Исходники. Геннадий Зюганов, 10 июля 2021 года

After graduating from the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Oryol Pedagogical Institute, Gennady Zyuganov taught at his alma mater for two years, simultaneously serving as secretary of the institute's Komsomol committee. From 1972 to 1974, he was first secretary of the Oryol Regional Komsomol Committee. From 1974 to 1983, he was secretary of the Zavodskoy District Committee, second secretary of the Oryol City Committee, and head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Oryol Regional Committee of the CPSU. From 1983 to 1989, he worked in the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the CPSU Central Committee, and from 1989 to 1990, he was deputy head of the Ideology Department, as it then became known. After the creation of the Communist Party of the RSFSR in 1990, he was elected secretary of its Central Committee and a member of the Politburo. From 1992 to 1993, he was a member of the organizing committee of the National Salvation Front. In February 1993, he was elected as a member and then chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the reestablished Communist Party of the Russian Federation. He became a deputy of the first State Duma (and was subsequently elected to all of its constituents), and from January 1994 to the present, he has headed the Communist Party faction in it. From February 1995 to the present, he has been chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. In the second round of the 1996 presidential election, he received more than 40% of the vote but lost to Boris Yeltsin (these results are still disputed). He also ran for president in 2000, 2008, and 2012, again taking second place each time. He holds a PhD in Philosophy (Moscow State University, 1995) and is the author of dozens of books. What was the state of the country before the start of the election campaign in late 1995? Why was Yeltsin's approval rating so low then? Why did Zyuganov attend the Davos Economic Forum in January 1996? Why did Chubais meet with oligarchs in Davos? Did Zyuganov have equal access to the media with Yeltsin? What was Zyuganov's program? Did he plan to revise privatization results, repress Yeltsin's allies, stifle freedom of speech, and restore the Soviet Union? Why did the Duma, at the initiative of the communists, denounce the Belovezh Accords in March 1996? Did Zyuganov know about the security forces' attempts to persuade Yeltsin to cancel the elections? How much influence did Korzhakov wield over Yeltsin? How were Zyuganov and Yeltsin's campaigns financed? Did any of the oligarchs support Zyuganov? Who persuaded Primakov to become prime minister after the default? Is it true that Zyuganov wasn't ready to become president? Why didn't Zyuganov and his supporters challenge the election results? How exactly, according to Zyuganov, were the results falsified? Was it possible to preserve the Soviet model? What kind of leader was the early Yeltsin, and what sparked his conflict with Gorbachev? What events actually lay behind the 1991 coup? What was wrong with the draft of the new Union Treaty? What lay behind the Belovezh Accords? Why didn't Gorbachev order Yeltsin's arrest back then? Why was the "trial of the CPSU" a bad idea? Why was the first Chechen war such a failure? What was the essence of the conflict between the Supreme Soviet and Yeltsin? Where was Zyuganov and what was he doing on October 3-4, 1993? Could the invasion of Chechnya have been avoided? Why did Lebed violate his agreement with Zyuganov during the 1996 elections? What kind of figure was Berezovsky? Why did the Communists vote against Chernomyrdin's return to the prime minister's chair in 1998? Why were they satisfied with Primakov's candidacy? Why did Yeltsin dismiss Primakov? How independent was Yeltsin, and under whose influence was he at different times? Why did he and his entourage choose Putin as their successor? Were the apartment building bombings of 1999 orchestrated by someone—and by whom? Gennady Zyuganov answers these and other questions in an interview we conducted on July 10, 2021. 0:00 On the start of the 1995–1996 campaign 6:10 On the Davos Forum in January 1996 10:30 On the progress of Zyuganov's campaign and his program 21:28 On the USSR and its restoration 28:52 On the attempt to cancel the March 1996 elections 30:36 On the financing of Zyuganov's and Yeltsin's campaigns 37:24 On relations with Yeltsin, default, and Primakov's premiership 41:25 On Chubais 42:46 On freedom of speech 45:27 On the results of the second round and falsifications 51:33 On the Soviet model 56:15 On Gorbachev and his conflict with Yeltsin 1:00:35 On the 1991 coup 1:06:32 On the draft Union Treaty 1:08:18 On the Belovezhskaya Pushcha agreements 1:10:09 On the "trial of the CPSU" 1:12:55 On Gaidar's reforms 1:15:36 On the conflict between the president and the Supreme Soviet 1:19:15 On the first Chechen war and Alexander Lebed 1:21:50 On Berezovsky 1:22:36 On Chernomyrdin and Primakov 1:28...