Pavel Astakhov: “They tried to separate my wife and me. What is the true reason for Astakhov’s dismissal Astakhov Pavel Alekseevich

Showman Pavel Astakhov is being replaced in the position of children's ombudsman by the modest United Russia philanthropist Anna Kuznetsova. The President continues to change the showcase of power, removing irritants of public opinion. Amateurs are no longer needed in politics.

The Commissioner for Children's Rights finally resigned. He was replaced by , who previously worked as the head of the Penza branch of the Popular Front and the head of the Association of Companies in Defense of the Family and the Pokrov Fund for the Support of Family, Motherhood and Childhood.

Quite an unexpected choice, but on the other hand - firstly, Anna Kuznetsova’s Pokrov was the operator of the distribution of presidential grants, and secondly, she won the primaries" United Russia" in the Penza region, thirdly, she is married to a priest and the mother of six children. On social networks they congratulate her, addressing her as “Mother Anna.” She fits perfectly into the framework of the requirements now imposed by the state on public figures.

Pavel Astakhov also, as they say, “corresponded”: he graduated High school KGB of the USSR. But in the future he was a purely secular person; Having made a name as a lawyer, without leaving work he retrained as a showman, becoming a TV show host and writer. In 2007, he sensitively sensed the wind of change and realized that it was time to lead the “For Putin” movement. IN next year became a member of the Public Chamber, and a year later, in 2009, he was appointed to the post of children's ombudsman under the president.

They were surprised at the appointment, but why be surprised - at that time, demonstrative loyalty and a history of special services were valued above all else. Pavel Astakhov himself clearly felt in perfect order and perceived his work as primarily a public service, and not a human rights service. Everyone must implement the general line in their place, and if you got the sphere of child protection, then in the sphere of child protection, something like this.

The pinnacle of Pavel Astakhov’s work was, of course, the law banning the adoption of Russian orphans, first by Americans, and then by citizens of other countries that joined the sanctions. “Any foreign adoption is harmful to the country,” the children’s ombudsman categorically stated and devoted his activities to finding cases of violation of the rights of adopted Russians in the United States, each time making loud statements. Sometimes, however, he got into trouble: for example, he accused an American family of torturing and murdering Maxim Kuzmin, and then it turned out that there was an accident. Pavel Astakhov just shrugged his shoulders.

In addition, he is remembered for his PR. When visiting the Chechen Republic, Pavel Astakhov did not skimp on his delight and praise for the “blessed land of Chechnya,” which he places in the “good illustrative example"in all other regions. His love for Ramzan Kadyrov later brought him to a scandal: while the public was heatedly discussing the wedding of the elderly head of the police department Nazhid Guchigov with the minor Kheda Goilabieva (according to some reports, he took her as his second wife), Astakhov rushed to the defense of the mountain customs, stating that in the Caucasus it generally happens before puberty and “there are places where women are already wrinkled at 27 years old.” With this phrase he glorified himself throughout the country.

The last straw was a tactless question to schoolchildren who survived the tragedy on Syamozero in Karelia. 14 children who were caught in a storm on boats died, and Pavel Astakhov did not find anything better than to ask: “So, how was your swim?” This episode caused anger (the Ombudsman himself confirmed that he “got it from the president”), and it was after the meeting with Putin, at the very end of June, that Astakhov submitted his resignation, which was only granted now.

In principle, Vladimir Putin himself allowed himself such remarks. In 2003, while visiting a children's hospital (coincidentally, in the capital of Karelia, Petrozavodsk), he told a boy on crutches who had been hit by a car: "Well, you won't more rules violate." Journalist Elena Tregubova spoke about this.

An official who had served faithfully for so many years could hardly be fired because of one phrase. The president was not worried about his previous shocking statements, was not worried about criticism from human rights activists, was not worried about conspicuous consumption - Pavel Astakhov has a luxurious estate in Nice, which he does not hide, against the background of which his constant anti-Western attacks looked like extreme cynicism and hypocrisy.

Rather, it is a convenient occasion - in Lately the president is reformatting the “showcase” of power, replacing not everyone, but those who are visible and who, by virtue of their position, are the main object of criticism. replaces , - , Pavel Astakhov - Anna Kuznetsova. All those who were dismissed made odious foreign policy statements; their successors are not associated with the KGB, they will only deal with their direct responsibilities and will not interfere with their opinions.

Politics will now be dealt with by Putin himself and a narrow circle of professionals, maybe one or two more people. Volunteer helpers are no longer needed; the situation is too complicated, and amateurs, whose mistakes are sometimes costly, have begun to irritate the president.

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From early morning the entire family of the famous lawyer and TV presenter Pavel Astakhov was on their feet: Pavel himself went to the airport several times to meet guests. His wife Svetlana was preparing festive dinner in a restaurant. On this day, relatives and friends of the Astakhovs gathered on the Cote d'Azur of France to attend the baptism of the two-month-old son of Svetlana and Pavel Arseny. 7D correspondents were among those invited.

- Pavel, Svetlana, now many Russian women give birth abroad.

But you didn’t even take your two-month-old son to Moscow for his christening. Have you finally decided to stay here on the Cote d'Azur?

Pavel: No, of course not. In general, I don’t leave Moscow for a long time, where we now live together with our middle son Artem. I just wander here almost every weekend Cote d'Azur, otherwise, I’m afraid the baby will wean himself off me. And the decision to give birth in France arose spontaneously. It so happened that in the summer we vacationed in Nice, Svetlana felt great, swam in the sea almost until last day, and we decided to stay here, besides, the doctor prohibited air travel at this time. Recently, I often traveled to international forums in France, and I was once introduced to the amazing gynecologist Alan Rebouillat.

As soon as Svetlana and I decided to have a third child, we turned to him for observation. That’s when I was literally amazed at how expectant mothers were treated in France. There, an ultrasound examination is performed for about forty minutes, all the baby’s organs are carefully examined: its blood flow, ventricle, heart, and so on every two weeks until birth. I remember coming for an ultrasound for the first time. Svetlana looks at the screen and sees nothing out of excitement. “Oh,” he says, “where are the fingers and how many are there?” Something is not enough." I reassure: “He clenched his fist.” - "Yes? I can not see anything! Let's look at the legs." She’s an alarmist for me, “a nightmare” until the last day - how many fingers, how many eyes, how many ears.

She kept worrying, suddenly something was wrong, why her tummy was growing slowly, why this, why that. (Smiles.) When I hear from friends and acquaintances: “Of course, you are rich, you gave birth in France,” I chuckle. We actually occupied the largest ward in the hospital - three rooms: the parents' bedroom, the children's room and the guest room. But all this, including medical care, cost three times less than in an elite Moscow clinic. And when, on the first evening of our stay, a nurse came to us and asked: “The fish we have today are perch, sea bream, sea bass and salmon. What do you choose for dinner? - My jaw just dropped: wow the menu! Immediately after giving birth, our friend Tatyana Zingarevich, who became Arseny’s godmother, came to Svetlana with gifts and champagne - the visit was completely free.

The French were surprised: “These are Russian women! She just gave birth and is already having fun, drinking champagne.” Why not have fun in such conditions? Before us, Angelina Jolie gave birth in the same ward last time. I joked: “We need to carefully examine the walls, maybe Brad Pitt signed his name somewhere?” (Laughs.)

- Were you present at the birth?

No. I waited nearby in the corridor, but I definitely felt when my son was born. There was such a moment of some very strong emotional excitement - it was as if everything was trembling inside me, and I was thrown into a cold sweat... I looked at my watch - 8.35, and after 8 minutes they handed me a baby wrapped in a light diaper. The nurse took us into some small room where there were two pressure chambers and scales... She unwrapped the diaper, and there was my baby.

They wiped his eyes and dropped some solution. They checked how he was breathing, wiped it off and handed it to me again: “Here, dad.” I picked him up, but the nurse said: “So, did you hold him? Now let’s put the guy in the “aquarium” - this is such a special box. She attached a sensor to his arm - checked his pulse, how his heart was beating, then put it on: “That’s it, you can go to the room” - and gave Arsyusha to me. And right with the child in my arms, I started calling all my relatives and friends, saying that my son was born, I took a picture of him right away. Congratulations were accepted for almost a week. Since we did not plan for Svetlana and the baby to move to Moscow before the winter, we decided to hold the christening here. Our closest friends and relatives were invited here to France. On the advice of my old friend, and now godfather Arsyusha Vladimir Ren, we chose the Orthodox Church of the Archangel Michael in the very center of Cannes.

Despite the frantic pace of today's life, almost everyone who was invited came - Svetlana and I did not even expect that so many people would gather. But everything turned out very warm, like home. Unfortunately, our eldest son Anton and my elder sister Elena, but my younger brother Alexey arrived. And of course, we were especially waiting for my mother, we were worried how she would cope with the difficult road. Without her, the holiday would not have turned out so bright. Mom became a nun several years ago. She was always a deeply religious person, and after her father’s death she graduated from St. Tikhon’s University, received a theological diploma and took monastic vows. Naturally, my brother and sister respected her decision and try not to comment on it.

Mom always instructs us, and especially takes spiritual care of her grandchildren, of whom she now has nine. So our middle son Artem recently began to serve as an altar boy in the church at Sunday services, helping our confessors - Father Sergius and Father Konstantin. My mother is very pleased with this, she says: “At Artem’s kind soul, open to God." In general, Arsyushin’s christening brought together all my closest people.

- Svetlana, did you easily decide to have a third child or did Pavel have to persuade you for a long time?

If they persuade, this is violence, not desire. We both wanted Arsyushka, although, to be honest, I dreamed of a girl. When our eldest sons grew up, it seemed to me that life was somehow empty.

But I don’t like talking about the passing of youth, about various fears. Well what is it mature age? Now that our biological clocks have all shifted and 40-year-olds not only look, but feel like 30-year-olds, it’s generally stupid to be afraid. Surprisingly, I had a much worse experience with my first pregnancy at age 19. If it weren’t for my husband’s support then, I don’t even know how I would have coped.

Pavel: I regret that 16 long years passed between the birth of Arseny and our middle son Tema. Yes, during this time we could give birth to three more! But the eldest son Anton was really difficult for us. Suffice it to remember the doctor in antenatal clinic. Every time Svetlana came for an examination, she listened to her and said: “Your child’s heart has stopped beating.

All". Every time! And then the wife was admitted to the hospital for safekeeping, and she got worse and worse there. I visit her, look at her, and she really bends over. I went to look for a doctor and came across him in the corridor: he was walking in a leather apron, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, covered in blood and smiling at the same time - like some kind of cannibal. Women are scattered from him! “God,” I think, “how can you even lie here?” In short, I wrote a receipt and took Svetlana home. She was already so weak that she had to be carried out in her arms. When Anton was born, I was at a military training camp in the Moscow region. Having learned that his wife and son were being discharged, he went to the commander - so, they say, so, let me leave for half a day. And he responded: “How can you help? What are you, an obstetrician or what?” I say: “I’m not an obstetrician, I’m a father, I need to move my family home.” Didn't let go...

It’s good that the training ended in two weeks, because Svetlana needed help... Anton was allergic from birth, and we could only feed him imported baby food, which was terribly in short supply at that time. I made an agreement with the saleswomen at the store, and they called me when the delivery was made. My additional earnings spent entirely on these jars - they made half an apartment use them. And still it was happiness. We tried to remember all the impressions, caught every new word of our son, every new movement. I continuously photographed Anton. First, I used an antediluvian Smena camera, then I filmed it on video. The first sounds, crying, words, poems - I recorded everything on a tape recorder, these tapes are still stored... Five years after Anton, Theme appeared. Well, fortunately, with him it was a different story. It was 1993, I was then working as the head of the legal department in an airline, the salary was good, and we chose a maternity hospital, as they called it then, self-supporting, that is, paid.

Conditions there are, of course, better, but still cannot be compared with the current ones. I must admit, I saw Artem less often. Sometimes I had time to go for a walk and change diapers in the morning... Then I picked up the pace and worked very hard. But at the same time, there is some kind of connection between us and Theme that is invisible to the world. I call it my skin - it hangs on me all the time.

Svetlana: Pavel is not that rare at all visiting father who cannot be relied upon. On the contrary, he simply breathes children. And in the youngest, in Arsyush, he completely dissolved. From the first minutes, as soon as he took the baby in his arms, he always does something for him - he changes his diaper, helps him give a bath, holds him in a column after feeding, trims his nails...

He doesn’t trust Arsyushkina’s nails to anyone at all. In order to visit us as often as possible, he tightened his difficult work schedule even more. I don’t really understand how he manages to do everything - run business, write books, and participate in TV shows... I think it was Arsyusha who breathed new strength into us.

- How did your eldest sons take the news about the imminent addition to the family?

Pavel: The children found out about this when mommy’s belly became noticeable. I thought they might be shy, but they were both very happy. Anton completely amazed us. The fact is that he ignored Artyom when he was little, did not notice his brother, and in extreme cases could have beaten him. And then he started walking in circles around Svetlana: “Mommy, what should I bring? How can I help you?" To be honest, I have already mentally prepared myself for the fact that I will become a grandfather.

I tell my eldest son: “At your age, I already had you.” And I didn’t suspect that an age would come when you would like your own wrinkles, and still want small children... In general, when I hear middle-aged men talking about how young wives prolong youth, I laugh: they rather emphasize age... And they prolong youth, definitely , Small children.

Svetlana: Before Arsyusha appeared, Artem was doing very well - as the youngest, everyone loved him and took care of him. But still he wasn’t the least bit jealous; on the contrary, he couldn’t get enough of the baby. During the christening, I warmed his feet, he was afraid that they would freeze. He fusses with his brother when he starts crying, tries to be the first to reach him... Artem: By the way, I suspected about my mother’s interesting situation a long time ago.

And when she slyly said: “I have news for you,” I thought: “Well, either we’ll go somewhere on vacation, or mom is pregnant.” She often went to the hospital and disappeared there for a long time. When they told me about my brother, I was very happy. I’d be lying if I said that I’ve dreamed about this since childhood; I often asked my parents for a dog. (Laughs.) When Buska (Arseny’s home name - Ed.) came to us, parental love, of course, did not leave me anywhere, but something still changed. Previously, mom and dad used to come to my room before bed to kiss and hug me, but now I have to go get their kisses. In general, in our family it is customary to hug and kiss, and I really like it. All my life I have observed this love between parents. Anton and I always feel when mom is upset for some reason, because then dad is upset too.

And when daddy bad mood, Mom is worried. Lately, when mom and Arsyusha are here, dad can’t sleep until he calls her ten times. They even chat at night. I come to him, climb onto the bed and say: “Hello to mom.” I know for sure that it is he who is talking to her. I’m surprised that they always have a lot of topics to talk about - everyone discusses: dad’s affairs, my studies.

Pavel: Artem flew to France for the holidays - to meet with his mother and brother, but he will only stay here for a week - it’s time to go to Moscow to pore over his textbooks. Tema is now studying at a prestigious school, and then decided to enter MGIMO. He is surrounded by children from very wealthy families; compared to them, he is not spoiled at all, and he is aware that girls and boys who come to school in Rolls-Royces show their parents’ wealth, not theirs.

Of course, it is useless to resist all this, so Svetlana and I decided to give Artem the opportunity to see the world with his own eyes and correctly assess his capabilities in it. We take him with us on trips, but we don’t let him relax. Our sons never received any excessive benefits. The only thing we spare no expense on is education. Anton graduated from school with a medal and, secretly from us, sent his documents to Oxford College. He was already presented with a fait accompli when the message came that he had been accepted. Naturally, we gave the green light - please go ahead. And he, a 17-year-old boy, went to study in England. Don't sit back and waste your dad's money, but get a good education.

Now the son is already earning money by successfully playing on the stock exchange. At first, Svetlana and I treated this as pampering and told us: “Stop doing nonsense! Why are you always on the Internet? And then we realized: this is serious. He already looks at the news through the eyes of an accomplished economist, understands which shares need to be bought and which ones to sell. I ask: “How do you figure all this out?!” - “Well, dad, it’s a long time to explain.” In the summer, I got him to work for some friends in a development holding company. So that the guy already has some practice. So he got into the accounting department and quickly figured out what needed to be optimized and how. He impressed his superiors and within a week, Anton rose from an intern to an assistant to the president of the holding. This year Antosha has already moved to New York; he is a student at the school of economics.

Svetlana: Pavel and I argue endlessly about raising children. He believes that you just need to love them, not put pressure on them, not force them to do something, but I have a different view and a different experience. I am sure that if you do not force, for example, to study, the child may grow up ignorant. I always had to deal with this routine associated with school lessons, to control the process. Pavel joined only recently. But if I need to convey to the children that they should act this way and not otherwise, I say the catchphrase: “That’s what dad thinks.” All! Disputes stop because for them he is the absolute authority and the ultimate truth.

- That means you, Svetlana, control the children. Probably your husband too? And, apparently, it’s not difficult for you to do this, because you - general producer his television programs “Hour of Judgment”, “Three Corners”, “Astakhov’s Case”, you work with Pavel in the bar association.

I very rarely even answer Pavel’s phone when he can’t answer. Even if I pick up his mobile phone, I never check who called or wrote. And Pavel, by the way, sometimes looks to see who is calling me. (Laughs.) Well, what, tell me, is the point of control? From the experience of my friends who tolerated their husbands’ affairs and pretended not to notice anything, I know that sooner or later such marriages still break up. I think that if you don’t strive to keep your husband at all costs, but try to be interesting to him, keep him in constant drive so that he doesn’t know what you will do next moment, then there is a chance to live your whole life together.

Pavel: That's exactly right.

And I pretend that I don’t even suspect what Svetlana will do next. (Laughs.) We have been working together for fifteen years, since I became a lawyer, because we really cannot do without each other. When your own person helps, it is very convenient. Sometimes things don’t work out on the set of “Hour of Judgment.” I argue because I do not tolerate other opinions regarding jurisdiction. And at this moment only Svetlana and no one else can stop me. The editor-in-chief calls her: “When will you arrive?” The wife appears, and the atmosphere clears before our eyes! She brings pies and pastries, feeds everyone, hugs someone at the right moment, and quietly says something right. Svetlana feels such things better than I do.

Perhaps our friendly tandem irritates many, there are a lot of “well-wishers” around - they are jealous, and that’s why they do all sorts of nasty things. My wife and I went through many trials when people set a real goal - to break up our family. Among my clients there are a lot of women who are offended by life, whose husbands are in prison, or are on trial, or they share property with them. In this case, the lawyer is seen as a friend, and in the future, perhaps, a lover or another husband - this is the solution to many problems: get help for free and arrange your personal life. And my wife got calls from these “ladies”: “Do you know that your husband is now sleeping in my bedroom?” The question is not how to deal with these women, everything is clear here, but how to protect Svetlana from this, how not to hurt her. My wife has a very subtle intuition, and she always senses everything in advance - if I didn’t say something, she looks at me with suspicion: “What’s going on?”

Svetlana: At the very beginning, when we first encountered slander, it was difficult.

I first heard some nasty stuff about Pavel on the phone and was shocked, but I didn’t suffer in silence and secretly track down my husband. She took it and told him everything at once. Frank conversations are the solution to any problem. If I had felt that there was at least a grain of truth in the gossip told to me, I would not have endured it for a single day. We would have separated.

Pavel: We immediately decided: to discuss every little thing, looking eye to eye. Svetlana immediately says everything she thinks. And it is always important for her to know the truth, no matter how bitter it may be. By the way, I also can’t stand lies. Svetlana is simply my woman.

At one time I was very strong impression produced the film “Odyssey” by Andrei Konchalovsky - it is about simple things that were relevant thousands of years ago. There's nothing new under the sun. It was then that I understood for sure that a man must have a clear position in relation to a woman, to his family, to children, to friends, to his homeland. IN different periods In life, views may change, but the vector of direction is always the same - the chosen one. And even if I stumbled, life beat me, but still returned me to the right path...

Moscow - Cannes - Nice

Pavel Astakhov was born into a by no means difficult family. Thus, his great-grandfather was at one time a Cossack ataman and even allegedly served as the prototype for Sholokhov’s hero Stepan Astakhov in the novel “Quiet Don”. Well, Pasha’s grandfather was a high-ranking security officer and served with Vyacheslav Menzhinsky himself, who headed this serious structure after the death of its founder Felix Dzerzhinsky.

Of course, Pavel early childhood dreamed of following in my grandfather's footsteps. After graduating from school and serving in border troops(in those days it was impossible to become a security officer without service), Astakhov entered the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR. He studied at the Western Counterintelligence Faculty, and after graduation he was sent to study at the Red Banner Institute (KI) named after Andropov, which trained personnel for the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (intelligence).

But Pavel never had the chance to become a scout. The year he was supposed to start studying at KI, the USSR collapsed. Realizing that the path of James Bond no longer brings the same dividends, Astakhov, without studying for a day, hastened to change his spy cloak to a lawyer's robe.

Business of the Overlords

At that turbulent time in Rus', there were a lot of swindlers who also happened to be businessmen. It was they who became Pavel Alekseevich’s clients. Thus, his first high-profile case was connected with the founder of one of the financial pyramids, which in the nineties became as common a phenomenon for Russians as commercial tents on the streets and Royal alcohol in these same tents.

The strategist in the skirt was called Valentina Solovyova, she, with her “Vlastilina” pyramid, deceived about seventeen thousand investors in the amount of over five hundred billion rubles. And today this is a considerable amount, but at that time this money could not be called anything other than crazy.

Astakhov was the true hero of the trial of Solovyova. He did not get out of the news stories and, it seemed, even overshadowed the defendant herself. The trial lasted a good five years, but the fraudster still received a guilty verdict. Despite the failure, Pavel Alekseevich earned himself a solid media background; he began to be recognized along with such masters as Heinrich Padva and Henry Reznik. The promotion of his name was also facilitated by publications in such publications as “Autopilot”, “Itogi”, “ Russian newspaper" and "Bear".

Career building

At the beginning of the 2000s, when echoes of the freedom-loving times were still felt, Astakhov built his career on criticizing the authorities and participating in high-profile political processes. First of all, he took on the case of former US Navy military-technical intelligence officer Edmond Pope, who was arrested by the FSB and accused of espionage. Contrary to the behests of his grandfather and forgetting about his albeit short “KGB” past, Pavel Alekseevich zealously began to defend the spy, and even as his final speech at the trial he presented a twelve-page poem. It is surprising how the lawyer’s poetic work was not perceived by the court as an insult, because Astakhov did not allow himself to do this later, even in his famous television program “Hour of Judgment.” But ultimately the case was lost. Pope was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was eventually pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which he left for the United States.

No sooner had one high-profile case ended than Pavel Alekseevich again got involved in the fight against the authorities, and his client turned out to be none other than the head of the largest media holding in Russia at that time, Vladimir Gusinsky. There was talk that Astakhova was sent to Gusinsky (as well as Pope) by the FSB as a lawyer. Like, there are no former employees. But this version does not seem plausible, especially considering the fact that the media tycoon, in principle, liked to surround himself with former KGB officers. So, for example, the former head of the Fifth (ideological) Directorate of the KGB, Philip Bobkov, worked for Vladimir Alexandrovich.

Whatever it was, this time Pavel Alekseevich managed to ensure freedom for his client. First, he ensured that the arrested oligarch was released on his own recognizance. Then, through the joint efforts of Astakhov and another famous lawyer, Henry Reznik, they managed to drop the case. However, it was soon resumed, and along with it another criminal case was opened against Gusinsky, who, however, by that time had already managed to hide in Spain. But Interpol officers were waiting for Vladimir Alexandrovich on the Iberian Peninsula.

And here Pavel Alekseevich came into play again, who conducted a loud and very competent PR campaign, thanks to which the fugitive oligarch, persecuted for fraud, appeared before the world community as a “victim of the regime.” Gusinsky was initially released on bail, and then a Spanish judge refused to extradite him to Russian law enforcement agencies.

Upon returning to Russia, Astakhov immediately took up a new business. This time his client was famous TV presenter Sergei Dorenko, who ran over a captain of the first rank from the General Staff of the Navy on a motorcycle. And again Pavel Alekseevich tried to transfer the matter to the political plane.

Despite his connections with the family of Yuri Luzhkov, which he acquired through communication with Gusinsky, Astakhov argued that the criminal case against Dorenko was initiated precisely at the instigation of the mayor of Moscow, because Sergei Leonidovich at that time published a lot of incriminating evidence on Luzhkov and his wife Elena Baturina. As a result, Dorenko refused the services of the famous lawyer when he was sentenced to four years of probation.

American past

Thanks to the high-profile cases of Gusinsky and Pope, Pavel Alekseevich aroused considerable interest among Americans. He was invited to a round table organized by the US Congress, and then offered to study at the University of Pittsburgh. If now Astakhov does not advertise his American past, then in those days he liked to mention the “higher” education received in Pittsburgh, calling the USA, with a breath in his voice, his “second home.” In fact, obtaining a higher education at an American university was reduced to just a year-long course at the School of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, and defending a dissertation (as Pavel Alekseevich himself loudly called his work) was just writing a term paper.

Having left his overseas alma mater, Astakhov returned to Moscow, where he continued to adhere to the principle: the more scandalous the occasion, the better for his legal career. In 2003, he volunteered to defend Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who had been overthrown by American troops. As a result, the former Iraqi leader was executed without using the services of a Russian lawyer, but Pavel Alekseevich’s “recognizability bank” once again received more capital.

The girl got the Tajik drunk

But Astakhov gained the greatest popularity in 2004, when his program “Hour of Judgment” was broadcast on the REN TV channel. The show featured a trial in which Pavel Alekseevich, banging his gavel, called the actors portraying the plaintiffs and defendants to order, and after the show explained to the audience Russian laws on which he made this or that decision.

Modern "Romeo and Juliet"

In 2005, Astakhov again found a high-profile case for himself. It’s hard to believe, but the future Commissioner for Children’s Rights took it upon himself to protect... a pedophile. This story happened with a ten-year-old orphan girl who lived with her grandmother, who rented one of the two rooms of her apartment to a young Tajik Bakhtier. This same Bakhtier seduced a girl, and she gave birth to a child a year later, at the age of eleven. Since the Tajik, according to documents, was only fourteen years old, the media presented this story as a modern variation of “Romeo and Juliet.” But “Romeo” turned out to be an impostor, since he was not fourteen-year-old Bakhtiyor at all, but eighteen-year-old Khabibula Pakhtakhonov, who lived according to the documents of his own younger brother. It would seem that there could be no excuses for this, but Pavel Alekseevich nevertheless volunteered to lead this case.

As usual, Astakhov actively used television to promote his popularity. He willingly gave comments and dragged the young defendants in the case to various programs. Pavel Alekseevich’s main argument was the fact that the girl had previously been raped by Caucasians. Not only was this argument strange, to put it mildly, but it also did not correspond to reality. However, the victim confirmed everything, receiving fees for appearances on television programs.

At the trial, Pavel Alekseevich even put forward the version that a ten-year-old girl gave the poor Tajik a glass of champagne and seduced him, because she really liked him. As a result, Khabibula received a suspended sentence, Russian citizenship and began to live with the girl and her child on child benefit and grandmother’s pension. But viewers of all kinds of talk shows were able to rejoice at the modern “Romeo and Juliet” and once again admire the lawyer from “Court Hour”.

Book about a lawyer

In 2006, the mayor of Volgograd, Evgeniy Ishchenko, was accused of abuse of power, illegal business and storage of ammunition. The head of the city's fortune at that time totaled $70 million.

And again Astakhov, not afraid to “get dirty,” volunteered to defend Yevgeny Petrovich. As a result, the thieving former mayor was given one year in prison on two charges, which he had already served in pre-trial detention, and on the third charge he was completely acquitted.

In addition to his career as a lawyer and TV presenter, Pavel Alekseevich also tried himself in the writing field. In 2007, his book was published about a lawyer fighting for the truth with "". The aspiring writer in his book did not always even change the names of actual government representatives. It is difficult to say how critics assessed the work, but the Main Investigation Department of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate noticed this book, considering it “slanderous.” Astakhov was summoned to the Koptevskaya interdistrict prosecutor's office “to give an explanation.”

It cannot be said that this particular incident radically influenced Pavel Alekseevich; most likely, the lawyer simply realized that today it is necessary to act according to new stencils. One way or another, he abandoned his struggle with the system and decided to completely fit into it. In November 2007, Astakhov founded the “For Putin” movement, which he himself headed. Then there was a large-scale meeting of the movement in Tver. At first, Pavel Alekseevich intended to collect signatures so that the current President would agree to lead the country for the third time in a row. But when the head of state made it clear that he did not intend to violate the Constitution, Astakhov said that in the person of Vladimir Putin he was not choosing the President, but the “owner of the country.”

Member of the Public Chamber

Astakhov's reformatting did not go unnoticed. In 2008 he was elected a member of the Public Chamber Russian Federation, where he joined the Commission on Communications, Information Policy and Freedom of Speech in the Media, as well as the Inter-Commission working group on organizing the expert activities of the Public Chamber.

It was then that he first became involved in the problems of children, taking part in the development of the “Concept public policy in the field of spiritual and moral education of children in the Russian Federation and the protection of their morality.” Despite the fact that the Concept was criticized even by pro-government media, Pavel Alekseevich’s diligence was appreciated, and already in December 2009 he was appointed Commissioner under the President of the Russian Federation for Children’s Rights. The powers of a member of the Public Chamber of Astakhov were terminated.

Children's Ombudsman

The Children's Ombudsman took off right off the bat and began visiting the most different corners our vast country. He traveled all over the region, and everywhere he visited orphanages, boarding schools, schools, orphanages, personally communicated with children and delved into all the problems. Only the rider that the human rights activist presented as a greeter aroused quiet bewilderment and indignation among them. Most often, you could see an AUDI A8 or Mercedes S-Class car, an escort in the form of a traffic police crew, security, a double luxury room with a treadmill, and lunch in the diocese was often included as an obligatory item. At the same time, he resolved all issues with dismissals. After Astakhov’s visit, the heads of children’s institutions very often lost their posts, and this in no way depended on how much they really deserved such a decision.

Pavel Alekseevich, accustomed to noisy PR, was actively looking for a topic that would give him the opportunity to promote himself as a defender of children's rights. And such a topic appeared in 2010. American Torrie Ann Hansen returned to Russian Orphanage the child she adopted six months ago, Artem Savelyev. It was then that Astakhov realized that today the fight against Americans who abuse adopted children from Russia may be more relevant than ever. Despite the fact that, for example, in 2009 Russian families More than eight thousand children were returned to orphanages, and only one was foreign. The Commissioner for Children's Rights replicated this case with enviable success.

Pavel Alekseevich publicly stated that he would not give “his Artemka” to anyone. According to Astakhov, a whole queue lined up to adopt Artem Savelyev, and the family of the famous Russian diplomat was number one in it. Years passed, and Artem Savelyev continued to live in a family-type orphanage, the so-called. children's village "SOS". Pavel Alekseevich no longer remembers him.

In the same year, there was another high-profile case involving the children's ombudsman. A pupil of boarding school No. 2 in the city of Izhevsk, Artur Rubinchikov, who was expecting his majority any day now, provoked a riot in order to fire the director of the boarding school. Arthur incited other students to revolt with the help of threats and stabbings. The Commissioner for Children's Rights, who arrived at the scene, insisted on the dismissal of the director of the boarding school, as well as a number of ministers of Udmurtia and other officials. The children from the boarding school tried to keep their mentor and even wrote a letter to Astakhov, but he was adamant, noting that it was inappropriate to take into account the children’s opinion in such matters. As a result, the director was indeed fired.

How strange it is, but an ardent opponent of foreign adoption actively participated in the creation of a bilateral agreement on adoption between Russia and the United States. True, this agreement was more like a lobby for business agencies for international adoption, since an American family could now shelter an orphan from Russia only through specific accredited agencies, whose services cost from forty to fifty thousand dollars.

Ban on adoption

However, during a “direct line” with Vladimir Putin, who at that time was the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Pavel Alekseevich proposed banning foreign adoption altogether. At the same time, Astakhov was not at all embarrassed by the fact that his proposal contradicted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. For this statement, he was criticized by his colleagues.

For example, the Commissioner for Children's Rights in Moscow, Galina Semiya, drew attention to the fact that the Children's Ombudsman deliberately promotes a few cases of cruel treatment of children in foreign families who have adopted a Russian child and does not pay attention to the same facts in Russian adoptive families, although they are much more common. Alina Levitskaya, director of the department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, spoke about the same thing. Even the then President Dmitry Medvedev directly pointed out to Pavel Alekseevich this fact in person.

But, despite all the comments, Astakhov was already so incensed by his activities in this area that he began to see this as almost the main mission of the Commissioner for Children's Rights. Therefore, when the question arose of how to respond to the American authorities, who had just adopted the Magnitsky Law, Pavel Alekseevich was already standing at the door of the Kremlin offices with a ready-made project.

For some reason, the children's ombudsman proposed a response to the law that closed American bank accounts for Russian officials with the help of Russian orphans who could find a home in an American family. The ban on American adoption caused bewilderment among most representatives of the presidential administration and government, because it was enough that Russian citizens had priority in adoption over American ones.

But Astakhov raised and disseminated a scandalous story concerning the one-and-a-half-year-old child Dima Yakovlev, who died in 2008 in the USA. Dima was adopted by an American family from a Russian orphanage. Adoptive parents They left the child in the car in thirty-degree heat for nine hours, which is why he died. A few years later this tragic story began to be used to promote a ban on American adoption. Pavel Alekseevich claimed that the grandparents were prevented from establishing custody of the child and their signatures authorizing the adoption were forged.

Eventually, a law prohibiting US citizens from adopting Russian children was passed. This law was nicknamed “Dima Yakovlev’s Law.” Because of his adoption, 46 orphans were unable to find a family, only because the adoption procedure was not completed on time. Astakhov urged not to make a tragedy out of this. In his opinion, there was nothing wrong with the fact that the children had already become accustomed to their potential parents, because they still “remained in the bank of orphans left without parental care.” For some reason, Pavel Alekseevich was sure that this fact should console them.

Adoption plan

The Commissioner for Human Rights himself promised that the system of orphanages and boarding schools would be destroyed in the near future, and that he would be able to find families for all orphans through monetary incentives. He began to put his promises into practice without choosing any methods. Orphanages were given standards to fulfill the adoption plan, and increased cash benefits were provided to help them. foster families. As a result, families who simply wanted to improve their financial situation flocked to the orphans. But no one was going to check their readiness for adoption and the sincerity of their desires, because no one wanted to lose their places for not fulfilling the plan. As a result, the rates of secondary orphanhood have increased significantly. At the same time, for children who are returned to an orphanage for the second time, the chances of being re-adopted are low, not to mention the psychological trauma they receive. As a result, the number of orphans only began to grow.

In 2013, Astakhov reported that a Russian orphan, Maxim Kuzmin, adopted by this family, died in one of the American families. According to the children's ombudsman, the child's adoptive mother fed him psychotropic substances and severely beat him. The child, according to Pavel Alekseevich, received multiple injuries and died a violent death. As it turned out later (Astakhov himself, in particular, admitted this), all this data did not correspond to reality, since the child received a fatal injury while playing on the playground.

Remained in the American family brother Maxima, Kirill. Pavel Alekseevich found him my own mother Yulia, brought her along with her next partner to Moscow, where she, for a separate fee, appeared on a central television program and announced that she had found a job and intended to get her son back. Returning home, Yulia and her partner, being in drunk, created chaos in the carriage of the Moscow-Pskov train, for which they were thrown out. As it turned out, Julia did not find any work and continued to lead a riotous lifestyle, and she was unlikely to return the child.

It was rumored that Astakhov specifically carried out this kind of PR because he hoped to create a separate ministry for orphans’ affairs. But not everyone approved of such working methods. And then it turned out that Pavel Alekseevich’s doctoral dissertation entitled “Legal conflicts and modern forms of their resolution (Theoretical and legal research)” was almost completely falsified. And when the doctor of legal sciences was asked about his supervisor, he could not even remember his name. Demands poured in from various movements and parties to remove Astakhov from the post of Commissioner for Children's Rights. But this never happened.

France Lover

It should be noted that various calls from politicians and social activists regarding Pavel Alekseevich were heard more than once. So, after the adoption of the “Dima Yakovlev Law”, the human rights organization “Children’s Right” appealed to French President Francois Hollande with a request to ban Astakhov from entering the country. It was not by chance that they chose France, because that’s where the “patriot’s” family lives. And the “Russophile” prefers to spend his holidays abroad, for example in Monte Carlo.

Pavel Alekseevich once said on the radio: “I want my children to grow up here, so that my grandchildren will be Russian and speak Russian.” But the most youngest child Astakhova, Arseny, was born in France. This is where the Astakhov family lives, which has an apartment in Monaco with an area of ​​176 square meters. Not only did the birth take place in one of the most expensive clinics in Europe (and in the ward in which Angelina Jolie lay before his wife), but the Astakhovs also baptized their child in Cannes. At the same time, Pavel Alekseevich explained this by saying that clinics in Russia are very expensive, and in France there is excellent service. Why the Russian churches did not please him, he never bothered to explain.

Children abroad

At the same time, his eldest son spent half of his childhood in America and England. He even studied at Oxford, but did not complete his studies because he was bored there. He continued his studies in London, but even there young man I didn’t like it because they taught “not practical, but theoretical things.”

It would seem that we have before us a true patriot, but alas, Anton Pavlovich also speaks unflatteringly about Russian schools. According to him, in Russian schools he “only spoiled his language,” but when he began to travel to America, “he began to speak normally.” In Moscow, Anton became famous primarily for causing an accident in his BMW 5 Series on 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, while being drunk.

The middle son Artem modestly studied at elite school in Moscow, where children arrive in Rolls-Royces. But Artem Pavlovich, unlike his older brother, was always distinguished by his piety, and even helped lead Sunday services in Orthodox churches. True, for some reason he chose the Russian church in Cannes for good deeds.

Early emancipation

As you can see, when necessary, Pavel Alekseevich easily compromises his principles. So in May 2015, in the Chechen Republic, an illegal wedding was arranged between a seventeen-year-old girl and the fifty-seven-year-old head of the Nozhai-Yurtovsky district police department of the republic, Nazhid Guchigov, who already had a wife. This fact did not bother Astakhov, he only noted that “in the Caucasus, emancipation and puberty occur earlier,” and women there “are already wrinkled at twenty-seven years old, and by our standards they are under fifty.” In response to this, Russian women began posting photos of themselves on Instagram with grimaces on their faces and the hashtag #wrinkledwoman.

For his ability to grasp “where the wind is blowing”, Pavel Alekseevich is also often met halfway. Thus, the Office of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights was given an entire floor of the building of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, where expensive renovations costing almost half a billion rubles were recently completed. It is difficult to imagine how many employees must work to support the activities of one ombudsman.

Pavel Alekseevich Astakhov chose “self-PR at any cost” as the principle for building his career. At the same time, he doesn’t care how this “self-PR” will take place: through frowning eyebrows in a television program simulating a trial or cheerful poetic graphomania during a real trial; fighting the system or completely integrating into it; protection of pedophiles or bans on adoptions by foreign families; boasting about American education or pompous patriotism. Astakhov understands that anything will do, you just need to choose the right place and time. While teaching us all to love our Motherland, the Children's Ombudsman himself hardly gives great importance in your own words. After all, his heart is now in Monaco, where he is best able to reflect on the fate of Russian children.

In the fall of 2016, Pavel Alekseevich Astakhov was relieved of his post as Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. The decree was signed by Vladimir Putin.

It seems that resignations on Fridays are becoming a tradition in the Kremlin. On Friday, August 12, Anton Vaino replaced Sergei Ivanov as head of the Presidential Administration. On Friday, August 19, Olga Vasilyeva came on shift former head Ministry of Education Dmitry Livanov. And here's another Friday appointment. The commissioner for children's rights under the President of Russia, Pavel Astakhov, was dismissed, and ONF activist from Penza Anna Kuznetsova became the new children's ombudsman.

“Well, how was your swim?”

Fatal for the career of a children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhova These were exactly the words. An absurdly cynical phrase was heard in a dialogue with children who survived the tragedy on Syamozero - and outraged... Yes, one might say, the whole country. The circles in the water began to spread widely; the petition for Astakhov’s resignation on the Change.org website alone collected 160 thousand signatures. Petitions on the Internet, of course, have no actual force, but the voice of the people was heard.

“Is he still working?” - the presidential press secretary was surprised in response to questions about Astakhov Dmitry Peskov. Clarifying the situation, he clarified that the Kremlin hopes that Astakhov will not have to be dismissed from his post, he will leave on his own: “We still proceed from the fact that, in theory, upon returning from vacation, he meant to resign. This is what we’re proceeding from for now; I don’t have any other information.”. The Ombudsman himself declined to comment. On the contrary, he was noted in the press with indignant statements about the scandal in Moscow school No. 57 - as if giving a sign: I’m still here, I’m in business.

Astakhov was on vacation until September 8. On the last day before my dismissal, I managed to celebrate my 50th anniversary. And on Friday, September 9, a laconic message appeared on the Kremlin website: “Vladimir Putin, by his Decree, relieved Pavel Astakhov from the post of Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights at his own request”.

“Dima Yakovlev’s Law” and fatal clauses

Pavel Astakhov has been involved in protecting the rights of children since December 2009, before which he managed to build a successful legal career (including, according to Astakhov, 16 years of work in the field of family law), and gained fame as a TV presenter of the popular program “Court Hour”. TO new job He began with enthusiasm: for two years he visited almost all regions with inspections, finding out the living conditions of children in orphanages, young patients in hospitals and correctional centers, and minors in colonies. And yet, many Russians do not have the best impression of Astakhov’s seven-year work. The main thing he managed to be remembered for in his position as the all-Russian defender of children was the notorious “Dima Yakovlev law”, prohibiting the foreign adoption of orphans from Russia. Pavel Astakhov was one of his most active supporters; in particular, he personally approached the president with an initiative to ban international adoption. The adopted law, according to people closely familiar with the problem, did not protect, but, on the contrary, disadvantaged many Russian disabled children, who have too little chance of ending up in a foster family in their homeland.

Pavel Astakhov was also remembered thanks to the not very thoughtful statements that regularly rolled off the tongue. Commenting on the sensational wedding of the head of one of the Chechen police departments and a 17-year-old girl, he tactlessly noted that “Emancipation and puberty occur earlier in the Caucasus, let’s not be hypocrites. There are places where women are already wrinkled at 27 years old, and by our standards they are under 50.” Speaking about the 13-year-old girl who almost became disabled after she decided to sneak into a zoo and tease a tiger, a children's advocate suggested giving her a “Darwin Award” - which, as we know, is awarded for the most senseless, ridiculous death. And finally, the last straw - “Well, how did you swim?” addressed to the children, 14 of whose comrades drowned during a storm just a day ago. Trying to justify himself, Pavel Astakhov later explained that the phrase was allegedly taken out of context, that psychologists even recommend conducting conversations with victims in exactly this tone... And yet, fellow citizens did not understand. The outrage was so obvious that the Commissioner for Children’s Rights was invited to “ serious conversation"with the president. After which Pavel Astakhov wrote a letter of resignation of his own free will.

They didn’t force him out—they let him leave quietly. But they didn’t hold back either. No need.

The priest's wife

There were many speculations about who would replace Astakhov as children's ombudsman. The most “popular” was, perhaps, a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia Elizaveta Glinka, “Doctor Lisa,” as she is more often called both in newspaper publications and in in social networks. There have been suggestions that the former children's ombudsman for Moscow could be appointed to this position Alexey Golovan or Elena Alshanskaya, President of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation, there were other candidates. But closer to “Day H” it became clear that the most likely option is the 34-year-old Anna Kuznetsova, head of the executive committee of the branch of the All-Russian Popular Front in Penza, operator of presidential grants. In the spring, she won the United Russia primaries and is on the party’s electoral list. She was also approved for the post of Commissioner for Children's Rights. On the eve of her appointment, Kuznetsova attended a reception with Vladimir Putin.

Dmitry Peskov explained why they chose Kuznetsova: “Various candidates were considered. Naturally, the candidacies of those, let’s say, public figures and those citizens who are for last years worked actively within public structures, and those who were active in a related area related to the protection of children's rights. ...What’s most important is that she herself gave birth to six children. ... She has a wealth of experience, and her human qualities allow us to hope that she can be an effective ombudsman.”.

You will probably be surprised, but I do not aspire to become a deputy, minister, or “someone else”. I want to do what is dear to me, what I have always done: help families, women in trouble, children... At first I could just support with a word, then we began to help with products, then we opened a helpline, where besides us , psychologists, lawyers also helped, then they began renting housing to mothers with children in their arms who had nowhere to go, and then they opened the Pokrov shelter. If I wanted to earn good money, I would become a businessman, if I wanted ranks, then I would probably go into public service... But for me, the public path is very dear, because I went through it from the very beginning, all the difficulties, all the problems were “mine”.

From Anna Kuznetsova’s interview with the Penza-Online portal

Anna Kuznetsova – mother of many children, founder of the Pokrov fund for the support of family, motherhood and childhood and the Association of Organizations for the Defense of the Family. As they say, he has a positive experience of cooperation with the Presidential Administration and the Public Chamber. The wife of a priest - and therefore, it can be assumed that in the post of ombudsman she will defend the priority of what is commonly called traditional values. We'll see how it really turns out. So far, Kuznetsova has said that she intends to complete all the cases in Penza in the near future, assemble a reliable team and get serious about planning her future work as an ombudsman. The priorities are solving the problems of orphanhood and defending the child’s right to live and be raised in a family. In particular, Kuznetsova intends to lobby for the development of that same “Dima Yakovlev law” for which her predecessor was so criticized. “Of course, you need to help your children yourself in your own country,– says the new children's ombudsman. – But all these prohibitive measures, including those, must be comprehensive. That is, they must be accompanied by support measures, including to encourage the adoption of both disabled children and children with special needs from orphanages in Russia. Of course, there must be consistency, the next stages of this law, these restrictive measures.”.

Pavel Astakhov welcomed the appointment of Anna Kuznetsova, writing on Instagram: “This is a very worthy person and a very wise choice of president. I sincerely congratulate Anna Yuryevna and wish her God’s Help in this difficult field!”.

Nothing is known yet about Pavel Astakhov’s plans for further employment.