In one of his novels, Valentin Pikul wrote that "a state without a navy is like a singer's voice behind the scenes; it is listened to, but no one takes it seriously... Ship officers, more than anyone else, are bound by politics, and any fluctuations in politics are reflected in the navy first...".

A ship in the world's oceans is not just a combat unit of the Navy. Proudly flying the St. Andrew's flag over the vast expanse of water, it is a part of Russia's statehood, its territory, a guide and defender of its sovereign interests, which, once transformed into the letter of an order, are no longer subject to discussion but must be carried out. Even at the cost of a naval battle or death. And do not think that the ship and its crew are indifferent to who sends them to fulfill this duty...

When the polar summer, usually stingy with sunshine and warmth, was just beginning to climb the Celsius scale, both the Murmansk Regional Election Commission and the Northern Fleet realized that no matter what temperature surprises the winter might bring, December would be much hotter than June, which had surprised even the seasoned residents of the Kola Peninsula. The first sign of this was a telegram signed by State Duma deputy Vladimir Zhirinovsky. In it, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in a categorical, unanswerable form announced to the command of the Federation Council about his decision to visit Murmansk, Severomorsk and Zaozersk (by the way, the last two points are naval bases). From the sailors, Vladimir Volfovich demanded only a helicopter to fly around the garrisons. As for any kind of permission from the fleet headquarters to travel around the secretive Arctic Circle (it's not the "Golden Ring of Russia"!), the deputy seemed to be hoping that his last name was so well-known in the "villages" of Murmansk that the barriers at the checkpoints would open with reverence as he approached.

The opinion of the Northern Fleet headquarters was unambiguous regarding this telegram: it was drafted in a blatant violation of the procedure for allowing a statesman of such rank into the "closed" Northern Fleet garrisons. This is all the more surprising, because for about four years now, there has been a special decision by the State Duma and the Ministry of Defense to allow deputies to visit military facilities. Initially, the General Staff must approve the visit, and then the General Staff (if they deem the visit to be legitimate and justified) will provide specific instructions to the relevant naval authorities regarding the organizational and technical support for the deputy's travel. Once approved, the deputy is welcome to visit. And here's how it goes: "I'm here, and I demand...". Such things don't happen in the Navy.

But, in my opinion, the issue here is not so much the telegram from the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, nor is it about the correctness of its execution. At any other time, this would have been just a private case, a topic for discussion, if it hadn't been 1999, the year of the next elections to the State Duma, when, according to Ivan Menshikov, the representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Murmansk Region, the price of the issue (and perhaps the choice) was exceptionally high. Thus, the first "swallows" flew to the protected Kola region in search of their electoral fortune. The Northern Fleet alone, a striped electorate, is worth it! It's a tasty morsel for candidates, to say the least. As a result, the political activity of regional branches of various parties and movements has been on the rise long before the elections.

Speaking at a training session for officers of the Northern Fleet's educational structures, the representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Murmansk Region said that one of the most important tasks this year is to ensure fair elections. Here, the North Sea Fleet, as a monolithic human "conglomerate" of thousands, has an honorable mission to cast their votes for the worthy candidate. According to Ivan Ivanovich Menshikov, elections are the only way to influence the government.

The Northern Fleet has accumulated quite a lot of experience in federal, regional, district, and city elections. Since the fleet is a state-owned organization, all election work in the Northern Fleet is conducted in accordance with legislative acts and other regulatory documents, such as directives from the Minister of Defense and instructions from the Chief of the General Staff. This year, the Northern Fleet's primary document was the directive issued by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on preparations for the 1999-2000 election campaigns in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Following her requirements, the Navy has established a group for the organizational and technical support of elections. Based on past experience, this group is usually led by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet. It includes officers from various departments of the Northern Fleet, such as the Armored Forces Department, the Communications Department, the Department of Educational Work, and others. Work groups have also been established in the garrisons, primarily consisting of officers who are knowledgeable about electoral law.

According to Rear Admiral Alexander Dyakonov, Head of the Northern Fleet's Department of Educational Work, there are several specific features to the preparatory stage of the upcoming elections. Firstly, the Northern Fleet received clear instructions on organizing pre-election activities in July, as per a directive from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Secondly, on the eve of the elections, the Northern Fleet's system of public and state training will conduct classes with military personnel to enhance their legal awareness as voters. This will involve allocating 6-10 hours of training time.

What is this being done for? It is known that all previous elections were held in the context of a fierce political struggle. The military sailors were tried to be "pressured" and even tried to be bribed with all sorts of gifts in the form of so-called humanitarian aid. When, figuratively speaking, the number didn't work out, the losing side immediately started protesting about "voting by order," the tyranny of naval commanders, the violation of sailors' voting rights, and so on. Therefore, in order to avoid such incidents in December, it is the responsibility of commanders, educational officers, and headquarters to ensure that the naval electorate is well-informed about their voting rights. Let's not forget that the price of this issue is indeed quite high.

How can we use legal activities during the pre-election period to improve the political culture of the Northern Fleet's military personnel and their families? How can we increase their interest in the elections?

According to the officers of the Northern Fleet's Department of Educational Work, this is a fleet-wide task. Currently, a comprehensive set of organizational and educational measures is being implemented in this regard. The Northern Fleet is engaged in extensive collaboration with military lawyers and local authorities. This collaboration will be conducted systematically with all categories of military personnel. The primary goal, according to the naval educators, is to convince the sailors that their civic stance and votes can undoubtedly make a significant impact. But it is necessary to act within the framework of the law, remaining outside of politicking, demagoguery, elevated to the rank of almost general civil interests. "Why, when I say that the upper deck is a mess, "the senior officer of Novik, the hero of the novel Moonsund, threw in the face of the presumptuous committee members," do you organize a rally - to clean up the deck or not? I hate verbiage..."

This is the last thing we'll be treated to this year. According to Anatoly Sarenko, Chairman of the Murmansk Region Election Commission, the elections will be complex and scandalous. The candidates will be watching each other jealously, day and night. This will inevitably lead to another interesting development, which can be described as the "subversion of the naval electorate." That is, the competitor of a more successful candidate, without ceasing to pour dirt on the head of the lucky one, begins to actively "dig" under the military units where the rival received the greatest support - in the Northern Fleet, as well as in the Arctic Regional Directorate of the Federal Protective Service and the units of the Leningrad Military District on the Kola Peninsula... And the specifics of service and the peculiarities of conducting elections here are their own - polar.

For example, the border outposts of the Federal Border Service Agency in the Murmansk Region are located in the Kola, Pechenga, Kandalaksha, and Kovdor districts, which are characterized by a lack of roads and limited access due to the climate and topography. The experience of conducting early voting at the outposts has shown that members of the local election commission, where border guard voters were registered, and representatives of the territorial election commission, who monitored the early voting process, had to travel up to 600 kilometers. Of course, such a vote cannot be held in one day. Therefore, the deadline for announcing the election results was extended.

During the "winter" election period (from November to May in the Arctic), it is almost impossible to access many outposts. For example, during the 1996 election of the governor of the Murmansk region, the final documentation from the polling stations was delivered by a tank and an armored personnel carrier, which still got stuck in snow drifts when passing through mountain passes. "Was there any malicious intent to "muddy" the results?"- another unsuccessful candidate will think. And straight to the court: here, they say, is "legal damage"...

In the Navy, things can get even more complicated: the specifics of service are harsher. For example, during the same gubernatorial elections, due to weather conditions, a boat could not approach the island of Salma, and as a result, 12 voters did not vote at the weather station. And a year later, during the elections for the deputies of the Murmansk Regional Duma, a member of the Zaozerskaya territorial election commission broke his leg while disembarking from a boat during a storm on the island of Kildin, where the Northern Fleet's coastal observation post is based. However, these are exceptional cases. Figuratively speaking, the romance of naval elections.

In general, the upcoming elections to the State Duma, along with the phenomena that are generally familiar to the North-Sea Fleet, will bring a lot of new things to the fleet. Special attention will be paid to the organized registration and accounting of military personnel and citizens living in military garrisons. By the way, there are already many of them in the North-Sea Fleet due to the slow construction of housing for reservists in central Russia. All of this registration information, as of July 1, 1999 and January 1, 2000, will be provided to local election authorities in accordance with both the state system of voter registration and the Directive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. However, there are several questions that arise. For example, if the voter list is compiled using the state automated information system, what should be done with the information containing data on military personnel: should it be left in the "Voter" database after the list is compiled, or should it be destroyed? What measures should be taken to ensure the secrecy (or confidentiality) of information contained in the lists of military personnel stationed in military units by members of territorial, district, and precinct election commissions? How can the precinct election commission ensure that the list of voters is available for public review and further clarification in the part where information about military personnel is located?

As you can see, there are plenty of nuances. It is possible that by the time this article is published, specific instructions and clarifications will be provided on all of these issues. There are also concerns about voting on surface ships and nuclear submarines, which may be on combat duty during the election period.

In principle, it's easier with a ship. Previously, all the necessary election documentation was delivered on board before going to sea. If they didn't have time, they would dictate the forms of ballots and the names of candidates over the radio. The election commission was appointed by the ship's commander's order. Voting was conducted by combat shifts in accordance with the relevant legislation, with all the necessary attributes, such as sealed ballot boxes and election committee protocols. The only difference was that while voting at a regular polling station ended at 10 p.m., the polling station could be closed after all crew members had voted. The commission then counted the votes and sent the results by telegram or radio to the mainland.

On the other hand, a submarine is a different story. The stages of preparation for elections and the voting itself are the same as on a surface ship. However, there may be difficulties in informing the public about the results. After all, the main weapon of a nuclear-powered submarine on combat duty is stealth. During a brief communication session, will the submarine have enough time to report to the fleet command center that all the submariners have fulfilled their civic duty? If we consider the issue... It is probably necessary for such ships to have a kind of legal "shield" when there are no observers from various parties and movements on combat duty. After all, who can guarantee that one of the radical candidates, upon learning the results of the vote on the "one" lost in the depths of the ocean, will not assume a pose similar to Stanislavsky's and exclaim, "What is this?"

"I don't believe it!" And then explain to him in court that there are such things as combat orders, a strictly limited number of people, an official crew list, and there should be no observers. Will he understand? Will common sense prevail? Only December of this year will provide answers to these and many other questions. In the meantime...

In the meantime, political figures are placing bets, including on the North Sea Fleet. They are beginning to flock to the Kola Peninsula in search of their electoral fortunes, preparing oaths and sweet promises for the sailors. However...

At a meeting with Murmansk media journalists, Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, Commander of the Northern Fleet, said: "I will not allow any agitation on ships or in naval units. There will be no left-wing or right-wing agitation. The Armed Forces must not be involved in political struggles. The idea that the Army is outside of politics is a misconception, as we are already an instrument of politics. Therefore, there will be no more than guided tours of ships, and only for those who are allowed. Do you want to campaign? Please, but outside the gates...

The Northern Fleet has no time to dream or philosophize. It has too much specific work to do.