Maksakova participated relates to regulation in the field of culture. Among her frequent co-authors are deputies Joseph Kobzon, Stanislav Govorukhin, Vladimir Bortko, Elena Drapeko.
Thus, Maksakova co-authored the law “On Patronage,” which introduced the possibility for patrons who help cultural institutions to receive free services in return and enjoy tax benefits. From 2013 until the end of the convocation, Maksakova was a co-author of both the framework law and the accompanying amendments - for example, to the Tax Code.
Maksakova also took part in an attempt by a group of deputies to compete for Reversal of summer and winter time conversion, but the bill was returned to authors from different factions.
Facebook of Denis Voronenkov
In January 2014, in the wake of the general fashion for "spiritual bonds" Maksakova, together with deputy Sergei Katasonov, tried to contribute to the fight for morality and proposed to prohibit giving children any information “denying family values, promoting priority sexual relations and creating disrespect for parents or other family members.” The bill was returned to the authors. At the same time, six months earlier, Maksakova spoke out from the State Duma rostrum against the bill banning gay propaganda to minors (see below).
Seven bills, co-authored by Maksakova, are still under consideration by the current convocation of the State Duma: for example, on Lake Baikal, amendments to the law “On patronage activities,” as well as a law obliging artists to notify the public about performing with a soundtrack (co-authored by Joseph Kobzon).
It is planned to consider the new law in the summer of 2017 "About Culture", which, according to the authors, should replace the old law of 1992. Its co-authors, in addition to Maksakova, are Nikolai Rastorguev, Elena Drapeko, Stanislav Govorukhin, Vladimir Bortko and others. Denis Voronenkov is also listed among the signatories.
Voronenkov’s bills: introduced an article on separatism into the Criminal Code
The name Voronenkov can often be found among the authors of laws introduced by a group of communist deputies led by Gennady Zyuganov or his deputy chairman of the party’s Central Committee, Ivan Melnikov. Almost all of them were rejected.
This, for example, is a bill establishing restrictions on the payment of remuneration to heads of state corporations - it was proposed to tie this remuneration to the average salaries of ordinary employees. Or a bill on increasing the size of the total housing area provided to disabled people and combat veterans, family members of deceased (deceased) disabled people and combat veterans, a bill “On state benefits for citizens with children” (on establishing an annual allowance for the purchase of a set of school uniforms) and a lot others. Of the bills of this type, the bill on ratification of Article 20 of the UN Anti-Corruption Convention on the introduction of the concept of “illegal enrichment” into legislation remained for consideration by the State Duma of the current convocation.
Facebook of Denis Voronenkov
Voronenkov was also a co-author of reactionary laws. Thus, in December 2013, he, together with a number of other deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, including Zyuganov and Melnikov, co-authored the introduction of Article 280.1 about responsibility for public calls for violation of integrity RF. By the way, it is under this article that people in Russia are being persecuted for speaking out about the status of Crimea (it will be ironic if Voronenkov himself is among those accused under this article).
Also, Voronenkov, together with deputies of other factions, co-authored amendments to Law “On Mass Media”, which prohibited foreigners from being founders of Russian media or having a stake in them of more than 20%.
In October 2014, Voronenkov, together with the Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Sergei Neverov, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Ivan Melnikov and other deputies introduced a bill according to which Russians participating in foreign companies must notify the tax authorities about this.
Voronenkov was also involved in the agenda of the Duma Security Committee, in which he worked. As follows from the Duma database of bills, he regularly collaborated with United Russia.
For example, in the fall of 2012, he, together with them, introduced and achieved the adoption of the bill “On institutions and bodies executing criminal penalties in the form of imprisonment.”
And shortly before the end of the convocation, Voronenkov became a co-author of amendments to the law “On the Police” introduced by influential United Russia members Irina Yarova, Alexander Khinshtein and others. They expanded the rights of police officers- for example, they allowed them to enter private territory or open cars to catch violators. The amendments expanded the grounds for using weapons.
Facebook of Denis Voronenkov
Voronenkov’s own bills were not particularly successful. In February 2012, he introduced a bill proposing to remove from the legislation the right to apply for the status of lawyer for those who only have an academic degree in a legal specialty, but the bill was rejected.
In the summer of the same year, together with Fair Russia activist Alexei Chepa, he developed a bill proposing to limit access to information that “violates the personal non-property rights of a citizen or encroaches on the intangible benefits belonging to the citizen.” The initiative was also rejected.
The current convocation of the State Duma will have to consider one initiative personally authored by Voronenkov. Moreover, it concerns anti-Russian sanctions and the response to them.
Voronenkov proposes to amend the Arbitration Procedure Code and the Civil Code regarding representation in court. He proposes to ban foreign countries and organizations, as well as Russian legal entities with foreign participation, to represent interests in courts. This bill was introduced in September 2016 - judging by Voronenkov’s interview, when he and Maksakova had already decided to leave.
How Voronenkov criticized the government and what he said about Ukraine
Judging by the transcripts of speeches by State Duma deputies, Denis Voronenkov, although not the most famous, was still quite an active deputy: he spoke in favor of convening about three dozen times. Several times he spoke at the beginning of the State Duma meeting on behalf of the faction - this is usually trusted to relatively eloquent members of parliament. Being a representative of the opposition (formally) faction, he allowed himself to criticize the government and the initiatives of United Russia. And sometimes he did it quite convincingly, although the video shows that he was reading from a piece of paper, and the text was most likely prepared by assistants.
For example, on April 13, 2012, speaking on behalf of the faction, he was completely overwhelmed demolished the reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said that the Minister of Internal Affairs was failing in his duties. “It is absolutely obvious,” he said, “that the highest police officials responsible for its (reform) implementation failed to deeply understand the essence of the reform being carried out, reduced it to a primitive purge of the police ranks, which allowed them to get rid of employees critical of the leadership, to the reduction of actually working operational units, the expansion of the staff of managers and the banal renaming of their units. Critical human rights activists who actually defend the interests of citizens were removed from the public councils under the Central Internal Affairs Directorate. The institute for professional training of personnel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is being sharply and thoughtlessly destroyed.” “We believe that the current leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not able to cope with the current situation and reverse it,” he said then.
Several times Voronenkov spoke about the fate of his colleague, a communist deputy. Vladimir Bessonov— a criminal case was opened against him for holding an unauthorized rally in Rostov-on-Don. On this issue, Voronenkov argued with First Deputy Prosecutor General Buksman:
“We are told about the need to conduct an objective investigation,” he spoke on July 6, 2012. — Please tell me what was bothering the employees Investigative Committee On December 2, having seen signs of a crime being committed, initiate this criminal case against unidentified persons and objectively carry out all the investigative and operational measures necessary to establish the truth? Why is it only eight months later that they come to us with an initiative to revoke our colleague’s parliamentary immunity?”
Also in July 2012, Voronenkov criticized Irina Yarovaya’s bill about parliamentary control: “The law that you and I have is ineffective, and the bill proposed by Deputy Yarovaya […] is of a framework nature and does not introduce any new forms of control. So, he points to such forms of parliamentary control as giving consent to the president to appoint the chairman of the government, appointing a human rights ombudsman - please tell me what form of control this is? This is the free expression of the will of deputies - they want to vote for a given person or not.” According to Voronenkov, the bill introduced by Yarovaya was contrary to the Constitution and did not comply with the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Voronenkov's speeches are quite informative; he often relies on statistical figures and provides specific facts that illustrate problems or abuses. Taking a stand against illegal migration, he named the main culprit for the problems of the authorities who profit from the gray market of migrants. “It is also no secret that a whole corruption machine has developed around foreign migrants in Russia, allowing them to cynically feed on existing schemes for the distribution of quotas, registration and the like,” he said at a speech on May 14, 2013. — A striking example is the Moscow housing and communal services, where a quota of 22 thousand rubles is allocated for the maintenance of one site, and the guest worker is paid a maximum of half, the difference goes to the municipal and other authorities... What to do and who is to blame? These are the heads of specialized structures - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Migration Service - who were unable to overcome corruption and the low professional level in their departments, and did not calculate the threats of the phenomenon aptly called by the people a project to replace the indigenous population.” This speech, according to the transcript, was met with applause by the Duma.
He also criticized the Ministry of Emergency Situations: “It’s high time to think about whether this inevitability and regularity (of natural disasters) does not reveal gaps in the analytical and forecasting activities of the ministry, as well as shortcomings in organizing the interaction of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with other departments and structures, with authorities at various levels and with the public? […] There are many facts when representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other regulatory structures know about violations, but do not seek to eliminate them. […] All these and other numerous facts, in our opinion, suggest a systemic crisis in the prevention of emergency situations and the need for a radical change in such an ineffective organization. It is generally accepted that employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations do a good job of their duties, but, colleagues, they only eliminate the consequences of natural and other disasters, but do not prevent them or eliminate their causes.”
Vladimir Fedorenko/RIA Novosti
In November 2014, Voronenkov presented an “anti-offshore” bill on taxation of foreign companies; he demonstrated a fairly deep knowledge of the topic: “Please note that we ask to pay taxes in Russia only in cases where there are low or zero taxes on passive income in a foreign jurisdiction .
The law will prevent the creation of unjustified preferences and the receipt by businesses, especially large ones, of unjustified tax benefits to the detriment of the interests of our country. […] I would really like it to finally dawn on our businessmen: if you don’t pay taxes in our country, it will not only stop developing, it will perish. Russia is a rich country, but you can’t rob it endlessly, siphoning off billions! According to some reports, Russian oil exporters alone have transferred $798 billion offshore over the past ten years. Today, about 95 percent of large Russian property is under foreign jurisdiction.”
In the same speech, Voronenkov for the first time in his speeches mentioned Ukraine- made it clear that its politicians act under the control of external forces: “We see an example of this in Ukraine, where billionaires have taken almost the entire country offshore, where people are freezing, and the state does not have money to pay for gas: precisely through the owners of large companies external forces have been able to influence and continue to influence the internal and foreign policy Ukrainian state."
A week later, Voronenkov spoke about Ukraine again, speaking on behalf of the faction: “Ukraine today is not only the tragedy of our brotherly people, it is a lesson for all of us: this is what happens to young people who are purposefully exposed to a certain influence for many years! Through the media, films, songs, school, and everyday behavior of those around us for twenty-five years, several generations of young people were brought up in an anti-Russian and Russophobic spirit - we see the result. Ukraine is a tough response from life itself to those who, along with the official ideology, threw into the trash the thesis about the need for state policy in the field of education.” Then he delved into the problems of education and upbringing, recalled Solzhenitsyn’s essay “Obrazovanschina” and ended with a passage about love for the Motherland:
“...And this choice of love for the Motherland is not related to a person’s financial situation - it is related to intelligence and value orientation. And values are not Western or Eastern, they are simply human: love, family, education, science or art, sports or simple admiration of nature - all this is valuable for the individual, and in the end, with the development of this very individual, self-expression becomes more valuable to him than simple survival that the consumer society imposes on us. This is the whole logic of human development, this is the law of nature, these are the universal spiritual bonds. And we will certainly come to this, it cannot be otherwise, we just need to make some efforts and start with ourselves.”
How Voronenkov struck Medinsky
Although in recent interviews Voronenkov denied his connection with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (he was in the faction, but not in the party), in his speeches he called himself a communist. For example: “...Let's look around us, see what we are losing, what and whom we are depriving: dying villages, impoverished provincial towns, an alarming number of people living on the edge of poverty, an ever-growing gap between the poor and the rich! Remember the old parable about the Decembrists and the Bolsheviks? Some supposedly wanted there to be no poor people, others wanted there to be no rich people. I am a communist, but in this case I adhere to the position of the Decembrists” (December 12, 2014).
In the same speech, Voronenkov called for constitutional reform in Russia and transfer more powers to parliament: “Dear deputies, the Communist Party faction proposes to the President of Russia, in addition to sharing general responsibility for the fate of our country, to carry out a real, and not declarative, separation of powers by redistributing powers in favor of the federal assembly Russian Federation" The deputies also greeted this proposal with applause.
One of the objects of sharp criticism of Voronenkov was Vladimir Medinsky(who, after Voronenkov received Ukrainian citizenship, gloated about this on Twitter).
Speaking on December 16, 2014, Voronenkov was indeed cruel to the minister: “Of course, the numerous distortions of facts in his books can be called fantasies,” he told Medinsky, “hyperbole—the idea of an extra chromosome in Russians, and shocking—a number of his other public statements. In the end, this is a list of the exploits of Medinsky the writer, and, as it turned out last week, Medinsky the writer and Medinsky the minister are different people, but, Vladimir Rostislavovich, you have appropriated to yourself the functions of the ideological department of the CPSU Central Committee and are dividing cultural figures into statists and anti-statists, while you are subordinate to the President of Russia - tell me, did he give you such powers? After that, he accused the Ministry of Culture of financial irregularities, directly speaking about theft in the department.
Evgenia Novozhenina/RIA Novosti
Some of Voronenkov’s speeches were almost no different from his statements today about the crisis in the Russian leadership. "...And in Russian Empire, and in the Soviet Union at the time of the collapse there was a similar flaw - the impenetrability of the elites, when instead of a normal, interconnected system of central and peripheral blood supply, two vessels did not communicate with each other, and, naturally, the larger and dissatisfied one exploded, and if we do not provide sane formation mechanisms new scientific, creative and political elites, we will follow the path of our predecessors. The rotation of elites provides the authorities with much-needed feedback, allowing them to hear the voice of the people, understand their will, and not replace it in their own interests. Neither " United Russia", nor the "Popular Front" today do not perform these functions and are not able to perform them, since they are artificially created decorative ideological superstructures."
Regarding the topic of patriotism, Voronenkov urged not to forget in a frenzy: “I would like to talk about patriotism today, but not about that pretentious and stupid jingoism that Leo Tolstoy scolded with all his might and which, according to Samuel Johnson, is the last refuge of a scoundrel, not about which is easily and irresponsibly demonstrated at every opportunity by publicly singing hosannas to power. […] I want to talk about the moral and political principle, about the social feeling of patriotism, the content of which is an active love for the Fatherland and a willingness to subordinate one’s private interests to its interests. […] Raising a young man to be a patriot does not at all mean a ban on studying foreign languages, reading foreign literature, watching foreign films, studying abroad. The great Russian scientist Pyotr Kapitsa long years lived and worked in London, without becoming any less patriotic, like his Cambridge-born son, one of the leading Russian physicists. […] A true patriot always respects the interests not only of his people, but also of other peoples, other states, and this respect for oneself and for others, self-esteem also needs to be cultivated in youth - today it is sorely lacking.” However, Voronenkov immediately cited Ukraine as a negative example of chauvinism: “He who does not ride is a Muscovite.”
How Maria Maksakova defended gay rights
Maria Maksakova-Igenbergs, who became the wife of Denis Voronenkov in 2015, spoke in the Duma less often - only a little more than ten times. As a United Russia member, she could not afford critical statements. On the contrary, she spoke out against the actions of the oppositionists: for example, she criticized Oleg Shein, who was on hunger strike in Astrakhan: “A deputy is on hunger strike in Astrakhan regional Duma Shein,” she said in 2012, “at the same time, he is trying to involve older people in his protest, risking their health, because this way he can more effectively present his protest against his own failure.”
Perhaps the main thing Maria Maksakova did in the State Duma was promotion of the bill “On patronage activities”, a report on which she gave to her colleagues. The purpose of the bill, she said, was to preserve the “wonderful traditions of Russian patronage”, thanks to which the Tretyakov Gallery or the Pushkin Museum appeared.
Vladimir Fedorenko/RIA Novosti
One of the clauses of the bill implied the possibility of perpetuating the memory of patrons of the arts in the names of theaters, schools, libraries, and so on. Colleagues asked Maksakova what to do if a philanthropist, for example, is a bandit? “You ask such a question,” she answered, “of course, from prison and from the scrip... It’s difficult for me to comment on how, for example, people who earned money completely legally and behaved with dignity will behave. You never know what can happen to a person during his life! But seriously, I believe that this law is not for rich people, I believe that we did not write it so that wealthy people would receive even more benefits, so to speak, but we are thinking about that... Here is an example: the monument to Minin and Pozharsky or the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - why did they become popular, why did they become so beloved? Because everyone could make their contribution. And in my understanding, every such citizen is a philanthropist.”
Maksakova also argued about bill on labor relations in cultural groups(she should be very familiar with this topic), citing as an example the story of her friend, artist Sergei Filin. “There are real fears that the new bill contains a mine capable of blowing up the entire system of Russian theatrical reality,” she said, “especially the system of provincial repertory theaters, which for centuries served as outposts of culture, formed the moral principles of the individual, and strengthened a person’s ties with his national roots. […] Will they simply find themselves thrown out of the profession and forced to starve? I would not like the new law to become the cause of an epidemic of heart attacks and strokes among arts and cultural workers.”
But perhaps the most famous was speech by Maria Maksakova against the law on the promotion of homosexuality. This was an unusual act for a United Russia member. Here is the singer’s speech almost in full (she delivered it on June 17, 2014, introducing appropriate amendments to the law):
“Based on the results of the one-year existence of this law, it must be admitted that it did more harm than good, and this is what prompted me to introduce this bill in January 2014. It is enough to read Article 6.21, introduced into the Code of Administrative Offences, to forever remember a phrase that had never occurred to most before: “Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors, expressed in the dissemination of information aimed at developing non-traditional sexual attitudes in minors, the attractiveness of non-traditional sexual relationships, a distorted idea of the social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships, or the imposition of information...". In general, as they say, five times in five lines!
I believe that legislation should consider the problem more broadly: in order to really protect children from harmful influences, it is necessary to provide the courts with the opportunity to decide based on the totality of the circumstances of each specific case, without being tied to a particular sexual orientation, and if this or that information is harmful to the development of the child , cripples his psyche, then the danger lies not only in what this law sees it as. And there is a certain dilemma, the presence of which cannot but be recognized: either this entire murky flow of information of a sexual nature is not sufficiently regulated by legislation - and then it is necessary to accept the amendments we propose, or this law is redundant, since in essence it is not organizing, not educating, not protecting, but simply discriminatory, just discriminatory.
"Attention, I'm leaving!" - Tabakov used to say, getting out of a taxi in the film “Mary Poppins, Goodbye”, Oleg Pavlovich played a nanny there: a man in a woman’s dress in a children’s film - horror, propaganda, let’s ban the show! And at the same time, “Hello, I’m your aunt!” with Alexander Kalyagin - remember, there is such a wonderful phrase that simply became a meme of that time: “I will kiss you... then... if you want...”. Well, this is terrible propaganda - let's ban it too!
Maxim Blinov/RIA Novosti
We all play certain roles, dress up, wear masks, but we must strive to prevent them from growing, especially the masks of hypocrisy and hypocrisy. The law also wears a sanctimonious mask of struggle for certain traditional values, as if embarrassed to call a spade a spade, it only hints at some non-traditional relationships - and thereby finally brings the situation to the point of absurdity: no traditions are the subject of legislative activity, cannot be! We have about two hundred peoples and nationalities in the country, and everyone has their own traditions, and what is valuable for some is something unacceptable for others. For example, while prohibiting whale hunting in general, the law allows it for small peoples, for whom it is both the acquisition of familiar food and a cult ritual: they worship the whale, they thank it, already killed - a traditional value!
You know, in my opinion, in fact, the word “propaganda” itself should be banned, especially in relation to legislative acts, because the vagueness of this concept leads to abuse, and not only that. Anatoly Lunacharsky, if anyone else remembers such a propagandist and people's commissar from the beginning Soviet power, wrote (albeit for a slightly different reason) that propaganda should not, first of all, have the slightest character of violence. The truth that an idea, oppressed by all kinds of persecution, acquires an attractive force and is hardened is a fact that has been verified many times; this was well understood a century ago.
So Roskomnadzor tried to explain what propaganda is in relation to this law - here Roskomnadzor interprets laws like a rabbi interprets the Torah. To put it briefly - briefly, because he laid it out in fifty-two pages, and I just want to spare you - homopropaganda is now any mention of people of a different sexual orientation outside of a negative context. Amazing! That is, to say that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a brilliant composer and simply very an interesting man, is no longer possible, because the late genius’s orientation was “not the same,” although, as our president said, and I fully support him in this, we do not love him for this. The same can be said about Leonardo da Vinci, and about Michelangelo, and about many others.
As a result, it turns out that no one has done more for the gay movement than - well, Elena Borisovna (Mizulina) is not in the hall now, but nevertheless... - some deputies who, so to speak, very much defended this law. At a meeting of the committee, Elena Borisovna told me that this law is supported by 95 percent of our society - thoughtful people, I believe, understand that such figures do not exist in nature, and now I would like to ask - and thoughtful people, apparently, too: can society to support such a controversial and aggressive law in such a ratio - 95 percent versus 5 percent?!
It’s unpleasant for me that all this is done with a stony expression on the face and with a false sense of piety and God-bearing. In nature, there are generally no identical people, just as there are no two identical drops of water - why take the liberty of defining the boundaries of acceptable difference within the framework of your vision?!
Of course, I don’t want to argue now only about the previous law, this is not the essence of our conversation today, but, in general, Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya said it best: “An unfortunate country where a person cannot dispose of...” - you know what . They wanted the best, but it turned out the Chernomyrdin way - as always: the best propaganda was the ban on propaganda. However, this is exactly what always happens! (Noise in the hall.) […].
Apparently, they chose not to remember about our beloved Verka Serduchka at that moment, but today this artist, as I understand it, could get an article for propaganda! According to this logic, all this is something indecent, obscene, insulting the feelings of believers. Sorry, but in the Japanese kabuki theater, for example, all female roles are played by men, by the way, this was also the case in Shakespeare’s time, and sexual orientation has nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with the depiction of a naked human body in art: for one it is Danae, and for another it is just a naked aunt. Then we will have to recognize half of the works of art of the Renaissance as such propaganda! […].
The concept of propaganda can include an incredibly wide range of activities, from simple friendly hugs on the street to mass marches and media campaigns, from museum exhibitions to Internet sites. But, I think, we are not worried about that and, in general, I think that is not where we see the root of evil. Now, diverting attention from the main problems, we are firing a cannon at sparrows: the decline in public morality, which worries us all so much, is caused not by the dominance of homosexual propaganda, but by the decline in the cultural level of our compatriots, the decline in their cultural needs, the deterioration of the artistic taste of many representatives of our society . […]
It is impossible and will not be possible to change the current situation through legislative measures alone, but at least laying the legislative foundations is simply necessary - this is what we are trying to do in our bill. Of course, I ask you to support him. Do I understand that this bill will not be passed? I understand, of course. Do I think that in this case my speech is pointless? I don’t think so—I am convinced that just by the fact that we are capable of dialogue on a difficult topic, we demonstrate to our society, our voters, thoughtfulness, sincerity and the ability to work on mistakes. “I would like to remind you that the ability to admit your mistakes is a sign of strength and maturity, and not the other way around.”
The bill, as Maksakova predicted, was rejected.
Ekaterina Chesnokova / RIA Novosti
The last speech of Maria Maksakova, which was recorded in the State Duma transcript, was an invitation to colleagues to her wedding with Denis Voronenkov. It was March 27, 2015:
“We sent out invitations to everyone, absolutely all our fellow deputies, some even sent them two or even three times, we invited absolutely everyone, and if someone doesn’t have an invitation, then you tell me, we’ll give it to you again. Here is the address: Michurinsky Prospekt, building 1, Philharmonic Hall-2. We are absolutely looking forward to seeing everyone, there will be a buffet and a concert!”
A few months later, Denis Voronenkov and Maria Maksakova left for Ukraine.
