Viktor Ivanovich Sobolev: not sanctions are terrible, but compradors. Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev: I can’t explain much of what is happening, and it certainly does not contribute to Russia’s defense capability Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev

Meet!

Lieutenant General IN AND. Sobolev - commanded the 58th Army of the North Caucasian Military District, participated in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, was Chief Military Adviser of the Russian Embassy in India. After retiring, the general joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and headed the public Movement in support of the army, defense industry and military science (DPA). A Russian officer who loves his Motherland and knows how to defend it, Sobolev does not tolerate lies and hypocrisy. The general debunks the ostentatious patriotism of the authorities who support the compradors, who even during the sanctions are enriching themselves by briskly trading with "partners" who have crept up with their missile defense systems, military bases close to our borders.

– What's going on, Viktor Ivanovich? The Medvedev government complains day and night that Western sanctions against Russia undermine our economy, cut off our budget, which is why Russians have their salaries, pensions, and benefits reduced. And for some, sanctions are like “mother is dear”?

– Sanctions are a convenient excuse for the government. It dumps its mediocrity on sanctions. But lookfraternal Belarus has been living under sanctions for many years. However, all the factories work there, all the fields are plowed and sown, people work, everything is clean and tidy.Little Cuba Since its inception, the West has been strangling with sanctions. But everything is working there too, the production sector is developing, and social guarantees are being strictly implemented. Cuban medicine occupies a leading position in the world. People come to Cuba for treatment from everywhere. In the context of ongoing sanctions -North Korea. But even there they do not complain, but create their own nuclear missile shield.

And these countries have practically no natural resources.

And Russia is the richest country in the world in natural resources. If we divide our resources for each inhabitant of the country, then we are 20 times richer than Americans, and 50 times richer than Western Europeans. Using resources in favor of the state, it would be possible to raise our economy to the highest place in the world. But the leadership of the Russian Federation with its pocket parties and "heroes" seems to be concerned about something else...

– With what ?

– The goal of the "reforms" initiated by Yeltsin-Gaidar after the 1991 coup was not to strengthen Russia, but to turn it into a raw material colony of the West, followed by degradation and disintegration. We heard about this, for example, from Koch. In my opinion, we have already become a colony. Our grain, timber, gas, oil, fertilizers, and metals are flowing to the West. Sanctions do not prevent this.

The most egregious example is our titanium, rare and very hard metal. Before 90% of it goes to the US to the enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Titanium is needed for Boeings, Airbuses, which filled the sky, including in our country. The Russian aviation was ruined, and the Western one was “nurtured”… The Russian “owners” of titanium production profit from the titanium trade, their interests are personal enrichment. Sanctions are not a hindrance to them. This is not oil or gas, but the metal from which all aircraft are made. There were 15 aircraft factories in the Soviet Union. Each produced a hundred or even more aircraft a year. Every third aircraft in the world was Soviet. And today you will find at least one Russian aircraft anywhere? All Boeings, Airbuses - all from our titanium. And Russian aircraft factories are standing still. Recently I heard that 4 Su-134 bombers will go to one of the military units of the Eastern District. What is 4, it's funny. Yes, in the USSR, each of the 15 factories produced 100 aircraft. And then everything was cut off. Novosibirsk plant them. Chkalov produced the Su-24. But Yeltsin, returning from the United States, hand-writtendecree banned the release of these aircraft. At that time they were the best, most modern in the world. Instead of them - Su-134, but only 4 pieces. Or maybe this plant makes hundreds of such aircraft. How can we protect the country?

– But the most striking thing is that you said from the rostrum that America, which has imposed sanctions against us, is openly threatening us, rattling their weapons, Russian businessmen are selling unique titanium ?

– Exactly. And the US strategy in relation to Russia, this is written in their military doctrine, is to inflict the first global disarming strike on our nuclear forces with hypersonic missiles that are made from our titanium. After that, according to American military analysts, we will have somewhere between 15-20% of nuclear missiles. If they take off, they will be neutralized by the missile defense system, which is being created around the Russian Federation. Then - the invasion of ground forces ... The United States is actively building up military groups around our borders - in the Baltic states, in Poland, Romania. Last year, 1,500 tanks were stationed in the Baltics. Now the American brigade is conducting exercises there. The slightest excuse, and they will turn in our direction. But for now, they need a lot of titanium. And our compradors are ready to provide it to "partners". In the Urals, in the city of Verkhnyaya Salda, a joint Russian-American venture arose ...

Help (Wikipedia) : In 2007, an agreement was signed to establish a joint venture between VSMPO-AVISMA and Boeing - Ural Boeing Manufacturing (UBM), or Ural-Boeing in short. It went into operation in 2009. In the same year, in the presence of Putin, a contract was signed with Airbus until 2020 ($4 billion), in 2012 - with Boeing until 2018. All contracts are valid, cooperation is not interrupted. VCVSMPO-AVISMA Corporation includestwo industrial sites - VSMPO in the city of Verkhnyaya Salda, Sverdlovsk Region and AVISMA - a branch in the city of Berezniki, Perm Territory. The basis for the corporation was a plant for the production of semi-finished products from aluminum and magnesium alloys, built during the years of Stalin's five-year plans in the Moscow region. In 1941 he was evacuated to the Urals, to Verkhnaya Salda. In the 90s, unique production passed into private hands. Later came the SP. VSMPO-AVISMA was integrated into the Russian Technologies State Corporation. The liberal press wrote about Chemezov that he showed miracles of entrepreneurship, having managed “during the crisis, secretly from everyone beyond the Urals, to build one of the most modern enterprises in the world together with the Americans.” Chemezov is proud that not a single Boeing will take off without Russian titanium, and that he manages to cooperate with the Americans despite any external disagreements: “our joint venture is an alliance of business leaders from Russia and the United States - the Russian Technologies State Corporation, represented by the world leader in production of titanium VSMPO-AVISMA, and the world leader in the field of aircraft construction - Boeing.

…Only 25% and one share of titanium production remain in the hands of the state. It is no longer ours. This is how we become a raw material colony of the West.

– Where is the patriotism ?

– He is in words. In fact, the opposite is true. Take education. It was destroyed on purpose. The think tank of destruction is the Higher School of Economics (HSE), founded in 1992 with funds from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. They explain why our education was "reformed": to eliminate the redundancy of knowledge. It turns out that our state was spending extra money on “excessive” education. To eliminate this “shortcoming”, they began to introduce the Unified State Examination, the Bologna system. And the HSE, as a bearer of Western ideas, from the first day generously finances the state, much more than the Moscow State University. Lomonosov. That's what "patriotism" is.

– There are also many questions about the financial sector. .

– In finance, the economy, everything is going on, as in the 90s, according to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He does not allow us to reduce the interest rate on loans, and the United States advises to reduce rates. And it turns out that in the Russian Federation not a single plant, not a single company can receive loans for its development. The sanctions have deprived our production workers of affordable loans abroad.

– And no one explains why there are no cheap loans in Russia ?

– And to whom to explain? Our Central Bank is even registered in New York… We are told: there is not enough money. And last year they bought $92.5 billion worth of debt. Allegedly for the reliable storage of our reserves. And who do they take us for? Who will pay us these promissory notes if the USA owes the whole world. Their external debt - under 19 trillion dollars? And why not send these funds to the manufacturing sector? They are silent…

– You came to the Communist Party. Why?

– He believed the communists, the party programs, Zyuganov. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is a party of patriots, this corresponds to my convictions.

– In September there will be elections to the State Duma. What dangers, in your opinion, await the Communist Party? How to overcome them?

- First . It is necessary to expose all fake pseudo-communist parties. I think they are created in the bowels of the Administration. There is the CPSU, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and the "Communists of Russia" ... They were spawned to confuse people in the elections. We need to make it clear to voters where the fakes are so they don't make mistakes.

Second. There is a danger of fraud, distortion of the final results. So it was in the last elections, when shameless stuffing was done, real results were replaced by false ones. I know it was common in the republics of the North Caucasus.

But first we need to convince the people to come to the polling stations and vote. We need to work with people who today, for the most part, live very poorly, are nostalgic for the past and do not know how to improve their lives. They need to be explained that life can be changed by supporting the Communist Party.

We need to work more with the youth. When you begin to explain to her how everything is in reality, she perceives very well, even better than older people who have already come to terms with their fate. Young people want change and believe in it. The Communist Party leads to change.

Lieutenant General Viktor Ivanovich Sobolev was born on February 23, 1950 in Krasnodar. He graduated from the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School, the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Passed positions from the commander of a motorized rifle platoon to the deputy commander of the army. Since 2002 - Deputy Commander of the OGV (c) in the North Caucasus. 2003-06 Commander of the 58th Army of the North Caucasian Military District.
Since 2006, Chief Military Adviser of the Russian Embassy in India. He left the post upon reaching the age limit in December 2010.

On the eve of the elections, our President and Supreme Commander Dmitry Medvedev and the “national leader” Vladimir Putin took care, among other things, of the state of the army and the military-industrial complex of the country and assure the gullible citizens of Russia that they will do everything to ensure that our Armed Forces meet modern requirements and timely received new models of weapons and military equipment.

Russian mass media, controlled by the government and the president, have also actively joined in THESE ASSURANCES. So, in the final program on NTV on October 9 with Kirill Pozdnyakov, a whole news block was devoted to the Russian military department. It was prepared by NTV correspondent Alexei Pobortsev. And, I must say, he did everything to smooth out the sharp corners and the problems of the Armed Forces and the military-industrial complex that had accumulated over the years of reforms, at the same time to promote our “national leader” Vladimir Putin, who this time personally tested the control system of the T-90S tank with commander's position in the tower.
The car is good in all respects: a modern communication and navigation system, additional electromagnetic protection of the armored hull, automatic transmission, rear view camera; the tank is equipped with a complex of guided missiles with a range of hitting targets up to 5000 m; according to experts, it has good export prospects, but ... it will not be supplied to the Russian army.
It turns out that our Ministry of Defense is waiting for a fundamentally new model of the tank, the development of which supposedly should be completed by 2015. This is despite the fact that the previously developed new T-95 of the Ministry of Defense refused. Its prototypes were manufactured and factory tested - and that's it. And therefore, according to the statement of the First Deputy Minister of Defense A. Sukhorukov, it is planned to modernize the Soviet T-72 tanks of the 70s: "the ratio of price and quality of the Ministry of Defense suits." The fact that the facilities of Uralvagonzavod, the last Russian plant capable of producing modern tanks, will be idle is not important for our Ministry of Defense.
The matter is aggravated by the fact that the export prospects of our armored vehicles as a result of the activities of the previous First Deputy Minister of Defense V. Popovkin are very vague. In 2010, Mr. Popovkin gave the most negative characterization of our military-industrial complex in the media, assessed almost all samples of our weapons and military equipment as outdated and unpromising, which in fact dealt a blow to our entire military-technical cooperation with foreign countries. (Who will buy obsolete weapons of military equipment?). Mr. Popovkin was urgently transferred to another position - to the "Russian Space", after which all our rockets began to fall. I cannot link all the failures of our space industry directly with the name of Mr. Popovkin, but the fact remains.
“The military does not just want to order new tanks and aircraft,” says A. Pobortsev, “we need modern combat systems and combat control systems.” And what does this mean, military observer V. Litovkin explains to the gullible Russian layman: “The tank must be connected with an unmanned aerial vehicle. He must transmit the coordinates of the target to the tank. And the rocket projectile must be brought to the target and corrected by the drone.”
As a military man, I have no idea how this will happen in practice. Unmanned aerial vehicles can really be of great help in reconnaissance of targets, but areal ones: artillery and anti-aircraft batteries, command posts and communication centers, areas where various reserves are located; with their help, you can adjust the fire of artillery and multiple launch rocket systems from closed firing positions. But detecting a single camouflaged target for a tank (a tank or an anti-tank gun, an anti-tank guided missile in a firing position) using a drone and adjusting the fire of a tank gun - only a military observer who has never served in the army can think of such a thing.
And, of course, such unmanned aerial vehicles can only be made in Israel (which the Israelis demonstrated during the last war in Lebanon, when they lost most of their Merkava tanks, which were considered invulnerable).
By the way, the military themselves have not ordered anything for a long time. Completely different people do it for them - "effective" civilian managers who have never served in the army, but who understand financial flows much better than the military.
The military observer is supplemented by another "major military specialist" - Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, who justified the need to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles in Israel. Then came the justification for the need to purchase "Mistrals" in France, sniper rifles in England. Moreover, A. Pobortsev agreed that the aiming range of our SVD sniper rifle turns out to be three times less and is only 500 m. Well, how can you be so ignorant in military affairs and prepare a military program ?!
“Today the Ministry of Defense has money,” A. Pobortsev continues, “so sometimes more expensive foreign models are bought for the army. Soon our motorized riflemen will ride Italian IVECO armored vehicles.” True, they are inferior in maneuverability and maneuverability to the domestic Tiger armored vehicles, but they are superior in armor protection (our Ministry of Defense is not embarrassed by the fact that it ordered vehicles with such a level of protection). At the international arms exhibition in Nizhny Tagil, the Italian armored car could not overcome the obstacles that the Tiger easily conquered.

Russian "Tiger"

But as a military man, I have a question: why do our motorized riflemen need armored vehicles at all? After all, these are not battlefield vehicles, neither ours, nor even the Italian armored car will overcome an elementary trench without bridges previously installed through it, not to mention weapons.
Military observer V. Litovkin also substantiated the refusal to purchase Kalashnikov assault rifles: “Kalashnikov, of course, is not suitable for a professional soldier. Because the AK has a drawback: one or two bullets hit the target, the rest fan out to the side. But after all, this is characteristic of all automatic small arms without exception and largely depends on the training of the shooter. Here is such a "professional" critic.
As if with regret, A. Pobortsev states that not all types of weapons for the Russian army can be bought abroad, for example, the Kh-35 anti-ship missile. Western partners will not sell anything similar or more modern to Russia today.
The only sober thought in this program was expressed by the General Director of the Tactical Missiles Corporation B. Obnosov: “If you count on the fact that someone will sell us modern models on a serial scale, this is nonsense. Everyone cares about their own safety, and we are not so close friends in practice with all our competitors that we are sold good weapons. Everyone is rooting for their safety, except for our Ministry of Defense, unfortunately. As for “good weapons”, I think that this fully applies to Mistrals, IVECOs, British sniper rifles, and Israeli drones.
And one more very important point. In the course of the reforms, the army system of maintenance and military repair of weapons and military equipment was eliminated in our country. It is assumed that the commercial structure "Oboronservis" and representatives of manufacturing plants will deal with this. Arms and military equipment purchased abroad will also be serviced and repaired in the troops by representatives of foreign firms, or what?
The First Deputy Minister of Defense easily and naturally justified the failure of the state defense order this year. It turns out that officials of the Ministry of Defense demanded that the military-industrial complex enterprises justify in detail the prices for all components, up to screws. Therefore, most contracts were concluded only by October. Well, who is to blame for this? Of course, the military-industrial complex enterprises themselves. But it seems to me that if the president had not suddenly mentioned the state defense order, no one would have signed contracts this year. I wonder if the money allocated by the budget for the purchase of weapons and military equipment has been a dead weight all this time?!
By the way, about prices. Doesn't Mr. Sukhorukov know that after paying all taxes, the military-industrial complex enterprises have only half of the amount allocated to them (half is returned to the state)? But that is not all. A tidbit of the "defense pie" goes to the bankers in the form of interest on loans. After all, the allocated money never arrives at enterprises on time, and we have to take out loans, this is the policy of our Ministry of Finance. And then there are intermediary firms that arrange various tenders, for some reason the Ministry of Defense does not work directly with military-industrial complex enterprises. And, of course, the corruption component.
That's how many problems that need to be solved at the level of the Ministry of Defense, and not to count for 9 months, how much screws cost. From really big money (20 trillion by 2020), our military-industrial complex will receive mere crumbs. But instead, the Ministry of Defense decided to order weapons and military equipment abroad.
So what do we have today?
This year's defense order has been cancelled. Chronic underfunding or, as this year, its almost complete absence has led to the fact that the military-industrial complex of the country is degrading and rapidly losing the ability to produce new modern models of weapons and military equipment. In order for new samples to appear, advance funding of research and development work - R&D is necessary, and they are generally funded according to the residual principle. Enterprises not loaded with production are losing skilled workers and engineers, the training of which takes many years.
And this situation in our military-industrial complex has developed largely due to the purposeful policy in the field of state defense orders of our own Ministry of Defense. Is it really that the president and our “national leader” do not see and understand this? And if they do, why don't they take action?
Even worse is the situation in the Armed Forces. It is believed that we have a million-strong army, as Mr. Sukhorukov recalled in this program. Let's count together. There are 150 thousand officers in the army, there are no ensigns at all, they were liquidated. According to the civilian head of the GOMU, V. Smirnov, 184,000 contract servicemen serve in the army and navy. A total of 334,000, which means that the remaining 666,000 people are conscripts. But they just weren't called that many. In addition, conscripts serve not only in the army and navy, out of the total number of those called up, up to 30% serve in the internal troops, border guards, units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in the presidential regiment, finally. This means that there is a huge shortage in the army and navy, and it will only grow. The autumn call is planned to be reduced by almost 2 times. More than 200 thousand citizens, according to the same Smirnov, evade military service. The spring call stretches until September, and the autumn one - until March. The only thing the troops are doing is that continuously, throughout the year, they accept young soldiers into their ranks in small groups, organize individual training with them and try to staff the units. At the same time, the process of dismissal is also continuously going on. Under these conditions, there can be no question of any high-quality staffing of units. What are these parts of constant combat readiness?
Therefore, NATO military analysts are pleased to note that, as a result of the reforms, the Russian Armed Forces are no longer able to successfully solve problems even in local conflicts, “The Russian army does not have enough vehicles to transport troops over long distances, it does not have enough aircraft and pilots that can fly in any weather, there is no single information system. There are not enough soldiers in the army ... "
The Russian army is ruined, NATO understands this, but the country's leadership?

Lieutenant General Viktor Ivanovich Sobolev was born on February 23, 1950 in Krasnodar. He graduated from the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School, the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Passed positions from the commander of a motorized rifle platoon to the deputy commander of the army. Since 2002 - Deputy Commander of the OGV (c) in the North Caucasus. 2003-06 Commander of the 58th Army of the North Caucasian Military District.
Since 2006, Chief Military Adviser of the Russian Embassy in India. He left the post upon reaching the age limit in December 2010.

On the eve of the elections, our President and Supreme Commander Dmitry Medvedev and the “national leader” Vladimir Putin took care, among other things, of the state of the army and the military-industrial complex of the country and assure the gullible citizens of Russia that they will do everything to ensure that our Armed Forces meet modern requirements and timely received new models of weapons and military equipment.

Russian mass media, controlled by the government and the president, have also actively joined in THESE ASSURANCES. So, in the final program on NTV on October 9 with Kirill Pozdnyakov, a whole news block was devoted to the Russian military department. It was prepared by NTV correspondent Alexei Pobortsev. And, I must say, he did everything to smooth out the sharp corners and the problems of the Armed Forces and the military-industrial complex that had accumulated over the years of reforms, at the same time to promote our “national leader” Vladimir Putin, who this time personally tested the control system of the T-90S tank with commander's position in the tower.
The car is good in all respects: a modern communication and navigation system, additional electromagnetic protection of the armored hull, automatic transmission, rear view camera; the tank is equipped with a complex of guided missiles with a range of hitting targets up to 5000 m; according to experts, it has good export prospects, but ... it will not be supplied to the Russian army.
It turns out that our Ministry of Defense is waiting for a fundamentally new model of the tank, the development of which supposedly should be completed by 2015. This is despite the fact that the previously developed new T-95 of the Ministry of Defense refused. Its prototypes were manufactured and factory tested - and that's it. And therefore, according to the statement of the First Deputy Minister of Defense A. Sukhorukov, it is planned to modernize the Soviet T-72 tanks of the 70s: "the ratio of price and quality of the Ministry of Defense suits." The fact that the facilities of Uralvagonzavod, the last Russian plant capable of producing modern tanks, will be idle is not important for our Ministry of Defense.
The matter is aggravated by the fact that the export prospects of our armored vehicles as a result of the activities of the previous First Deputy Minister of Defense V. Popovkin are very vague. In 2010, Mr. Popovkin gave the most negative characterization of our military-industrial complex in the media, assessed almost all samples of our weapons and military equipment as outdated and unpromising, which in fact dealt a blow to our entire military-technical cooperation with foreign countries. (Who will buy obsolete weapons of military equipment?). Mr. Popovkin was urgently transferred to another position - to the "Russian Space", after which all our rockets began to fall. I cannot link all the failures of our space industry directly with the name of Mr. Popovkin, but the fact remains.
“The military does not just want to order new tanks and aircraft,” says A. Pobortsev, “we need modern combat systems and combat control systems.” And what does this mean, military observer V. Litovkin explains to the gullible Russian layman: “The tank must be connected with an unmanned aerial vehicle. He must transmit the coordinates of the target to the tank. And the rocket projectile must be brought to the target and corrected by the drone.”
As a military man, I have no idea how this will happen in practice. Unmanned aerial vehicles can really be of great help in reconnaissance of targets, but areal ones: artillery and anti-aircraft batteries, command posts and communication centers, areas where various reserves are located; with their help, you can adjust the fire of artillery and multiple launch rocket systems from closed firing positions. But detecting a single camouflaged target for a tank (a tank or an anti-tank gun, an anti-tank guided missile in a firing position) using a drone and adjusting the fire of a tank gun - only a military observer who has never served in the army can think of such a thing.
And, of course, such unmanned aerial vehicles can only be made in Israel (which the Israelis demonstrated during the last war in Lebanon, when they lost most of their Merkava tanks, which were considered invulnerable).
By the way, the military themselves have not ordered anything for a long time. Completely different people do it for them - "effective" civilian managers who have never served in the army, but who understand financial flows much better than the military.
The military observer is supplemented by another "major military specialist" - Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, who justified the need to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles in Israel. Then came the justification for the need to purchase "Mistrals" in France, sniper rifles in England. Moreover, A. Pobortsev agreed that the aiming range of our SVD sniper rifle turns out to be three times less and is only 500 m. Well, how can you be so ignorant in military affairs and prepare a military program ?!
“Today the Ministry of Defense has money,” A. Pobortsev continues, “so sometimes more expensive foreign models are bought for the army. Soon our motorized riflemen will ride Italian IVECO armored vehicles.” True, they are inferior in maneuverability and maneuverability to the domestic Tiger armored vehicles, but they are superior in armor protection (our Ministry of Defense is not embarrassed by the fact that it ordered vehicles with such a level of protection). At the international arms exhibition in Nizhny Tagil, the Italian armored car could not overcome the obstacles that the Tiger easily conquered.

Russian "Tiger"

But as a military man, I have a question: why do our motorized riflemen need armored vehicles at all? After all, these are not battlefield vehicles, neither ours, nor even the Italian armored car will overcome an elementary trench without bridges previously installed through it, not to mention weapons.
Military observer V. Litovkin also substantiated the refusal to purchase Kalashnikov assault rifles: “Kalashnikov, of course, is not suitable for a professional soldier. Because the AK has a drawback: one or two bullets hit the target, the rest fan out to the side. But after all, this is characteristic of all automatic small arms without exception and largely depends on the training of the shooter. Here is such a "professional" critic.
As if with regret, A. Pobortsev states that not all types of weapons for the Russian army can be bought abroad, for example, the Kh-35 anti-ship missile. Western partners will not sell anything similar or more modern to Russia today.
The only sober thought in this program was expressed by the General Director of the Tactical Missiles Corporation B. Obnosov: “If you count on the fact that someone will sell us modern models on a serial scale, this is nonsense. Everyone cares about their own safety, and we are not so close friends in practice with all our competitors that we are sold good weapons. Everyone is rooting for their safety, except for our Ministry of Defense, unfortunately. As for “good weapons”, I think that this fully applies to Mistrals, IVECOs, British sniper rifles, and Israeli drones.
And one more very important point. In the course of the reforms, the army system of maintenance and military repair of weapons and military equipment was eliminated in our country. It is assumed that the commercial structure "Oboronservis" and representatives of manufacturing plants will deal with this. Arms and military equipment purchased abroad will also be serviced and repaired in the troops by representatives of foreign firms, or what?
The First Deputy Minister of Defense easily and naturally justified the failure of the state defense order this year. It turns out that officials of the Ministry of Defense demanded that the military-industrial complex enterprises justify in detail the prices for all components, up to screws. Therefore, most contracts were concluded only by October. Well, who is to blame for this? Of course, the military-industrial complex enterprises themselves. But it seems to me that if the president had not suddenly mentioned the state defense order, no one would have signed contracts this year. I wonder if the money allocated by the budget for the purchase of weapons and military equipment has been a dead weight all this time?!
By the way, about prices. Doesn't Mr. Sukhorukov know that after paying all taxes, the military-industrial complex enterprises have only half of the amount allocated to them (half is returned to the state)? But that is not all. A tidbit of the "defense pie" goes to the bankers in the form of interest on loans. After all, the allocated money never arrives at enterprises on time, and we have to take out loans, this is the policy of our Ministry of Finance. And then there are intermediary firms that arrange various tenders, for some reason the Ministry of Defense does not work directly with military-industrial complex enterprises. And, of course, the corruption component.
That's how many problems that need to be solved at the level of the Ministry of Defense, and not to count for 9 months, how much screws cost. From really big money (20 trillion by 2020), our military-industrial complex will receive mere crumbs. But instead, the Ministry of Defense decided to order weapons and military equipment abroad.
So what do we have today?
This year's defense order has been cancelled. Chronic underfunding or, as this year, its almost complete absence has led to the fact that the military-industrial complex of the country is degrading and rapidly losing the ability to produce new modern models of weapons and military equipment. In order for new samples to appear, advance funding of research and development work - R&D is necessary, and they are generally funded according to the residual principle. Enterprises not loaded with production are losing skilled workers and engineers, the training of which takes many years.
And this situation in our military-industrial complex has developed largely due to the purposeful policy in the field of state defense orders of our own Ministry of Defense. Is it really that the president and our “national leader” do not see and understand this? And if they do, why don't they take action?
Even worse is the situation in the Armed Forces. It is believed that we have a million-strong army, as Mr. Sukhorukov recalled in this program. Let's count together. There are 150 thousand officers in the army, there are no ensigns at all, they were liquidated. According to the civilian head of the GOMU, V. Smirnov, 184,000 contract servicemen serve in the army and navy. A total of 334,000, which means that the remaining 666,000 people are conscripts. But they just weren't called that many. In addition, conscripts serve not only in the army and navy, out of the total number of those called up, up to 30% serve in the internal troops, border guards, units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in the presidential regiment, finally. This means that there is a huge shortage in the army and navy, and it will only grow. The autumn call is planned to be reduced by almost 2 times. More than 200 thousand citizens, according to the same Smirnov, evade military service. The spring call stretches until September, and the autumn one - until March. The only thing the troops are doing is that continuously, throughout the year, they accept young soldiers into their ranks in small groups, organize individual training with them and try to staff the units. At the same time, the process of dismissal is also continuously going on. Under these conditions, there can be no question of any high-quality staffing of units. What are these parts of constant combat readiness?
Therefore, NATO military analysts are pleased to note that, as a result of the reforms, the Russian Armed Forces are no longer able to successfully solve problems even in local conflicts, “The Russian army does not have enough vehicles to transport troops over long distances, it does not have enough aircraft and pilots that can fly in any weather, there is no single information system. There are not enough soldiers in the army ... "
The Russian army is ruined, NATO understands this, but the country's leadership?

Lieutenant General, Chairman of the All-Russian Public Movement "In Support of the Army, Defense Industry and Military Science", member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Viktor SOBOLEV in an interview with the political observer of Pravda Viktor KOZHEMIAKO

My interlocutor today was born on the significant birthday of the Red Army - February 23, although, of course, much later, in 1950. Since childhood, he dreamed of becoming a soldier. And his dream came true after graduating from the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1971.

Then military service - from the commander of a motorized rifle platoon to the commander of the 58th Army of the North Caucasian Military District. During this time, he graduated with honors from the Academy named after M.V. Frunze and with a gold medal from the Academy of the General Staff. From July 2006 to November 2010, he was the senior of a group of Russian military specialists - the chief military adviser in India.

Lieutenant General Viktor Ivanovich Sobolev was transferred to the reserve on May 7, 2011. And in October of the same year, a very important event for him takes place: he joins the ranks of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Another important event was in October 2014, when at an extraordinary congress of the All-Russian Public Movement "In Support of the Army, Defense Industry and Military Science" (DPA) V.I. Sobolev was elected chairman of this movement.

The Bolsheviks saved Russia from collapse

Recently, starting with Gorbachev's "perestroika" and Yeltsin's "reforms", particularly great propaganda efforts have been made to discredit the Great October Socialist Revolution. Now they even want to remove the name itself from use, merging all the events of 1917-1922 into a kind of Great Russian Revolution. And how do you, Viktor Ivanovich, a military man, feel about this? Has the concept of the Great October Revolution remained the same for you?

Undoubtedly. Let's start with the fact that tsarism held back the development of Russia, and this became obvious then to almost everyone. For many military - too. However, even Pushkin, referring to the Decembrists, predicted: "Russia will wake up from sleep, and our names will be written on the ruins of autocracy."

-And so the autocracy collapsed in February 1917.

In my opinion, the role of the masses of soldiers in both the February and October revolutions is well known. At the same time, I will draw your attention to this: in fact, all front commanders signed an appeal for Nicholas II to abdicate the throne. But when the same commanders saw who came to power, serious doubts began.

But the current "democrats-liberals" came in essence, and they managed to destroy Russia in the shortest possible time.

- And the army...

Well, yes, what is at least the infamous order No. 1 worth, which abolished military subordination, one-man command and undermined the very foundations of army discipline. And at the same time, the country began to rapidly disintegrate. All national outskirts became independent. Rada in Ukraine, and even in my native Kuban, their own Rada was formed: it was also about secession from Russia.

- But the Bolsheviks managed to resist the collapse of the country.

It is in this, along with many others, that I see the great significance of the Great October Revolution, which saved Russia from collapse. Yes, the Bolsheviks immediately set about solving urgent social problems, asserting social justice and responding to the cherished aspirations of the working people: “Peace to the peoples! Power to the Soviets! The land is for the peasants! Plants and factories - to the workers! But it is also extremely important that Russia was preserved as a single sovereign state.

Moreover, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has been created - a new form of joint existence of the peoples of the former Russian Empire.

And those military men who were devoted to Russia as such, excuse me, after the mess arranged by the Provisional Government, realized that the Soviet power is the only power that must be honestly served. That is why more than half of the officers and generals of the former army - 72 thousand people! - went over to the side of Soviet power.

- A very telling fact!

I also think so, because I have already reminded about this more than once in my articles.

Who fought for what on the fronts of the Civil

Still not immediately after October. There was still a period, as we call it, of the triumphal march of Soviet power.

- Yes, almost peaceful, because the power for the majority of the people came obviously more just.

The civil war was essentially unleashed by the Entente, which began to divide the weakened Russia into spheres of foreign influence. And as a result, 14 states sent their troops to the territory of Russia, so as not to miss a share in the division of the skin of a bear that has not yet been killed. That's where the main impetus for the Civil War!

The essence was well expressed by Churchill, who later wrote: “It would be a mistake to think that ... we fought on the fronts for the cause of Russians hostile to the Bolsheviks. On the contrary, the Russian White Guards fought for our cause.”

- More precisely, perhaps you can not say.

Certainly. After all, all white generals were actually henchmen of foreign powers. Take, for example, Kolchak, the executioner of Siberia, who today is praised in every possible way, poured with the sweetest molasses. Where did he get his title of "Supreme Ruler of Russia"? In the United States of America, because he promised to give them and Japan the Russian Far East.

- Therefore, they supplied him with everything he needed.

From beginning to end, weapons, ammunition, equipment, funding - everything was supplied by Western countries and Japan.

- There was a ditty about this:

English uniform,

French epaulette,

Japanese tobacco,

Omsk ruler.

The people responded well. But the officers of the former tsarist army, to whom Russia was truly dear, could not endure this indifferently and went to fight for their homeland on the side of the Reds. Yes, there were Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze, Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny, and many other nugget commanders who emerged from the ranks of the people. However, if we consider 100 army commanders who served in the Red Army during the years of the Civil War, then more than 80 of them are former tsarist generals and officers. The General Staff of the Navy in full force went over to the side of the Soviet government. But this is a military aristocracy, but it was no coincidence that this was her choice.

After the October Revolution, one of the first generals of the tsarist army went over to the side of Soviet power, the commander of the Northern Front, Lieutenant General Mikhail Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruevich. It was he who stood at the origins of the creation of the Red Army.

-Was he the brother of the manager of the affairs of the Council of People's Commissars?

Yes, one of the close associates of V.I. Lenin. And when the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic was introduced, it was taken by Colonel Sergei Sergeevich Kamenev, who had distinguished himself before as commander of the Eastern Front. And he remained in this responsible position successfully until the end of the Civil War.

Names can still be called and called. The field headquarters was headed by Major General Pavel Pavlovich Lebedev, the All-Russian Main Headquarters - by Major General Alexander Alexandrovich Samoilo. Under the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, a Special Conference was created, which included almost all the full generals of the tsarist army. And it was headed by the cavalry general Aleksey Alekseevich Brusilov, already famous by that time. Members of this Special Meeting participated in the development of plans to defeat Denikin, Kolchak, Yudenich, Wrangel and others.

- The most important indicator! We need to talk more about all this.

I agree it should. But do you know what is happening in reality? Here we have, as you know, the Military Historical Society. And it offers to choose the ten most outstanding generals from the hundred most prominent commanders on the Internet. And they included in the number of a hundred of all the beaten white generals, which are named above. But those who beat them are not on the proposed list! What is it?

-Does not fit with their importunate calls to restore the historical truth.

The truth, it turns out, is turned inside out. All these attempts to perpetuate the memory of Mannerheim, Kolchak and the like speak of the same. Until now, there is a monument to General Krasnov on the Don, who, like Shkuro, went to the service of Hitler and urged all Cossacks to follow his example.

- There is a strange excuse: this monument, they say, is installed "on private land."

What can you say? Indeed, strange.

From war to war

- When the Civil War ended, was the Red Army significantly reduced?

Ten times. From 5 million people to 500 thousand. It was necessary to restore the economy after the First World War and the Civil War. Although the threat of a new war in the conditions of a hostile capitalist encirclement remained very serious, and Lenin repeatedly reminded of this.

By the way, his attention to military problems, in my opinion, is not enough spoken and written about. Trotsky is more praised as the "creator of the Red Army", which is clearly exaggerated. However, this is a separate topic. But do you know, for example, that Vladimir Ilyich very carefully studied the famous Suvorov work "The Science of Victory", and then some of its provisions were reflected in the orientation documents of the Red Army?

-The first time I've heard.

But this indicates that the best of the Russian military experience was not discarded after the revolution, but taken into account. It is worth emphasizing that the time allotted by history before the Second World War, which became the Great Patriotic War for us, was used to the maximum in the Soviet Union for the training of military personnel. And most of those officers, generals of the tsarist army, who fought in the Red Army during the Civil War, have now become teachers of military academies and schools.

And what do you think, did the Red Army become quite native for them? Was there a single organic fusion of former generals and future ones who were to lead the fronts and armies in the war of 1941-1945?

I think yes. And I have a lot of arguments in favor of this. I'll bring at least one. It was these "former" and "future" jointly developed the theory of a deep offensive operation, which played a huge role during the Great Patriotic War. Actually, all our brilliant victorious operations since the end of 1942 were carried out on the basis of this theory.

- Then, as far as I understand, they made a very strong impression in the world?

But how! It is today in the West, together with our home-grown “fifth column”, that they are trying to turn everything upside down, completely “forgetting” our good things and in every way exaggerating the slightest shortcomings and mistakes. This applies especially to Stalin's assessments. Following Khrushchev, who presented him as the leader of the war "on the globe", what kind of slander was not erected on our Supreme Commander-in-Chief!

- And how do you rate it?

As a military professional of the highest class. And the first basis for such a conclusion was the text of Stalin's speech I read on April 17, 1940 at a meeting of the commanding staff of the Red Army to summarize the experience of military operations against Finland.

- Why? What had such an effect on you?

A man spoke who knew military affairs so deeply that, frankly, I was surprised. For example, he has this idea: we will learn to win only when the combined arms commander learns to control aviation, artillery, engineering troops, and so on. In my opinion, even this term itself - combined arms commander - was introduced by him, Stalin. And this is so correct that you understand: the man thought like a true military strategist!

And throughout the Patriotic War, he proved himself, I repeat, as the greatest military specialist, as the highest professional in military affairs.

Again about repression

But in the footsteps of Khrushchev, Stalin is accused not only of military ignorance, but, above all, of unfounded repressions, which, according to popular assertions, also caused fatal damage to the command and political staff of the Red Army on the eve of the Great Patriotic War. How do you feel about it?

I seriously dealt with the topic of repressions, and my conclusion is this: their figures are incredibly exaggerated. Of course, there were purges in the army, but not as massive as they are portrayed. In total, from 1936 to 1941, 2,218 people were convicted for political reasons.

- Military?

Yes, from marshals to junior lieutenants. And some of them were then rehabilitated, even before the war. For example, Rokossovsky is also included in this number, but he met the war as the commander of a mechanized corps.

Convicted then in the army - this is half a percent of the entire command and political staff on June 22, 1941. There were, as I already noted, and errors. But it is impossible to consider all innocent! Moreover, without 1937 there would probably have been no 1945 either. During the war, we received General Vlasov, who turned out to be “uncleaned”. But they could not get one of them ...

- Was there a Tukhachevsky conspiracy?

A very authoritative teacher of military history at the Frunze Academy, where I studied, researched this in the archives and stated unequivocally: there was. But I want to specify where I took 2,218 prisoners for political reasons. In No. 1 of the Military History Journal for 1993 (already non-Soviet times and in fact the official organ of the General Staff), an article was published on the scale of political repression in the Red Army in the prewar years. In essence, the data of this article exposed Khrushchev!

- Remind me what he gave out in his report "on the cult of personality."

A much larger "painted" scale. According to him, only in 1937-1938, 39,761 people were destroyed in the army (not even convicted, but destroyed!) And a link to archived data. So the magazine undertook to find this data.

- What was found in the end?

Completely different! This is the number of those discharged from the army in 1937-1938. Not destroyed, but dismissed for various reasons: by age, by length of service, by illness, for drunkenness (there was also such a column), in connection with the arrest. It was these data that the then head of the main personnel department of the Red Army, Shchadenko, cited in response to a request from the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

And Khrushchev, having perverted this, gave out complete nonsense, which went for a walk in the wide world and is still walking. Say, there was no one to command divisions and regiments, because everyone was destroyed. There were indeed difficulties with personnel at that moment, but mainly for a different reason.

- For what?

In connection with the outbreak of World War II, the size of the Red Army was decided to be significantly increased. From September 1, 1939 to June 22, 1941, 125 new divisions were formed, mechanized and tank corps were formed. Of course, cadres were very much needed, but not at all because half a percent of the commanders were repressed. Personnel training for the Red Army was carried out in 77 military schools and 10 academies.

It is also extremely important, perhaps, how the spirit of the army changed in Soviet times. Still, while maintaining the best traditions of the past, the Red Army was fundamentally different from the tsarist army. If only because there were no class barriers between commanders and ordinary soldiers. The first under the king are mostly nobles, "white bone" and "blue blood", and the second - the despicable mob. Now everyone has become friends. Did it affect the mood of the people?

Still would! In 1937, Major General Alexei Ignatiev, a count, returned from France to Russia, who had been away from his homeland for many years, serving as a military attaché abroad. And he most of all drew attention to the fact that the mood of the people in the Soviet Union, the spirit of the army became completely different! By the way, after returning, he first of all asked for a pass to Red Square, to the November 7 parade, which he really liked.

- Subsequently, after all, he wrote the most interesting book "Fifty Years in the ranks."

I just wanted to talk about her. The book is autobiographical, but there are a lot of details and reflections that honestly, truthfully reveal real life before the revolution. It is impossible not to trust such a person. He studied in the page corps, was close to the royal court, then went through the Russo-Japanese war, that is, he knew what he was writing about. And it is especially necessary to highlight his act in the military-diplomatic service.

The duty of the military attaché as a representative of the Russian military Headquarters in France was charged with the purchase of weapons for the Russian army, for which huge sums of money were transferred. When the revolution broke out, he had a simply colossal amount - 225 million gold rubles, which at the current rate is more than 2 billion dollars.

- Which he ordered like a real patriot?

Quite right. Having transferred this money to my personal account, I did not spend a penny on myself. And he did not give them to either the Provisional Government or the French authorities. When diplomatic relations between France and the Soviet Union were established in 1924, he came to our embassy and said: "This money belongs to Russia."

- He received Soviet citizenship and was reinstated in the diplomatic service?

Yes. And then he will become a Soviet lieutenant general, will serve during the Great Patriotic War in the General Staff. I note that he owned the idea of ​​​​creating Suvorov schools, which Stalin warmly supported.

A feat unparalleled

In recent years, you, Viktor Ivanovich, have repeatedly spoken in Pravda on topics related to the Great Patriotic War. However, even today it is impossible not to touch upon this period, which became decisive for the fate of our country, since it was the Great October that predetermined the Great Victory. Do you agree with this?

The fact is indisputable, although the falsifiers here are trying to distort everything. But it is absolutely obvious that the socialist revolution has provided an unprecedented impetus both for the powerful development of our productive forces and for raising the patriotic spirit of the Soviet people. Stalin in 1931 spoke about the need to run a distance in a decade, for which other countries took 50-100 years. And it was done! Six thousand new major enterprises have been built, completely new industries have been created, including for defense, a generation of patriots has been brought up who selflessly love the Soviet Motherland and are ready to give even their lives for it ...

It is probably worth recalling the force with which the Soviet country then had to face. It was not only fascist Germany, but in fact almost all of Europe.

Certainly! Firstly, there were direct allies of Nazi Germany, who, together with her, declared war on us. These are Finland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, who sent their troops to our country. But, in addition, Hitler occupied a number of European states, and from here 1,800,000 people fought against us.

- Huge number!

Yes, citizens of France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Holland and so on. Of these, 59 divisions, 23 brigades were formed, and in addition, more legions, regiments, battalions.

-Were they forced to fight?

Imagine, many or even the majority went to war against the Soviet Union, so to speak, out of ideological convictions. After all, there were pro-fascist parties in these countries, and, first of all, units and units for the Eastern Front were formed from their members and supporters. The divisions created by the Nazis in the occupied countries became mainly SS divisions, and the SS is the "party security detachment". Do you remember that in Western Ukraine the SS division "Galicia" was created from Bandera?

-Of course.

True, she performed more punitive functions, and when she was sent to the front, she was immediately defeated. After that, the remnants of the Bandera division were sent to Yugoslavia - again as punishers, and they brought a lot of grief there.

-In addition to the formation of such units, after all, the industry of European countries also worked for the Nazis.

A powerful industry, transferred to a military footing. All these factories are Renault and others in France, Skoda in the Czech Republic, and so on. And besides, the Germans attracted engineers and skilled workers from the occupied countries to their enterprises, paying them well, especially when total mobilization began in Germany.

In a word, our Motherland was really opposed by a colossal enemy force, and the achievement of Victory is an unprecedented feat of the entire Soviet people and its Armed Forces, a feat of the Communist Party and Soviet power, a feat of I.V. Stalin, who took upon himself the extraordinary burden of leading the army and the country in such a difficult time.

- But they continue to talk about the "mediocrity" and even "harmfulness" of the Stalinist leadership ...

This is what really angers me! All this chatter that Stalin did not prepare the country for war, that the Victory was achieved "despite Stalin", and the like. Listen, yes, already on June 23, 1941, in accordance with a previously developed plan, an organized evacuation of our industrial enterprises from west to east began. More than 2,000 factories were moved and started working in a new location.

And how much Stalin's military-diplomatic efforts meant, which ensured the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition! He is anathematized for the fact that our troops were not deployed near the new border in advance. But this could lead to truly catastrophic results, since the USSR would be declared an aggressor, and then no coalition could certainly take place.

Also, do not forget about the mysterious flight of Hess to England - this is May 1941. What was its purpose and what could it lead to? The British in 1989 did not declassify the materials of those negotiations: they remained classified until 2039. Not by chance!

- Let's say, at least briefly, about the role of the Communist Party in that Great War.

Before the war, the ranks of the CPSU (b) consisted of 1.5 million people. There was a well-known motto: “Communists, forward!”, And 3 million communists died on the fronts. But over the years, more than 6 million people have joined the Communist Party. I think these numbers speak volumes.

I will add: not a fiction of Soviet propaganda, but the very real reality were the statements that the fighters wrote before the battle: “If I die, please consider me a communist.” I know this from my father - he himself wrote such a statement and later reached Berlin as a communist.

- So, you joined the Communist Party in 1977, so to speak, in the footsteps of your father?

And maternal grandfather. He became a Bolshevik during the Civil War.

- Under what circumstances?

During the First World War he fought on the Caucasian front. After October, being a non-commissioned officer, he joined the Red Army. When in 1918 Kornilov led his troops to Yekaterinodar, his grandfather's battery fired at his headquarters, and this white general was destroyed. So my grandfather came to the Bolshevik-Communist Party quite consciously, with a firm conviction. Accordingly, at one time both my father and I ...

What if there is a war tomorrow?

Let's go back, Viktor Ivanovich, to the present time. Who would have thought relatively recently that we would celebrate the 100th anniversary of October without socialism and Soviet power, for the restoration of which we have to fight again. And you, lieutenant general, having barely retired, joined the Communist Party in 2011. Why?

After deep, detailed reflection, I made this decision. Because I understood: only this party with its program can lead the country out of the difficult situation into which it has been plunged. Actually, the threat is the same as it was in 1917: we can simply lose the country. So, we need to save her, like the Bolsheviks during the revolution.

Your speech this spring at the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, where you spoke about the state of the Russian defense capability today, was very disturbing.

Even now, since you are raising this topic, I will probably speak with no less anxiety. I think it is absolutely clear that it was dictated by the military-political situation that has been created in the world, and especially around our country. You have to understand: this situation is fraught with war. Therefore, we are obliged to think on the basis of a very dangerous, but, alas, real condition: if tomorrow there is a war ...

-Doesn't the country's leadership have such an understanding?

On the one hand, as if there is, after all, the attitude towards the army has changed significantly in recent times. But on the other... Honestly, I can’t explain much of what is happening, and it certainly doesn’t contribute to our defense capability.

-What do you mean first?

The so-called radical military reforms carried out by Serdyukov.

-Haven't their consequences been corrected yet?

What do you! In no way.

I, and many others, had the impression that this furniture dealer was specially appointed then the Minister of Defense in order to completely destroy the army.

Certainly. However, he was only a performer. Conducted by others. What were they guided by? Directions from there, from the West. I remember all these arguments: “Why do you need such an army? You have no enemies." Well, when the "military reforms" were completed, Obama said that Russia, it turns out, is the number one enemy for the United States ... after Ebola. That's how they screwed up!

-And what do you think the results are?

Sad. In the course of radical Serdyukov's reforms, the command and control system of the Armed Forces was destroyed. The number of main headquarters of the Armed Forces has decreased by more than 10 times, and the commanders-in-chief are currently in fact not able to control their troops or naval forces.

The organizational structure of the Armed Forces has been destroyed. The military districts were abolished (four operational-strategic commands were created instead), divisions and regiments.

The system of mobilization readiness has been destroyed, and our Armed Forces have actually been reduced by an order of magnitude. Before the reforms, they numbered 1,300,000 people in peacetime, and in wartime, their number increased to 5 million. Today, in the event of an armed conflict or war, our Armed Forces are able, at best, to make up for the existing shortfall, which has now reached almost 300,000 people.

Logistic and technical support systems were destroyed, and now it is not clear who will restore damaged equipment in wartime, deliver ammunition, and evacuate the wounded. Will “defense service” and “outsourcing” really do this?

The system of military education has also been destroyed, and as a result, for example, our VKS today lacks 1,300 pilots.

- But for the uninitiated, it seems that everything is just brilliant in the army now.

Something has really improved in recent years. However, often, in my opinion, PR prevails instead of deeds. The new Armata tank, which is being advertised with might and main, has not yet passed military tests. And the BMP "Kurganets", according to my information, does not yet have an engine, but these vehicles have been walking in parades for two years now.

I carefully watched TV reports from the latest West-2017 strategic exercises and did not see a single piece of new equipment there.

In my opinion, the focus on the fight against terrorist groups, and not against the geopolitical enemy, had a harmful effect. What is international terrorism? This is politics. The policy of intimidation. But who is doing it? We know that all major international terrorist organizations were created by Great Britain, the USA and other Western countries.

-Speaking at the Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, you connected the problems of our army with the general situation in the country.

It is so indeed. How many, for example, there are talks "from above" to stop the outflow of capital abroad! But talk is talk, and in the meantime the notorious “United Russia” Makarov is developing a bill in the State Duma that does not stop, but makes it easier for oligarchs to transfer money to offshore. And the Duma, by the majority of the same "United Russia", adopts such a law.

We have almost completely destroyed our own automobile and aviation industries, we need to create machine tool building and electronics anew. We can't do without them! Because a lot, including for the army, now depends on foreign supplies, and if they stop these supplies, we are stranded.

I will refer to one more fact that simply amazes me. They say: we need anti-sanctions. But why aren't they actually introduced? There is such a metal - titanium.

-Winged metal, what is it called?

Well, yes, the basis of the aerospace industry. In 1990, we in the Soviet Union produced one and a half times more titanium than the rest of the world. And just imagine, now 90 percent of our metal goes to the United States.

-With their sanctions against us?

What I'm paying attention to! They do not have enough of it, and last year the Russian-American joint venture Ural-Boeing was created to increase the production of titanium for America. From this titanium of ours they make cruise missiles for the first global disarming strike against our nuclear forces.

-Amazing…

I say to the Russian authorities: if you want to take real, not ostentatious, anti-sanctions, stop supplying titanium to the States. But no - continue.!!

In general, under all these current speeches about patriotism, in fact, the same liberal policy continues. Once upon a time, the famous Alfred Koch, who was Deputy Prime Minister under Gaidar, was asked what the essence and purpose of the ongoing reforms were. And in a fit of frankness, he issued: to make Russia a raw material colony of the West, and then ensure its final degradation and disintegration. Right now, I think, the stage of degradation continues.

- Do you see an opportunity to stop it, interrupt it?

Only in a radical change in the course that is imposed on our country. This is what the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is fighting for, of which I became a member. Our movement, which I lead, is the same.

I recently got into a very heated argument with a prominent United Russia member. He assured me that "horses are not changed in the crossing." But if the "horses" rush us to the abyss? In my opinion, this is becoming more obvious, and the country really needs to be saved. I repeat: as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers in 1917 ...