This is Valentina Tereshkova’s speech marking the adoption of the Constitution in 1977, published in the newspaper Izvestia. It has often been recalled in connection with another, more famous constitutional speech that Tereshkova delivered in 2020. That was when, after backing the amendments, Valentina Vladimirovna proposed “resetting” Putin’s term limits.
Forty-three years passed between those two speeches. The country changed, the ruling party changed, the constitution itself changed—and only Valentina Tereshkova, as if nothing had happened, goes on delivering solemn speeches. And listening to thunderous applause.
The first woman cosmonaut in the world, she flew into space in 1963. A symbol of great achievement and immense courage, she is tied to the dawn of the space age. Tereshkova could have remained a symbol, speaking about the importance of science and space exploration, teaching at a university, hosting a popular science program on television. She could have been a fine and worthy moral example for the whole world. But Tereshkova chose a political career. Or rather, not even a political career so much as devoted service to whatever power happened to be in office.
Three years after her flight, in 1966, she became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and from then on moved from one post to another until, a year and a half ago, in 2020, she committed the second defining act of her life—the one for which she will be remembered: proposing that Putin’s presidential terms be reset, allowing him to rule forever.
Fifty-five years. For 55 years, this woman has held public office in our country. All that time, she has been a legislator. State institutions changed, but Valentina Tereshkova adapted, ingratiated herself with new bosses, and kept her little place under the ruling party. In 2011, she predictably latched onto United Russia and became a deputy under its banner. Now, in 2021, she is once again running for office. By the end of her new term, she will be nearly 90.
Valentina Tereshkova’s biography genuinely seems incredible to us, and not at all because she once spent three days orbiting the Earth. She is ready to love, praise, and warmly thank any authority. For many years she was a member of the CPSU (the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), and now she is a member of United Russia.
In the Soviet Union, she signed appeals to “young atheist Leninists,” which said, among other things, that religion was a great evil—and now she belongs to an inter-factional group in the State Duma dedicated to protecting Christian values. Valentina Tereshkova has proved capable of selling out any of her beliefs and carrying out any order. It was precisely for this all-devouring opportunism and lack of principles that she was put in charge of the “reset.” Putin could not personally propose such a thing, so he simply hid behind the famous cosmonaut. He needed a respected talking head who would open her mouth at the right moment and say the magic words, and Valentina Tereshkova had spent decades proving that this was what she did best. Perhaps if Belka and Strelka (the Soviet space dogs) could have become deputies and reset Putin’s terms, he would have made them do it too.
Valentina Tereshkova is treated like a trophy—dusted off before important dates and placed in a prominent spot to silence the dissatisfied. Who would dare criticize a national heroine? But do not think she fails to understand the role she has been given. Tereshkova understands it perfectly well, and she also understands what she has done by voting as instructed for decades and ultimately helping secure eternal Putin for us. And she decided that her family would not live in such a country. Russians—fine, apparently they do not matter. But her own children deserve better. Not the kind of state their mother spent 50 years helping build.
When Tereshkova went into space and saw all the continents of the Earth from above, she said Australia had especially intrigued her. She dreamed of visiting it. In the end, she did go to Australia, all well and good, but apparently it turned out to be too far away. For her daughter, Valentina Vladimirovna picked out a place a little closer.
It is Bergamo, a city in northern Italy, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Milan. A beautiful place, in the foothills of the Alps. This, Tereshkova decided, is where my children and grandchildren will live. Not in Russia, where I have spent 55 years as a lawmaker passing laws, but here.
In this building is an apartment that officially belongs to Valentina Tereshkova’s daughter, Elena, and her husband, Andrei Rodionov.
It was bought back in 2013—which means no one in the Tereshkova family has had any illusions about mom’s work for a long time. The apartment has an area of 123 square meters, and there is also a huge underground garage, 49 square meters.
An apartment like this costs about €250,000.
Fifty-five years. Just think about it—Tereshkova has been a deputy for 55 years. For more than half a century, she has been passing the laws by which our country lives. Tereshkova outlasted six leaders of our country, from Khrushchev to Yeltsin. But let us be honest: she is unlikely to outlast the seventh, Putin—especially given his new endless powers. And Tereshkova understands perfectly well what kind of legacy she is leaving to her children and grandchildren. So she took precautions—securing real estate for them in sunny, prosperous Italy, where there is no Putin, no United Russia, and none of the inhumane laws she has faithfully voted for over the years.
In 2018, for example, Valentina Tereshkova supported raising the retirement age. You would think—she is already over 80. What is there for her to be afraid of? She could have told them all to go to hell and remained in history not only as the woman who made a historic flight, but also as a true defender of her country, a person who did not bargain with her conscience and stayed loyal to the people. But no. She learned to live this way and grew used to it—to follow orders blindly, just in case something might happen otherwise. Now, in the State Duma, she is no longer a real living person, but simply a puppet, a talking dummy pulled by strings and made to read from a piece of paper. She is kept in power only so that she can launder other people’s criminal decisions with her one long-ago feat.
At this point, one might say: surely you have to show some respect! But answer this yourself: how can anyone respect this? Many years ago, Valentina Tereshkova committed one brave act, and then completely erased it with the life she led afterward. How can you call a hero someone who has spent 50 years mumbling words of praise to every leader under the sun and passing harmful laws? Someone who condemns her country to the eternal rule of a mad old man? Tereshkova turned out to be so weak-willed and cowardly that she was never able to say no even once in her life, and she deserves no indulgence.
But 55 years as a servant of those in power apparently was not enough for her. She has decided to be a deputy for another five years and is running again now. She is standing in Yaroslavl Region, listed first on the party slate there. That means that if United Russia wins, Tereshkova is guaranteed a seat. She will go on warming a chair in the Duma and pressing the right buttons. And if necessary, they will pull her out of the dusty suitcase again, place her at the podium, hand her a sheet of paper, and make her read.
There is only one way to fight Tereshkova in the Duma. From September 17 to 19, Yaroslavl residents need to go to the polling stations, take the ballot listing the parties, and vote AGAINST United Russia. “Smart Voting” does not work with party lists, so it will not be possible to keep Tereshkova specifically out of the Duma. But in Yaroslavl we still have an excellent chance to strike back at United Russia.
The region is divided into two districts—No. 194 and No. 195.
In District 194 (which includes Yaroslavl’s Dzerzhinsky, Zavolzhsky, Leninsky, and Frunzensky districts, as well as the regional districts of Danilovsky, Lyubimsky, Nekrasovsky, Pervomaysky, Poshekhonsky, Rybinsky [eastern part, excluding the city of Rybinsk], Tutaevsky, and Yaroslavsky [northern part]), United Russia candidate Andrei Kovalenko is running. He is a hockey player.
In the last election, he won by a narrow margin only because of fraud involving electronic and early voting.
And in District 195 (which includes Yaroslavl’s Kirovsky and Krasnoperekopsky districts, as well as the regional districts of Bolsheselsky, Borisoglebsky, Breitovsky, Gavrilov-Yamsky, Myshkinsky, Nekouzsky, Pereslavsky* [urban district], Rostovsky, Rybinsky* [western part], Uglichsky, and Yaroslavsky [southern part]), United Russia candidate Larisa Ushakova is running.
She has been in power for 17 years already. Both Kovalenko and Ushakova are so embarrassed by their party that they do not even use the United Russia logo in their campaign materials.
Yaroslavl has traditionally given relatively little support to the authorities, so this is exactly where there is a huge chance to defeat United Russia. The most important thing is not to split the vote and let United Russia candidates slip through because of it, but to vote in a coordinated way. In both districts—for the second-strongest candidate, the one who has a real chance of winning. We will announce the names of those candidates on September 15—the day after which, by law, they can no longer be removed from the ballot. The fastest way to find out whom to vote for is through our app (download it here from AppStore and Google Play). You do not need to leave any personal data there, not even your email—just enter your address in the search and you will get the candidate’s name. If you have not installed our app yet, do not put it off—and better yet, do not just download it yourself, persuade others to do the same.
There are other ways to find out the name of the right candidate as well. The Smart Voting website is blocked in Russia, but if you have a VPN you can still register there and receive the recommendation by email on the right day. There is also the “Smart Voting” Telegram bot—it too will tell you the name of the strongest candidate in your district who has a chance of defeating the United Russia nominee.
The more people vote smart, the fewer cowardly, hypocritical United Russia members will end up in the State Duma.
Freedom for Alexei Navalny.