The leadership of some regions of Russia secretly banned officials from going on vacation abroad, Kommersant writes , citing sources in regional governments. The authorities of the Novgorod and Bryansk regions, Mari El, Chuvashia, North Ossetia and others strongly recommended not to travel.
Bryansk officials were asked not to leave the country back in February 2022. “At the beginning of the SVO, Governor Alexander Bogomaz gathered all the officials and deputies and talked about it there,” a source close to the regional government told Kommersant. “All colleagues are sane, understand the moment and do not abuse trips abroad,” the press service of the government of the Novgorod region told the publication.
In January, the head of United Russia in the Tambov Regional Duma, Yuri Pluzhnikov, asked members of the same party not to travel abroad, even to those countries that are not considered unfriendly to Russia. The head of the United Russia faction in the parliament of the Sverdlovsk region, Elena Chechunova, told Kommersant that this topic was discussed "in the format of unofficial recommendations for members of the faction."
On January 11, the head of the Ulyanovsk region, Alexei Russkikh, signed a decree according to which officials and deputies were "recommended" to refrain from traveling abroad. A spokesman for the governor's administration, Alexei Preobrazhensky, in an interview with Kommersant admitted that it is impossible by law to prohibit leaving the country, since the regional authorities do not have such powers. However, according to the official, "everyone understands what this recommendation means."
A similar initiative was made by the head of the Vologda region Oleg Kuvshinnikov. “At such a difficult time for the country, spending holidays in luxury resorts and deliberately publicly posting provocative photos on social networks is unacceptable for either deputies or officials of any level,” the governor said on January 16. Thus, he reacted to the trip of the deputy of the Vologda Duma from the United Russia Denis Dolzhenko, who spent the New Year holidays in Dubai.
Another MP who has been criticized for going abroad for the holidays is Maksim Vasiliev, a member of the Kursk Regional Duma, who was vacationing in Mexico. Senator Andrei Turchak called him "crap."
The scandal erupted because of the photos that the deputies published on social networks.
As The Insider found out , children and other relatives of Russian security officials, officials and deputies who fell under sanctions continue to rest abroad, including in NATO and EU countries. So, the daughter of the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, Veronika, spent the New Year holidays in Bali and Dubai. In the same place, in the UAE, the daughter of Defense Minister Ksenia Shoigu was resting.
