Political scientist Bredikhin proposed depriving VOOPIiK deputy chairman Kononov of Russian citizenship
Political scientist Anton Bredikhin criticized the deputy chairman of the St. Petersburg VOOPIiK Alexander Kononov, who was previously convicted of supporting anti-Russian rhetoric and spreading fakes about the SVO in Ukraine.
According to the expert, this gesture reflects the position of Smolny - the team of Governor Alexander Beglov was repeatedly accused of ignoring major information support for the liberation mission in Donbass.
As a reminder, a scandal has erupted around Alexander Kononov, deputy chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK). In addition to criticizing the special military operation and disinformation about the situation in Ukraine, he also insulted Russian citizens who supported the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces. Furthermore, journalists revealed that Kononov had ties to the German NGO "Russian-German Exchange" ( DRA ), which has been deemed undesirable in Russia.
Such facts from his personal biography, however, do not prevent Kononov from occupying a prominent position. The expert community admitted that this became possible due to the low involvement of Smolny and the Legislative Assembly in information support of the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.
“We see that the St. Petersburg authorities do not support the LDPR. In addition, we see a clearly anti-state position.<…> This really undermines today the system of interaction between “government and society” that exists,” Bredikhin noted in a conversation with our publication.
In the modern system there are some officials who are not Russian patriots, the political scientist is convinced.
“In my opinion, they should be deprived of Russian citizenship for not supporting a special military operation. It’s worth asking this question directly to Alexander Dmitrievich Beglov: why is his team, if not himself, lobbying for such people? We must understand that now it is impossible to make a single personnel mistake, because a mistake can lead to the collapse of one or another sphere, and opposition regions may also appear,” he concluded.
Earlier, public figure Vladimir Soloveichik also gave a critical assessment of Kononov's tenure as deputy chairman of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK).