Why the outcome of the “Vasilyeva case” will not become a trump card for the opposition. Why isn't Serdyukov in prison? Medvedev admitted why Serdyukov is not imprisoned

If there was a Corruption Hall of Fame in Russia, then paintings depicting employees of the Ministry of Defense would occupy the central part of the exhibition. The virtuosity and impudence with which billions of rubles were stolen by employees of this department will go down in history. The participants in the budget cutting relay race, being smart people, soon went into the shadows. Therefore, no one knows where Vasilyeva is now. Although many would like to know this.

How did the case between Vasilyeva and Serdyukov end?

The Oboronservis case was perhaps the most scandalous in the entire modern history of Russia. It exposed the monstrous scale of theft in the highest echelons of power.

Let us list the main stages of a high-profile case:

1. In the summer of 2012, an adviser to the Minister of War, Yevgeny Vasilyev, was placed under house arrest by the court;
2. Her living conditions were very comfortable, considering the average standard of living in the country. She was allowed to see her family and use a computer with the Internet. She was even seen in shopping malls during her house arrest, shopping enthusiastically;
3. The first charges were brought against her only in 2013. By October of the same year, investigators had issued a case of 12 episodes, including fraud, theft, and abuse of power. To the fullest extent of the law, the accused faced more than 10 years in prison;
4. But more than 4 years have passed, and things are still there: as of 2017, the Investigative Committee timidly reports that “ investigation continues " In other words, it is not over yet, if it ever will be over. Probably the best minds of the prosecutor's office at this moment are switched to Kirill Serebrennikov.

As the media learned, the life of the adviser to the Minister of Defense Evgenia Vasilyeva resembled a fairy tale from the life of a millionaire:

• Her place of residence was a luxurious apartment in a very prestigious residential complex in the very center of the capital. The cost of apartments in pre-crisis prices in 2012 reached fabulous 300 million rubles(!);
• The collection of jewelry of this extravagant lady could be the envy of Hollywood celebrities. During the searches, more than one and a half thousand pieces of jewelry and almost 20 kilograms of precious metals;
• But that is not all. The apartment was able to outdo many regional museums in its art collection. The antique paintings hanging in the house of the employee of the Ministry of Defense showed that she had good taste;
• Against this background, modest three million rubles in cash(also seized by law enforcement) look very out of place. Why Vasilyeva needed this “trifle” at home remains a mystery.

The joys of life listed above could not but raise questions of a very specific nature among law enforcement officers.

Why weren’t Serdyukov and Vasilyeva imprisoned?

The Santa Barbara investigation, which lasted five years, took place in front of millions of amazed Russians. The impudence with which the werewolves in uniform behaved could well have become the reason for the Maidan if all this had happened in a neighboring country.

But in Russia, known for its traditions of long-suffering, everything is still getting away with it. And nothing remains like wondering why once again the criminals remain free:

Show “The Trial is Coming”, season 2014-2015

Let's list its key points:

• The consideration of the case lasted almost a year - from the summer of 2014 to the spring of 2015;
• Initially, it was about imprisonment in a general regime colony for five years. Lawyers tried to appeal this harsh sentence, but the first appeal was successfully rejected;
• In July 2015, it seemed that justice had finally been served. Vasilyeva was transported to a women's colony in the Vladimir region, where she was to while away her sentence;
• But a month later there was an unexpected turn. Suddenly, the court recognized the weight of the complaints filed by the lawyers, and in the shortest possible time the prisoner was freed, and also received back a collection of antique paintings;
• In 2017, information appeared online that the state had fully compensated for the damage caused to a high-ranking person. Not only real estate items were returned, but also numerous pieces of jewelry.

Some public figures tried to express their dissatisfaction with the situation, but their remarks collided with the wall of indifference of the federal media. The political performance was officially closed.

Where is Vasilyeva now and what is she doing?

The current existence of the ex-employee of the Ministry of Defense can hardly be called miserable:

• Immediately after leaving the military department, she founded the Result company, specializing in the jewelry trade;
• The imprisonment, although short-lived, left its mark. An artist close to her, Igor Dudinsky, noted the onset of a “dark streak” in the life of the former official;
• The difficult period did not last long. In 2016, she decided to get a second higher education, for which she entered the Faculty of Arts of Moscow State University;
• In mid-2017, it became known that she had registered a new trademark “ Nonrealism" Experts suggest that the focus of the new company will be related to supporting talent in the field of culture and art. Probably, in this way, the person involved in the scandalous case is trying to launder her trampled reputation;
• Around the same time, the media received information about Vasilyeva’s appointment as secretary of the homeowners’ association in the apartment building where she lives.

The prestigious residential complex on Molochny Lane in the very center of Moscow, where Vasilyeva now holds the position of secretary, is a triumph of luxury and bureaucratic lawlessness. The person involved in the scandalous corruption cases herself decided to retire. Now she is more concerned about the jewelry business and a small art company. Whatever one may say, this is much better than rotting behind bars for several years.

Video: Zhirinovsky about Vasilyeva’s activities

In this video, Vladimir Zhirinovsky will express his opinion on why Evgenia Vasilyeva still remains free, and whether he liked the video “Slippers”, which she recorded while under house arrest:

Everything we see is only one appearance.

Far from the surface of the sea to the bottom.

Consider the obvious in the world to be unimportant,

For the secret essence of things is not visible.

Only a very naive person can seriously think that Putin, the Kremlin and the government are the real sources of power in Russia. As in any other country, this is impossible by definition.

Only hidden supranational formations have real power. This is how the current “Biblical world” works, and Russia is no exception: another thing is that this is not good...

If we take as a basis the fact that our president can only “resolve” the situation, maneuvering between the interests of various “elite” clans, pitting them against each other, limiting freedom of maneuver and benefiting from this for the development of the state, then it is possible to somehow understand the real state of affairs. In all other cases, no analytics will work.

That is why, year after year, the so-called “expert community” produces certain forecasts and calculations that are completely unviable, short-sighted and simply stupid; designed for the “twitter consciousness” of the modern creative plebs. Russian “public analytics” operates in a non-existent coordinate system, which is only suitable for looking “smart” in the eyes of the common man.

Despite the numerous cries of various “specialists,” “political scientists,” and “political strategists” that “everything is lost,” Russia, nevertheless, is slowly but surely emerging from the era of “times of troubles.” And this happens only due to the fact that our president, as well as a certain part of the national elite, have accurate information about the real state of affairs and use it competently. It costs a lot.

Simply put, Putin has to work with the human material that is offered to him by established “elite” clans, and not with the one he wants. In this situation, the choice is usually made according to the “best of the worst” principle.

For example, they brought furniture maker Serdyukov to you and you know that he is not a military man, that he is not a professional, that he will steal, and that because of him you will have many problems; but you don’t have a better alternative...

What can you do here? Here's what you can do:

To force him to perform a certain important function that is unlikely to be performed by anyone else - “their own people” will not allow anyone else to do this. The task of the former Minister of Defense Serdyukov was ONLY to ensure that budget funds reached the army.

No matter how bad we feel about this character, it was under him that military planes began to fly again, warships began to sail, and money (albeit not all of it) began to get where it was needed.

Limiting someone else's power is also power...

Before Serdyukov, the financial flows of the defense industry were not controlled by the state at all and were distributed at the will of unknown persons. By the way, many clans were seriously impoverished because of this maneuver: frankly speaking, the owners of the furniture maker themselves were very surprised by some of his actions.

Actually, it was precisely because Serdyukov dared to block the most powerful channels for enriching the “elites” that he “got burned”

At the same time, the case of Oboronservis and Vasilyeva has nothing to do with it at all: this is just a reason for the “ELITES” themselves to decide to remove him. Putin could only sign his resignation. Moreover, the enrichment channel called “Oboronservis” appeared as a result of the fact that Serdyukov closed the previous channel. This is what they agreed with Putin. There was no agreement about Oboronservis...

Thus, having played on the contradictions of the “elites,” Putin, through the hands of the enemy, first neutralized some “elite” clans, and then got rid of this enemy, through the hands of other “elite clans.” This is “ruling out”. There is no other opportunity to change something with the existing management system...

Or, the big blood of Khrushchev’s repressions of 1937

Yes - Serdyukov is a thief, yes - he caused serious damage to our state and destroyed a lot of things. But if you look at the situation not through “Twitter eyes”, but from the point of view of prospects, then he completed the task. Otherwise, how did it happen that Sergei Shoigu literally recreated it from a “completely destroyed army” in just a year?

So it wasn’t that much destroyed...

As for Medvedev’s “resignation,” it will not happen in the near future. He is kept in the government because he is a mediocre manager and fails literally all the orders of the “elites”. This is precisely what manifests itself in the form of stupid initiatives like changing clocks or zero ppm. They set him to break it, but he can’t do it. Therefore, Putin, and we too, need Medvedev for now...

15.03.2018.

The issue of corruption in the Russian Federation is very acute.

This is probably even the main problem of the country.

After all, many economic failures are associated precisely with dishonest people.

This is sad.

We recently did a post about how one journalist asked Putin why Evgenia Vasilyeva and Anatoly Serdyukov are not in prison?

For those who don’t remember, Serdyukov and Vasilyeva are involved in the largest corruption scandal in the history of the Ministry of Defense.

But both of them came out unscathed and are now living luxuriously:

And today we would like to show you how ordinary people, just like you and me, reacted to Putin’s answer.

Below are the opinions of our friends and the most popular comments from the Internet on this topic.

It will be interesting.

User BenderMoisha:

"Stole a bottle of elite wine - pre-trial detention center, prison...

He stole millions - house arrest, probation and humane treatment.."

Stratosphere user:

"It looks cool after we know how it all ended.

Serdyukov with many high positions, Vasilyeva in chocolate, and the people are still where they were."

User Oxymoron:

“And I have a neighbor, he stole an angle grinder at a construction site, so they sold him three rubles in common and before the trial he spent four months in a pre-trial detention center.

And almost a platoon of riot police came to take him.

Simply awesome!"

Raisa Ivanovna, 62 years old, Barnaul:

“This phrase that you shouldn’t go to prison for economic crimes is terrible.

Although, maybe that makes sense.

But then ALL the property that he has must be taken away from the person, leaving only his housing.

Something must scare corrupt officials.

Otherwise, you collected bribes - and you are in chocolate.

If they catch you, you just return part of it. If not, then you will live richly."

Gennady, 42 years old, Buranovo village (Altai Territory), firefighter:

“It has long been clear that in our country there is a certain caste of people who can do anything.

It's horrible"

Lyudmila Mikhailovna, 71 years old, Novosibirsk:

“I don’t even want to comment on this.

It's just tough, that's all.

MY OPINION.

The author of this article, which I took from the Internet, did not dare to publish President Putin’s answer to the specific and clear question asked of him. I will do it for him, I will quote almost verbatim what the president answered.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN SO LONG LONG AGO THAT I CAN’T REMEMBER ALL THE DETAILS... pause... AND WHAT IS THE PAST TO RING UP, WHY?

Everyone liked the answer of Russian President V.V. Putin, in response to the specific question posed about the state criminal A. Serdyukov and his right hand E. Vasilyeva, who served as Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation for six years and sold to an unknown destination more than 73 thousand real estate properties belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry, destroyed the entire system of Russian military schools, destroyed the Academy of Yu.A. Gagarin and Zhukovsky, which was on Leningradsky Prospekt in Moscow. He mockingly lifted the officers' shoulder straps from their shoulders and was constantly openly and brazenly rude to the honored generals and marshals of Russia. And in 2011, this bastard Serdyukov brought the affairs of the RF Ministry of Defense to such a terrible state that the STATE DEFENSE ORDER for 2011 WAS NOT FORMED. There was almost no STATE DEFENSE ORDER for 2012 either. What happened to the memory of President Putin? Or are these trifles and mere trifles for him?

Or was he also an active accomplice in this terrible state crime? And now he is hiding behind a mask of DEJA VU?

Let me make a reservation right away: I generally agree with the author of the article. Because practice is the criterion of truth. And practice demonstrates brilliant successes in the restructuring of our armed forces compared with the collapse of the Yeltsin era. The conflict on 08/08/08 confirmed the same.

Even the very fact that Putin, despite a possible sharp decline in his own popularity, did not surrender Serdyukov to justice ( which, by the way, is unclear whose rights it protects), – this fact indirectly confirms the main idea of ​​the proposed publication.

And it pushes another point, that Putin in the Kremlin is a friend among strangers, a stranger among “friends.”

There is another thoughtful moment. Serdyukov was appointed Minister of Defense immediately after three years of leading the Federal Tax Service. Those. He studied official, gray and black financial flows like no one else. And he understood how corruption schemes could be regulated so that the illusion of ongoing theft remained, but at the same time, the bulk of the finances would be transferred to the actual needs of the army.

After all, the latter rose from practical oblivion not by the wave of a magic wand, right?!!

Operation Serdyukov is the largest geopolitical success of Russia at the beginning of the 21st century

First, a little chronology.

1996 Operation Jihad was an assault on Grozny by detachments of Chechen militants in August, during which they took control of most of the city. Chechen troops also attacked and captured other major cities of the republic - Argun and Gudermes. After this, the shameful Khasavyurt agreements were concluded, which put an end to the first Chechen war.

2008 A five-day war, during which the American-trained and well-equipped Georgian army was defeated. It is worth considering that the forces of the parties directly involved in this war were approximately equal in numbers and weapons (about 18-20 thousand soldiers on each side, approximately equal in tanks and armored vehicles). The Russian Federation had serious superiority in aviation, but the fate of the war was decided by land forces. A brilliant military victory without any reservations in record time. The Israelis, pushed off the pedestal with their seven-day war, smoke offendedly on the sidelines.

year 2014. Crimea becomes part of Russia without firing a shot.

What has changed since the end of the last century and where did Russia get its new wonderful army? If we take ground forces and air defense, then it is the best in the world at the moment (in terms of aviation and naval power, it is the undisputed second in the world).

At the turn of the millennium, only the lazy did not bury Russia. Even the arrival of the then young Putin inspired few people - there was no chance of salvation. Let me remind you that oil cost $24 in 2004, and before that it was even cheaper! (Speaking badly now? But then I remember there was euphoria when the barrel climbed up to thirty!)

And the worst situation was in the army. Beggarly wages in the nineties swept away many professionals, and the prestige of the service fell through the roof. The pilots had 5-10 hours of flight time per year, and mastaba exercises had not been conducted for decades. The average age of military equipment was close to 20 years; new equipment was not purchased at all. The defense complex was on its last legs.

In the early 2000s, as soon as Russia paid off the enslaving debts it had acquired back in the USSR, as soon as oil came off the plinth and rose a little, as soon as Hodor was imprisoned and the oligarchy and concessionaires were squeezed, in general, as soon as money appeared, it was used for the army .

Until about 2005, patching and plugging of priority holes was going on, bringing the army at least a little more combat-ready, modernization and investment in R&D, and re-equipment of the defense industry began, but even then it became clear that the structure of the armed forces was hopelessly outdated and no good.

By 2006, there were 15 thousand military units in the Russian Federation, and not a single one was fully combat-ready and equipped, especially with modern equipment. Most of these thousands of units (sorry for the tautology) existed only on paper or were “framed” shelves. That is, in fact, apart from the command of the unit and several officers and warrant officers and warehouses with equipment (some of it long outdated, stolen and rotten), there was nothing in them. In Soviet times, it was supposed to replenish these units during a period of threat with mobilized citizens who had previously completed military service.

Perhaps during the period of global confrontation and the Cold War, such a system made sense, but in our time it turned out to be completely unviable - it consumed a huge amount of funds and gave a false sense of a large and powerful army, while there were no really combat-ready units at all. It got to the point that in the first Chechen war, combined units were formed from Far Eastern marines - because there were no full-fledged staffed units.

A radical reform was brewing. Painful and unpleasant, especially for the old generals and senior command staff of the Yeltsin breed.

At the same time, it was worth taking into account the close attention of our Western friends, who closely followed attempts to restore the former semblance of military power. I pay tribute to the foresight of our leadership - long before Crimea they calculated the exact reaction of our overseas friends to an attempt to restore national sovereignty, return Russia's influence in the world, and restore the army as the main and necessary condition for this.

Be that as it may, it was necessary to carry out army reform, and to begin rearmament, having on balance ten thousand military units consisting of warrant officers and colonels and warehouses with rusty equipment, was absurd.

And a brilliant idea appears - to appoint an absolute amateur, a civilian specialist, alien to the military generals, with the aim of cleaning out the “Augean stables” with the further hanging of all the dogs on him. Serdyukov was ideal for this role, and the women's battalion served as a wonderful illusion and veil for attentive foreign eyes.

And they started cutting them alive! Instead of ten thousand military units, we will make forty brigades of a new type. For the attentive American ear it is a balm for the soul. After all, a brigade is approximately one regiment in size. It's a joke, not an army. Yes, against the backdrop of outright “corruption”, these stools will definitely destroy everything they get their hands on.

By a cunning maneuver, the military personnel were relieved of all household worries - from dressing up for the kitchen, peeling potatoes, washing and cleaning, and other non-military components. Under the guise of the same semi-mythical cuts and outsourcing. (The corruption component was undoubtedly present, at least for the sake of credibility and knowing our realities, but clearly more modest than it seems). The size of the army rapidly decreased - half a million people began to be considered civilian specialists). Americans smile contentedly.

At the turn of 2009, salaries were raised fantastically sharply, especially for those on direct combat duty. There were some excesses and rip-offs in local bonuses, but wages actually increased up to 3-5 thousand dollars from a pilot or submariner. Not for everyone yet, but already for many. Compared to Yeltsin's 50$ especially impressive.

During the same period, they began to provide housing to the military en masse! The queue was reduced by three times (by the time Shoigu arrived, the queue had virtually disappeared, except for the current newcomers).

The prestige of the service went up, competition for military schools tripled. The schools themselves unexpectedly turned out to be not completely dead, although they were virtually “destroyed” by turning them into branches of larger schools and military universities.

Meanwhile, the period of mass modernization and replacement of equipment unfolded on a fantastic scale!!! Mainly in the Southern and Western districts. For example, in the Southern Military District by 2011, all brigades 100% had either new or freshly modernized armored vehicles (T-90A and T-72B3 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-82A, MTLB with a 30-mm cannon, etc.). The helicopter fleet of the Southern Military District has been replenished with hundreds of new MI-8AMT/Sh, MI-35 and Mi-28N. Aviation received the Southern Military District and Western Military District up to hundreds of new and modernized fighters.

Each brigade was staffed to full strength, provided with artillery and self-propelled guns, communications and electronic warfare equipment.

Since the budget is not flexible, all the brigades beyond the Urals and the Far East were left with old Soviet equipment (it’s better now, but we’re talking about Serdyukov). However, ours again guessed right with the future theater of action. And overseas friends watched with emotion as part of the new-look brigades were still armed with old Soviet T-72Bs.

The number of exercises has increased TEN times! It got to the point that the headquarters and accounting departments began to make two field trips a year.

Over the past ten years, the Caspian flotilla has received more than ten new ships.

It's more difficult with the ocean fleet. Because it is an expensive pleasure to maintain and build aircraft carriers. One frigate costs as much as a dozen S-400 divisions, or half a thousand new tanks. (In my opinion, we are a land power, we need aircraft carriers and battleships like the fifth wheel of a cart, but geopolitical prestige demands where to go). And the development and construction of large ships is a matter of many years, or even decades!

Much more could be written, but the picture is clear.

I hope it is now clear why Serdyukov is not in prison? Because that’s the fate of an undercover agent.

Serdyukov's career for 15 years was connected with the furniture trade. President Putin appointed senior reserve lieutenant Serdyukov as Minister of Defense on February 15, 2007. He fired him from this position on November 6, 2012.

And after some time, the former Russian Minister of Defense was accused of negligence and abuse of power, resulting in large waste. Multi-billion dollar damage has been proven. Nevertheless, on February 21 of this year, when Anatoly Serdyukov filed a petition for amnesty, it was granted almost immediately.

Of course, after almost 7 years, Serdyukov quite successfully coped with the tasks for which he was appointed. And in comparison with these tasks, even the most rabid robbery is a childish prank. He carried out a full-scale military-administrative reform of the Russian armed forces, rebuilding their organization and command structure and significantly reducing the activities of the military industry.

The main reform carried out was the reorganization of the ground forces. In the course of it, squadroned formations were eliminated, which in the event of war required mobilization deployment.

As a result of the reform, the Army was left with 85 permanently ready brigades - about 300 thousand people. Including 34 motorized rifle, 5 tank, 21 missile and artillery troops, 4 air assault troops. Equipment - about 5 thousand tanks and more than 18 thousand armored combat vehicles. Each brigade is deployed to wartime levels and is ready to immediately carry out a combat mission.

The total number of units and subunits decreased from 1890 to 172. Of the entire mobilization component, only 60 weapons storage bases remained, and the entire component was reduced by 25 times: from 20 million to 800 thousand people. A new staff structure “battalion - brigade - operational command” was introduced and the traditional army regiments, divisions, corps, armies and military districts were eliminated.

The air force and air defense were reorganized according to the same principle: armies, corps, divisions and air regiments were abolished, and a system of air bases and aerospace defense brigades was introduced in their place. About 1,500 combat aircraft are now in full readiness for combat, including 150 long-range, 500 front-line bombers and about 700 fighters.

The reorganization of the ground army and aviation did not bypass other types of Russian armed forces. Only 3 airborne divisions have been preserved relatively intact.

What caused the need for such radical reforms of the Russian armed forces? The main reason: the Kremlin’s new military-strategic doctrine. In general terms, according to SIPRI (Stockholm Peace Institute), it is formulated as follows: “...The previous algorithms for transferring the armed forces to a war footing no longer meet the conditions of war.

Today, given the fleeting nature of modern war, it is unlikely that it will be realistic to deploy military formations mothballed for mobilization plans. Because modern war lasts quickly, the active phase is two to three weeks. Therefore, objectively, the Russian armed forces will fight in the event of a possible war with the weapons that are available in the army and navy today and must fully comply with these requirements.”

In other words, the military-strategic doctrine orients the Russian armed forces not towards the defense of the Fatherland, but towards a short-lived offensive campaign. In German - blitzkrieg. It is precisely for blitzkrieg that Russia’s fully combat-ready ground forces, airborne troops and combat aviation are suitable.

Why, however, was former furniture dealer Serdyukov chosen to radically reorganize the Russian army? First of all, because Vladimir Putin knew him well from Leningrad. And in 2004 he appointed head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. In this post, Serdyukov proved himself to be a tough and absolutely uncompromising leader, fulfilling exactly the most seemingly prohibitive plans of the president.

And such were, in essence, the military reforms carried out by him. Because to implement them, Serdyukov dismissed 150 thousand officers to the reserve in the first three years - 60 percent of the total number. He eliminated the institution of warrant officers and midshipmen and took other measures, reducing the Russian armed forces to one million soldiers and officers. However, they have not become fully professional, as in the United States: about 300 thousand soldiers serve only one year.

But in addition, central government bodies were reorganized and reduced. The military-administrative division of Russia was changed: instead of six districts, four new ones were created. The military education system was restructured and reduced, etc.

As you understand, Serdyukov himself had nothing to do with the development of these reforms. Their main directions are given by the Kremlin and planned by the General Staff. The minister controlled the execution and did it super-toughly and peremptorily. And besides, he did not mince words, cursed, regardless of their faces and stripes, criticized superiors of all levels in front of their subordinates, not always understanding the essence of their actions. For rudeness and extortion, and because of the scandal surrounding fraud with state property, he received the nicknames TT and Toshka Taburetkin.

When analyzing the results of the Georgian campaign, Serdyukov used his last words to criticize the leadership of the General Staff and the command of the Southern Military District, although he himself had nothing to do with its planning and conduct. Meanwhile, in this campaign, for the first time, brigades of all types of troops operated in practice, and mostly quite successfully. They quickly and unexpectedly concentrated on the Ossetian and Abkhazian directions and in a short time defeated the main forces of the Georgians.

This campaign appears to have convinced Putin of the benefits of fully combat-ready units to carry out his aggressive intentions. The annexation of Crimea became real also thanks to this kind of action. By the way, the notorious “little green men” in Crimea are officers and sergeants of the air assault brigades concentrated outside Perekop.

The peninsula deserves a special stop. Because it is the most important link in the Kremlin’s strategic doctrine, and its occupation was inevitable. According to the naval component of the doctrine, the Baltic and Black Seas should become the main base for the naval surface forces of the Russian Navy. Crimea is the key to the Black Sea.

However, the Russian fleet is currently equipped with a ship complement that is unsuitable for fulfilling the far-reaching tasks of the doctrine. A significant part of the Navy ships are not combat-ready and are in service only nominally, and long-distance voyages of individual large warships cannot be accomplished without the escort of rescue tugs.

Only one aircraft-carrying cruiser, four cruisers, six destroyers, ten large anti-submarine ships are relatively combat-ready: a total of about 20 surface ships of the 1st and 2nd ranks. All of them are still Soviet-built. Since 2008, the Navy has been replenished with only a frigate and three corvettes. And not a single first class ship. Because there is nowhere to build them, they buy them abroad. In particular, in December 2010, France won a tender to supply the Russian Navy with four Mistral-class landing helicopter dock ships. The cost of each is more than 500 million euros.

But the USSR built big ships. Cruisers and all Soviet aircraft carriers were made in Nikolaev. Now it’s quiet in Nikolaev. The factories are standing still. Their owners change once a year. The staff of each enterprise was reduced by 20 times. The only reminders of the glorious past are the slipway of the Black Sea Shipyard towering above the city, where aircraft carriers were built, and the unfinished flagship of the Ukrainian fleet, the cruiser “Ukraine,” which has been standing at the berth of the Shipbuilding Plant named after 61 Communards for 20 years.

This city is the most desirable target for Russia if its expansion in Ukraine continues. In principle, such an operation is possible now. To implement it, two groups are concentrated - in Crimea and Transnistria. Advancing in converging directions, they can quickly capture the Ukrainian Black Sea coast and Kherson, Nikolaev and Odessa. And Russia will begin to build aircraft carriers.

In contrast to the naval component of the Russian Navy, their submarine forces are being built up quite successfully. The naval component of the strategic triad includes 10 missile-carrying submarines, including two of the newest Borei projects. By 2018, four more should be added to them. Together with those in service, they will make up two squadrons of missile submarines deployed in the Northern and Pacific fleets, where they have free access to the world’s oceans. They will be comparable in size to similar US forces, which are equipped with Ohio-class submarines.

It is necessary to add that the Borei are equipped with new solid-fuel missiles of the Bulava type, capable of carrying 10 individually targeted thermonuclear warheads.

By the way, the transition to solid fuel carriers is also being carried out in the ground component of the Russian triad. Over the past 8 years, their number has almost doubled due to the introduction of new Topol-M and Yars systems into service.

However, this was not done, so to speak, out of a good life. But because even today 60 percent of the warheads of the ground triad are carried by super-powerful liquid rockets such as “Satan” and “Stiletto”. They were put on combat duty back in the 80s of the last century and have long expired their warranty periods. There is nothing to replace them with, since these rocket monsters were manufactured at the Production Association “Southern Machine-Building Plant named after. A. M. Makarova" in Dnepropetrovsk, which stopped producing them after the collapse of the USSR. But unlike Nikolaev, Yuzhmash did not stop working and is currently producing missiles and other products. Not for Russia, however.

By the way, one of the most powerful Russian military groups, deployed today in the Taganrog region, has a clear operational direction towards Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk. The distance to them is 90 and 270 km, respectively, which will take a motorized rifle unit from three to eight hours of marching. Tempting for the Kremlin!

As we can see, over the last decade a radical reform of the Russian armed forces has been accomplished. It was accompanied by significant rearmament, re-equipment and even a transition to new types of uniforms, primarily field ones. Of particular note is the dramatic increase in pay for officers, contract soldiers and even conscripts. Salaries for military ranks have tripled, and for military positions - three and a half times. Each lieutenant, even with the smallest allowance, began to receive more than 50 thousand rubles per month.

Naturally, such a major reform of the Russian armed forces could not happen without a significant increase in military spending. But what actually happened to the military budget is amazing. According to SIPRI, Russia's military spending in 2003 was $13 billion. However, over the next 10 years, these costs increased dramatically. And they amounted to 68 billion in 2008, 78 billion in 2011, and 91 billion in 2013. And in the current year, their level should rise to 100 billion.

Thus, in terms of military spending, Russia has firmly established itself in third place - after China and the United States. For comparison: this year India's military expenditures will amount to 48 billion, Germany - 49 billion, Japan - 59 billion dollars. But among all these countries, Russia also took first place in terms of the share of military expenditures with GDP - 4.4 percent!

What can I say! Military expenditures of this level are quite realistic in the event of war or its imminence. But, apparently, Russia is not threatened by military aggression. Means…