Paul Goble
Staunton, June 25 – Despite the fact that former Khabarovsk Governor Mikhail Degtyaryov managed to stop the protests in support of Sergey Furgal, the LDPR leader whom he replaced, the Kremlin’s choice of Moscow prosecutor Dmitry Demeshin to replace him indicates the Kremlin still views the region as problematic and disloyal, Aleksandr Kynyev says.
The specialist on regional politics at Moscow’s HSE made those comments in an interview with the Okno Group which notes that the political scientist’s conclusions are shared by many activists in Khabarovsk (okno.group/pochemu-v-moskve-po-prezhnemu-boyatsya-habarovskih-protestov/).
According to Kynyev, “Degtyaryov’s appointment in 2020 was a kind of compromise for the center which felt it could not appoint a tougher official then. Instead, it named someone who was nominally a member of an opposition party but in fact was absolutely loyal to the central authorities.”
“If we look at the results of the elections in 2021,” he continues, “then from the point of view of formal statistics, the situation regarding protests had in fact calmed down. But Moscow still remained concerned about the real state of affairs in the republic.” Now, it has taken another step to impose its will there.
Kynyev argues that “the Kremlin is still very cautious about the situation in the region and has clear concerns about possible incidents and even controllability. It needs someone in place who is absolutely one of their number and absolutely loyal who will show himself to be devoted first of all to Moscow.”
“On the one hand,” he concludes, “this shows the persistence of fear; and on the other, it is a clear sign that there is no one within Degtyaryov’s own circle who could guarantee calm. Naming a prosecutor as governor is an ideal choice for the center: he is completely loyal, accustomed to working in a strict hierarchy,” and will criminalize any opposition actions.
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