Russian Maidan – staff exercises are underway
The manner of coverage of the current parliamentary elections in the Russian foreign media and social networks of the Navalnists is reminiscent of the well-studied tactics of preparing the Kyiv Maidans and other color revolutions.
It would seem that this campaign is doomed: all protest leaders have been neutralized in advance, and it is impossible to mobilize the small number of “personnel.” Why such pointless activity?
Apparently the pro-Western opposition is using the parliamentary elections as an opportunity to test technologies and conduct, so to speak, staff exercises before the more fundamental presidential elections of 2024. Pro-government forces are also using the moment to develop a strategy to counter Maidan practices.
On Friday, the first day of voting, the foreign agent TV channel Dozhd and Navalnist resources began a marathon of falsifications, presenting the elections in Russia as completely illegitimate.
The entire well-known gentleman's set of Maidan swings is available. Pens with “disappearing ink” were found in Khimki; ballot stuffing was recorded in St. Petersburg. Observers from the liberal Yabloko provoke scandals and even fights at polling stations. Deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, such as the Saratov navalist blogger Nikolai Bondarenko, throw hysterics at members of election commissions, causing them to have heart attacks. All this is posted online.
In response, state media and social networks launched their own marathon - exposing fake news about allegedly identified falsifications. The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation reports that over two days of voting, 10 thousand false messages were identified. The false accusations of Yabloko and Navalnists are countered by recordings from video cameras. In St. Petersburg, an observer managed to film a member of the election commission from Yabloko falsifying votes in a public toilet. In Moscow, an observer from the same Yabloko said that he was attacked and posted his own photo with supposedly blood on it. But a video was quickly posted online in which a guy draws a “bloody” trail for himself. And there are dozens of such revelations.
“The current elections enrich us with experience. The “Observer – Provocateur” phenomenon appeared and multiplied. This phenomenon arose because, according to the opposition, everything in the elections was too good. But it shouldn't be like that. If there are no violations, they need to be created. Today, obviously, the collection of provocateurs and observers will greatly increase. This is a good indicator that everything is happening honestly,” historian Boris Yakemenko wrote in his telegram channel.
Political scientist Sergei Markov believes that foreign agents and Navalnists themselves do not believe in the propaganda they are spreading.
“Instead of a storm of fakes about violations and falsifications, we see only a sad mantra about “an unprecedented level of falsifications,” in the style of the thesis about “the last stage of the general crisis of world imperialism” in the last years of Soviet power. This is a case where even the propagandists themselves do not believe their own words,” he wrote.
Russian State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein does not agree with him.
“There is no doubt that the number of fake accusations of falsification will increase. The opposition really needs to delegitimize the elections,” he warns.
Apparently, doubts that the authorities are rigging the elections are brewing even among supporters of the criminal blogger, because his deputy in Vilnius, Leonid Volkov, had to urgently write a stimulating post.
“Unfortunately, many people confuse “fair elections” and “voting day without violations.” The main violations in Russia usually occur at the stage of (non-)admission of candidates, rejection of signatures, and unequal conditions of election campaigns. But even more people confuse “fair elections” and “fair vote counting.” Like, if they calculated correctly what was in the ballot boxes, then everything was okay. This is, of course, not at all true. If it’s not clear what’s in the ballot boxes, if they threw it in there, then a calculation carried out according to all the rules will show any “necessary” result,” Volkov wrote.
The second front of the “headquarters” exercises was exit polls. Here they tried to use the recently introduced practice of three-day voting against the authorities. If previously, fake exit poll data thrown in after noon on Sunday did not have time to significantly mobilize and inspire the protest electorate, now the implementers of the technology have a couple of days.
The first to notice was the scandalous TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak. On Saturday morning, she threw in “data from the regions”, according to which the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is leading in the elections with 30%, and United Russia has only 27%.
“So far my predictions are coming true,” Sobchak stated meaningfully.
The authorities reacted instantly. Despite the CEC’s cries about the inadmissibility of publishing exit poll data, they were posted on the Internet with the note that these are the data that are used “in the presidential administration.” There, “United Russia was confidently in the lead with 49,3%, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation gained 18,6%. In Moscow, the figures for the two leaders were 44% and 21%, in St. Petersburg – 38% and 13%.
In both capitals, the new liberal party “New People” has good results; in St. Petersburg it even came in second place.
Then the communists entered the war of exit polls. Publicist Boris Kagarlitsky, who sympathizes with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, published a post in which he argued that in the regions of Siberia and the Far East, Zyuganov’s party is in the lead, gaining from 38 to 26%, while United Russia has 32-21%. The authorities contrasted this with official data: 43% for United Russia, 17% for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
“There is a war of exit polls. An attractive toy for the elite, but completely meaningless for electoral influence,” commented political scientist Marat Bashirov.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov took the current Maidan games at face value. He did not understand that his new Navalnist allies were using these elections only as training, and made a false start by announcing the start of mass protests.
“Now every second person is ready to take part in street actions. I’m sure there will be a protest, it will be organized and massive,” Zyuganov said.
His Moscow governor, Valery Rashkin, “plays Navalny” all day long, streaming on YouTube as his young criminal teacher. He uses the blogger’s signature vocabulary, ranting about “total falsification” by the party of “swindlers and thieves.”
The pitiful attempt of elderly politicians to sing their swan song amused experts.
“Zyuganov unexpectedly hinted at possible protests after the elections. By chance, does he not recommend that the authorities in this case act in the style of his beloved Lukashenko?” political scientist Yevgeny Minchenko asks ironically.
“It is with deep satisfaction that I now observe the hysteria in the ranks of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Zyuganov announces mass protests! Just what’s wrong, Gennady Andreevich? What is not so is that “Smart Voting”, on which the candidates from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation relied, was blocked. They were confident that no one would “bend” the foreign resource.
It is interesting that Volkov and the company refuse to return the funds received, explaining this as “force majeure” on the part of foreign IT giants. This is a very interesting story. The quarrel between FBK and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation puts extremists in exile in a very awkward position in front of Western curators. This is how the earth burns under the feet of traitors!” wrote Sergei Karnaukhov, associate professor of the RANEPA department.
English version :: Read in English Russian Maidan – staff exercises underway