In this video, recorded in June 2020 ahead of the vote on “resetting” Putin’s presidential terms, Alexei exposes the Kremlin’s cynicism in using the theme of the Great Patriotic War (the Soviet front of World War II) as a PR smokescreen. Using hard numbers, he shows that Russian veterans receive pensions many times smaller than those paid to Wehrmacht veterans in Germany, and proposes a bill to raise payments to the victors to 200,000 rubles. Naturally, the “patriots” from the State Duma and United Russia ignored the initiative, preferring to spend billions on parades rather than on real help for the elderly.
Text version
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Putin and United Russia do a lot
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of vile and despicable things; I ask you to treat
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this with understanding.
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But one of the most disgusting things that
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personally outrages me to the depths of my soul is
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the way they use the image of victory and
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veterans for their political purposes. But
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it’s no coincidence that people joke that the main
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achievement of Putin is victory in the Great
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Patriotic War (the Soviet term for the Eastern Front of World War II).
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Whenever the authorities need to do something
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nasty or steal something, they immediately
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wrap themselves in St. George ribbons
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and place some miserable old man in front of them
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as a prop, and the result is that
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everything seems to be bathed in the light of
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the great victory. Look at how
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Putin’s term reset was staged.
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First, they deliberately hold in June
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a parade on which billions are thrown away; the
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next day, a seven-day
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vote begins.
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And then in July, the Immortal Regiment march will take place
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so that at its head walks our vile
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old man, but now in the status of a lifelong
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president.
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For the grand celebration of the 75th anniversary of victory,
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Putin gave the whole country himself as a gift:
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the removal of any limits on his
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rule. How do you feel about
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the possibility of extending the term
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of presidential office and the possibility
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of being elected to this post three times or more?
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I feel negatively about it. I am against
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anyone, no matter who they are or whatever
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good intentions they may
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be guided by, violating the constitution
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of our country. Why should this fraudulent
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rigged vote be framed
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like tinsel with the celebration of victory and
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symbols of victory?
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Did anyone fight for Putin? Did anyone die so that
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his 20 years in power would not be enough and he would need more? What
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does United Russia have to do with
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our victory 75 years ago? Why, they even
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stole the Immortal Regiment—it was invented by
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journalists from Tomsk.
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But Putin and United Russia appropriated it
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and use it for their own PR, while
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the TV channel of those journalists, by the way,
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was shut down because of censorship.
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And the main thing, the most monstrous thing in
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all this, is that Putin keeps plastering these
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veterans into every speech 20 times over,
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whether it fits or not: veterans, veterans,
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veterans morning and night,
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veterans for veterans. Now let’s conduct
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an experiment together right now.
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What word do you
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associate with the phrase “the life of a war veteran”?
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Ninety-nine percent of you have just
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said to yourselves: rock-bottom, or poor, or
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miserable. Everyone in Russia knows that
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war veterans are elderly people with medals;
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everyone congratulates them on May 9, and they live
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in poverty. Yet they won this war;
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they bore the greatest share of the hardship
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and receive from our government,
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which, let me remind you, has wrapped itself
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in St. George ribbons, less than our
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allies and our enemies in that war. Here in
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Russia, war veterans receive from
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35,000 to 43,000
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rubles per month as their pension. In the United States, converted
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into rubles,
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they receive from 190,000 to 430,000 per month;
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in France, 99,000; in the United Kingdom, from 140,000
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to 630,000 rubles depending on
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merit. And those are allies—but what about
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the defeated countries? Finland: 160,000 per
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month.
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Japan: from 80,000 to 470,000 rubles per month.
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And finally, Germany pays veterans
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of the Wehrmacht from 111,000 to 630,000 rubles per
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month in our currency. That is what it means
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to respect veterans: to provide
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them with a dignified life—not to use them as
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extras
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during a parade where they stand next to
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Putin’s ministers, each of whom is
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a billionaire. On the eve of May 9, Vasily
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Grigoryevich received a letter—not a
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congratulatory one, but a lawsuit
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demanding the eviction of him and his relatives
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from their apartment. Even bailiffs came
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with assault rifles. I have a specific appeal,
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a proposal to President Vladimir Putin.
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I ask all of you to support it and
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share it if you agree.
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Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, if
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war veterans are as dear to you as you
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constantly say they are, then let us give them
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a real gift
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for the 75th anniversary of victory. Here, I have written
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a very short draft law for you. Its essence is
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that a victorious soldier should
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receive a pension no smaller than those whom he
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defeated.
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The pension of a junior Wehrmacht officer
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is $2,700, or 188,000
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rubles. So let our veterans
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live out the rest of their lives with the understanding
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that the state, the government, and
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the people value them enough to pay
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a very good pension. I know what you will
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answer me: we have a great many veterans. Right now,
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an additional veteran
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payment was received by 537,000
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people, and that means it is unrealistic
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to pay everyone such a huge pension. But
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that is deceptive: the number of direct participants
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in the war left is very small—only 75,000
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people, according to your government’s estimate—and
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with each passing year there are fewer of them,
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and soon, sadly, they will all be gone. Therefore,
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my proposal is specifically
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to raise payments for those who actually fought to 200,000
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and it would not be such a heavy burden for
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from the budget to your friends every year
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you hand out
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much larger sums, so this is in many
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ways a symbolic gesture
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but it has to be made. After all, soon again
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at the parade
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you will climb onto the Mausoleum (Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow) and talk about
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the feat that cannot be forgotten, about
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the most important spiritual bond, about how we would not have
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existed without this victory, and all of that will be
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true. But perhaps our real
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spiritual bond should be a law under which
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he, our victorious soldier, should
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receive more than those whom he defeated
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There is a week left until the parade, enough time
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to pass the bill
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or at least declare
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support for it. I am sending it to all
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the faction leaders in the Duma (the lower house of Russia's parliament), and especially to United
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Russia, because its adoption
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depends on them and on Putin. I am also
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sending this bill
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to him. But you know what will happen: they
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will pretend they know nothing
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and have heard nothing
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What pension increase? And who proposed
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raising pensions? As for the people
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you mentioned, I need your
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help so that everyone learns about my proposal and so that
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those who cash in on
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veterans cannot wriggle out of it
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I have created a petition in support of this
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bill; the link is in the description
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Please support it with your signature as well
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please ask your friends to sign it
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and share this video. And most importantly,
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always and everywhere ask every
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United Russia member, official, governor—in fact, any
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Putin supporter who dares to say anything about
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veterans:
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How did you vote on this issue? Did you
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support a decent pension for the soldier
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who won the war? Taking part in this campaign
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will be the best and most honest
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contribution to commemorating the 75th anniversary of Victory (the Soviet victory in World War II)
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The fight for a dignified life for the soldier
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who won the war