Special Forces "Gold" Sochi
A conversation with the President of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Special Forces Sergey Goncharov took place on the eve of the closing of the Olympic Games in Sochi. There was a lot of noise around them, both positive and negative.
SOCHIN CHALLENGE
- To ensure the Games were used giant forces - employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, Internal Troops. Tell me, did it make sense to hold the Olympic Games next door to a very hectic region and with such enormous security costs?
- It was necessary to do this, because the Olympiad is not only points, goals, seconds, it is also a big policy. A great country cannot step aside and simply not hold the Olympic Games. In addition, in fact, the new city of Sochi, which we received, will remain for many generations a symbol of what we and our revived country could do in such a short period of time. Just a gigantic job was done, and it gave positive results.
I want to note that our opponents were still unhappy. A real campaign was conducted to intimidate the participants of the games, many athletes received anonymous letters from various organizations unknown to anyone with all sorts of “warnings”, saying “don't come, they will kill you there”. We ensured safety, but even here the critics were again dissatisfied - they say, the security measures turned out to be too tough, you will not pass anywhere, and so on. And if the measures, on the contrary, are too soft? What happens? Then they would shout at all corners: well, we warned.
That is, in any case, we were hostages of this situation, but the headquarters, which has been operating for many years, since the day of the announcement of the Olympics being held in our country, has withstood all these loads.
BATTLE FOR THE CAUCASUS
- In your opinion, will we be able to restore order in the North Caucasus region in the near future? And why is this bloody battle still going on?
- I believe that military actions, the power component should gradually fade into the background, since a war that has been going on for twenty years does not bring fundamental changes. We must begin to pay more attention to the social block, which, I believe, is in a neglected state.
Everyone is well aware that the huge funds allocated to support life in the North Caucasus are to a large extent being stolen. It all comes down to a clan, teip structure, the presence of which brings obvious harm - young people do not find a social elevator for themselves if you are not a relative of the clan in power. Therefore, young people, seeing no prospects for themselves, either leave their republic, or often begin to “fight for justice” (as it seems).
- Remember the Russian militants of the early XX century. They went to "make a revolution," to fight the "damned tsarism", and became murderers and criminals. Such a state of affairs is well illustrated in the novel “Horse to the Raven,” written by the leader of the Combat Organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, Boris Savinkov. The epigraph to the novel is taken from the Apocalypse. "... And now the pale horse and the rider on it, whose name is death; and hell followed him ... ”And indeed, hell follows the terrorists of both past times and present times.
- As for your words about the vicious system that exists in the Caucasus. No matter how much we change a clan for a clan, it will not give any positive result.
- Exactly. The money allocated by the federal center should be used, first of all, for the benefit of the people, and this should be done differently. I have never concealed my opinion that the Russian tsars were farsighted politicians. They appointed governor generals to the North Caucasus, who were independent of any clans, family and kinship ties. Why were all North Caucasian peoples our friends during Soviet times?
At that time there were many Russian people in the Caucasus who always leveled the conflicts that arose. Now the number of Russians has significantly decreased, and no matter how much we lure them there with high salaries and other dividends, there are very few people who want to go. Everyone understands that there are too many threats for them and their families.
Therefore, I would like our federal government to create a system within which new, non-military methods of restoring order were found. Need to go through political and social transformation. Religious education should prevent the spread of Wahhabism from the North Caucasus to other regions of Russia - Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, where cells of "parallel Islam" breed.
- Another serious problem of the North Caucasus is corruption ...
- Is it not a problem of all of today's Russia? Another thing is that in the North Caucasus it is more clearly visible, as through a magnifying glass. Let's take Dagestan.
In the face of Abdulatipov, Moscow tried to find a compromise: on the one hand, it put a person from the federal center, on the other - a native of Dagestan, local. At the same time, the real sweep of the republic from the bloody criminal clans was started for the first time. Plus, a blow was taken at the terrorist underground and those circles that were associated with it.
And I want to emphasize this: it is not about the battle of Russia for the North Caucasus. Not! We are talking about the battle of the Caucasus for himself. For the decent and civilized life that he deserved. Like us all.
REVIVAL MIA
- After the reform of Nurgaliyev, a rampant of even more serious crimes, which are no longer committed by the police, but by the police, fell on the heads of the inhabitants. Why does such a structure as the FSB consistently builds up the “muscles of professionalism”, and the police not only do not reform, but also degrade?
- It is necessary to recognize that the reform announced by Nurgaliyev, which was covered in the media, - this reform failed. I believe that it was carried out purely formally. A lot of good, but disagreeable employees were dismissed (or quit themselves) under her, and those who are not professionals were left, but succeeded in honoring.
However, looking at the actions of the new minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Kolokoltsev, I can say that this is a tough person, tuned in to work, and I think that the efforts he is making now should result in order in the end. It is hardly possible to say that in the near future everything will fall into place and our police will become gallant, like the Soviet hero “Uncle Styopa” ... but still, the forward movement, at least in Moscow, I think, takes place.
However, there is one “but” that worries me a lot: the state, starting with the 1990s, has set money as the main success of a citizen. Regardless of how they are earned - whether it is fair, murder, fraud, theft, it does not matter. The measure of success today is money!
The state should introduce such a system that would allow the police to live on his salary. He should have social benefits that allow him not to think about any corruption component, namely to serve the state and the people. So far, to be honest, it does not work. In fact, we need to talk about the revival of the Interior Ministry.
Now, about the FSB. Lubyanka has always been different from other departments in that people go there, as a rule, with a clear intention to serve the state and protect it. Getting into the KGB earlier (and even today at the FSB) was always not so easy - you had to go through a lot of checks and interviews. People here are stronger, more resistant to corruption. Unfortunately, in our system there were cases when the chiefs or their subordinates are engaged in the division of business, raider seizures, or extortion. No one denies this. However, in general, the FSB, according to established traditions and personnel selection, turned out to be stronger than the MVD. Despite all the colossal losses "dashing nineties."
- From time to time in Russia there are the hardest acts of terrorism, people die. However, any losses are very quickly forgotten, and everything returns to normal - at any station, airport, subway, etc., you can carry anything. Where do our people have such carelessness?
- The question is interesting. I also asked them more than once and found a very simple answer for myself. Look, when there was a tsunami in Thailand’s 2004, thousands of people died and many countries in the world forbade their inhabitants to go to Thailand. The Russians immediately “ran” there, explaining that it became cheaper to rest. Apparently, our mentality is so settled in the conditions of risk that even such dangers do not bother our people.
I will give another example. Remember the bombings of residential buildings in Pechatniki and on Kashirka? Muscovites united, were on duty at night at their porches and patrolled areas. But, as soon as time passed, everyone calmed down. Our problem is that we continue to hope for some kind of uncle and do not provide assistance to law enforcement agencies. The message that we have witnessed a crime or an attempt to commit a crime is perceived by so many people as knocking, so we don’t call and tell anyone anywhere. But this is not snapping at all - it is a civil position, as is recognized in many countries. In our country, the opinion is quite the opposite.
Why do we forget everything so quickly? The tragedies of late have happened so much that people have simply lost their sensitivity to them. This is the harsh environment in which we live for years, relying on fate.
RETURN OF RUSSIA
- In your opinion, what should be the first actions of a person who has received the political will to change something in the state? What would be your main steps, in particular, in the field of ensuring state security?
- Firstly, we are currently working on the adoption of laws to combat terrorism. I hope that this time they will be optimal, since earlier, according to our criminal legislation, terror was registered in one line - “the product of a terrorist act”. Now three articles have been submitted - the preparation and financing of terrorist activities, the training of militants, and participation in all terrorist organizations. That is, we are creating a new legal framework in order to give the Federal Security Service as much as possible rights and special services in general to work in this area.
Thus, the first step is to change the legislation, because if we don’t do this, it will be difficult to restore order not only in the North Caucasus, but also in those republics where Wahhabism and extremism are flourishing.
Secondly, I would say that the state needs to revise its information policy, something that the mass media propagandizes. If on television from morning to evening show murder, blood, dirt, TV series, in which the bandits look better than the police, then I think that it is impossible to ensure that society becomes healthy. We have lost the moral core, we no longer have, as the president said, moral clips. Let's call a spade a spade: we have lost our ideology!
And without ideology, no country, no people can live in a normal way. The new generation should not be brought up with money and calls for “take everything from life”, not on glossy magazines and corrupting glamor. And from this point of view, the Olympic Games in Sochi were so important, which, allowing us to mobilize, showed the world a new Russia, coming from the depths of Russia and at the same time looking to the future.
Thirdly, I would like the importance of a person for a country to be estimated not by how much money he has, but in accordance with what he has done for that country. I believe that the introduction of the title of Hero of Labor was very true - this indicates that not only oligarchs are a symbol and reference point for everyone else. It is necessary to raise to the rank of people who work and benefit the people - scientists, builders, teachers, doctors ... That's what you need to focus on, because these people hold the country, not the oligarchs.
LOW BOW TO YOU, BROTHERS!
- Returning to the beginning of our conversation. What is the contribution of special forces to the security of the Olympics in Sochi?
- In 1980, employees of Group A of the KGB of the USSR ensured the security of the Moscow Olympics, including our comrades from the Shergin Group, who had barely returned from a difficult multi-month mission in Afghanistan. And I am proud that the current generation of Alpha employees, continuing the baton, was involved in the Winter Games in Sochi.
But I want to say in general about the Russian special forces ... Anticipating the opening of the Winter Olympics, special forces and all Russian power structures worked methodically and selflessly throughout the North Caucasus, smashing terrorist and bandit nests. Who followed the summaries of events, he knows how much has been implemented.
Unfortunately, it was not without irrecoverable losses ... And speaking of the fantastic success of Russia in Sochi, we must remember that it is provided, including the hard military work of the national special forces, his sweat and blood. I bow to you for this, little brothers! You are the real heroes of our time.
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