100 days of Degtyarev Khabarovsk’s acting governor talks local protests, his predecessor, and taking inspiration from tyrants

To mark the end of his first 100 days as Khabarovsk Territory’s acting governor, Mikhail Degtyarev gave a lengthy interview to the website “Znak.com.” Among other things, he talked about the ongoing protests in the region, his predecessor Sergey Furgal, and why he looks up to Ivan the Terrible. Here’s what he said, in brief.

My statements lead to scandals because no one wants to listen or to read, everything is taken out of context. This isn’t about me, but about the fact that events in the Khabarovsk Territory attract attention. When I said that Furgal’s team works rhythmically, it was more of a hope, but the reality turned out to be worse than I thought. The lack of a good relationship with Moscow is Furgal’s own fault, he spoke to people rudely. I told him that back in 2019. I consider it inappropriate to talk about his case. I wished him luck in court, from one ally to another. The protesters should not usurp the idea of “the people of the Khabarovsk Territory.” They don’t bother me, but the townspeople complain about them. I get my inspiration from Ivan the Terrible, Peter I, and Putin — Russia grew in terms of both quality and scale under all of them. Monuments to Putin need to be erected wherever possible. I’m not trying to seem like “one of the boys” — I live an ordinary life, I run the region, I communicate with the people every day — don’t think that I only get around in an official vehicle. The fact that in Russia all branches of the government are subordinate to one person is an exellect practice, it allows you to address the people’s needs quickly without any chit-chat and loudmouths. I don’t know how they evaluate me in the Kremlin — I don’t work for grades, but so that people live well. If I’m known as a tyrant, this will be the best assessment of my work. I hope I will never be remembered as a democratic governor.