Kremlin 2017: Russian Political RP [IC THREAD]

[Aureumterra]

Alexei Chudov
Today at 7:17 AM

Communism has failed Russia once, and luckily, the younger folks in this country are seeing the wonders of progress! We will not repeat our mistakes

[The Archipelago Territory]

Viktor Serebrov
I have to say that Chudov is right. Communism shouldn’t be a political issue. The last time communism was in play in Russia we had the KGB running around and arresting members of the Kremlin in a power coup. And look how it turned Venezuela, a former world power, into a failed state.

[Yaana Noore]

Arkady Sapozhnik

White House, Moscow, Russia

"Privyet, Prime Minister," he said, taking a seat and offering his hand across the desk. At the mention of the article Sapozhnik gave a shake of his head, laughing it off. "Oh yes, that. No, no, I am not after that. Merely paper talk," He waved away. Noting Serebrov's forwardness in his offers, he felt he might as well be himself. "Now you say it however, a minsterial position would be very interesting to me." Foreign affairs did intrigue him, but the idea of defending a foreign policy that he ultimately had little control of did put the dampener on the idea. Industry and Trade meanwhile did not seem to offer an exciting enough challenge. "Those are interesting offers, though I was actually thinking, considering my business acumen and skill with managing money," he gestured to the folder on him that Serebrov had taken out. "That Finance would be a very suitable office for me to serve the government."

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

(Image)
I have to say that Chudov is right. Communism shouldn’t be a political issue. The last time communism was in play in Russia we had the KGB running around and arresting members of the Kremlin in a power coup. And look how it turned Venezuela, a former world power, into a failed state.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Venezuela....A socialist state? I've never heard such stupidity in my life, and I've heard a lot of stupid things. How genuinely stupid are you on a scale from neoliberal economics to thinking that Stalin killed 40 million people?

[The Archipelago Territory]

“I see. You would make a good finance minister, considering your business accomplishments” replies Serebrov, understanding Sapozhnik felt safer managing money than foreign policy. “It did seem that you didn’t leave a lasting impression on Zhirov, though. That could be an obstacle. I’ll tell Zhirov I want to name you Minister of Finance and see what he thinks. Perhaps he would be okay putting you on a trial basis by making you the acting minister of finance before seeking confirmation from the Duma?” Serebrov asked, knowing that Sapozhnik wouldn’t want to decline such an offer. He made a subconscious attempt to hide the cases of money Konavolav left on his desk.

“Either way, we’ll have to convince Zhirov you’re the right one for the job.”

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

(Image)
Alexei Chudov
Today at 7:17 AM

Communism has failed Russia once, and luckily, the younger folks in this country are seeing the wonders of progress! We will not repeat our mistakes

What progress? Economic growth is slower than it was under the Soviet Union, unemployment and alcoholism are skyrocketing and living standards are plummeting. If this is what you call progress, then I shall stand against it until I am crushed by your tanks. Capitalism requires violence to enforce and you know it.

[Endem]

(Image)
Alexei Chudov
Today at 7:17 AM

Communism has failed Russia once, and luckily, the younger folks in this country are seeing the wonders of progress! We will not repeat our mistakes

What progress? Economic growth is slower than it was under the Soviet Union, unemployment and alcoholism are skyrocketing and living standards are plummeting. If this is what you call progress, then I shall stand against it until I am crushed by your tanks. Capitalism requires violence to enforce and you know it.

Aleksei Ivan Iwanow
Today at 7:34

Isn't the same true for communism, the revolution of 1917, the Great Purge, Gulags, millions imprisoned and killed under dubious circumstances. I say, no, it's communism that needs itself to be supported by bloody revolutions and tyrants, I think we have enough example's of this already.

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

What progress? Economic growth is slower than it was under the Soviet Union, unemployment and alcoholism are skyrocketing and living standards are plummeting. If this is what you call progress, then I shall stand against it until I am crushed by your tanks. Capitalism requires violence to enforce and you know it.

Aleksei Ivan Iwanow
Today at 7:34

Isn't the same true for communism, the revolution of 1917, the Great Purge, Gulags, millions imprisoned and killed under dubious circumstances. I say, no, it's communism that needs itself to be supported by bloody revolutions and tyrants, I think we have enough example's of this already.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Ah, so you don't deny that things have been worse since we've ended socialism?

[Endem]

Aleksei Ivan Iwanow
Today at 7:34

Isn't the same true for communism, the revolution of 1917, the Great Purge, Gulags, millions imprisoned and killed under dubious circumstances. I say, no, it's communism that needs itself to be supported by bloody revolutions and tyrants, I think we have enough example's of this already.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Ah, so you don't deny that things have been worse since we've ended socialism?

Aleksei Ivan Iwanow
Today at 7:38

I can't accept what is a lie and can't deny what is true. Or, in other words, I didn't address it there, because I knew everybody except you know that conditions are not the best, because Soviet Union didn't bother improving them and too little time has passed for Russia to fully recover

[Yaana Noore]

Arkady Sapozhnik

White House, Moscow, Russia

Sapozhnik gave a nod. "I am happy you agree, Prime Minister. Seems the President was not all that taken with me however. Now that is a shame." He said, sounding untroubled. Despite the public miscommunication Zhirov had got those thoughts over fast.

"Regardless, I would be happy to fulfill the role in an acting capacity, for it gives the President a good opportunity to see if I am able. I trust his - and your - judgements." For a moment his eyes ran over the two cases but quickly flitted away, lingering but for a second and not reacting to them. Confident in his own abilities, operating in the job on a trial did not prove any deterrent.

"And if there is anything else I can do to assist you Prime Minister, do not hesitate to ask."

[Endem]

Rally

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow

Preparations were made, a few speakers stood on a small platform on which Aleksei stood, it was still an hour before the event would start. Aleksei was nervous, he knew about 700 people will come, mostly young, if not all, this, for some reason didn't calm Aleksei, though, because young would come it would mean young people supported the idea of Russia moving closer to Europe, and young people will be the ones to shape Russia in future... But, one word could be enough for Aleksei to lose everything he gained so far. A small van rode near, ahh, so they came, Aleksei managed to get Radio Mayak to be interested in the event, he greeted the operator of the equipment and had a small talk before going on to other things. After a bit some representative's from the Yabloko party arrived, Aleksei greeted them. Finally, the people Aleksei contracted to distribute banners, Aleksei spent a lot of money on this, good thing he wasn't a person to have such big spending in common. And, now as everything was about to commence the 700 people arrived. Aleksei turned on the microphone and started speaking

"Hello everyone, I am pleasantly surprised by the number of people that came today to just listen to me, so, on to the topic, I'm not here to criticize how our government runs our country economy, but, to address our countries foreign policy. I need to say this, Russia needs to be closer to the World. So many people see our country as the antagonist of the world simply because for the past century we were ruled by a faulty economic system, I want to show the world that Russia changed. As you may or may not know, I'm from the city of Kaliningrad, and, I traveled quite a lot in my time and I saw what people thought of us, many of our neighbors think, we are the danger. I want to change that thinking, I want to make us look better in the eyes of the world, and I hope you will help in achieving this task." the sentence could be interpreted in various ways, either Aleksei prompting everybody to reelect him for the Duma, or, Aleksei prompting everybody to help and spread this idea "Now, I see a lot of young people in the crowd, that's good, that is very good, as you will be the people to shape the future of this great country, and I hope, you will lead Russia onto the right direction. I'm fairly sure most of the people gathered today have a VKontake account, I want you to take out your phone and post this simple message, Russia Together with World" Aleksei wanted to invoke a sense of unity in the crowd through this, as after saying this he took out his own phone, wrote it and before posting he held his phone up for everyone to see and clicked the button to post, after seeing similar messages pop up he spoke again "this simple phrase is a symbol of what we want and strive to achieve! I hope these words will live with you when you will be making decisions that could change this country" Aleksei paused took a deep breath and said "Thank you for listening to me, I'm sure you will make the right decisions in future"

He then left the podium and for a little bit no one was there, to give people time to consider what Aleksei just said, but soon, to keep people invested, someone else took his place, yet another speaker Aleksei invited, the person that was speaking right now would probably touch on tones similar to Aleksei's speech... After all, the next person was from the same party... After the speeches part, there were almost 30 minutes left of the whole event. Aleksei once again stood on the stage

"I want to tell about someone. My father, he was a simple fisherman, we went out fishing many times, so many times, we visited various ports. Once on the boat, far away from ears that could hear us, he said that he would like to live to the day that we won't need to worry that some foreign fleet will come to the docks or some foreign army will occupy the city, this day still did not happen, this day may be far away, but, if we want, if truly want such a day to come, we will be able to change this country" Aleksei than paused, to give people time to think of what he said... They had very little time and as the hour drew to a close the rally did so too, Aleksei smiled, the people that came looked like they weren't very bored... But, he needed to do something that gave him the ultimate victory, so, as only a few minutes were left of the rally he leaned to the microphone and said "Remeber, Russia Together With World!" With that, the rally officially ended

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

The Counter-Rally

About 1,500 people had turned up for the rally, mostly CPRF members that aligned with Kyrlyakov. The CPRF had funded all the spending for the rally, as it was a big and extravagant one. Veterans of the Red Army (not of the modern Russian Army) were placed in front, wearing military uniforms as the rest of the crowd cheered them on. In fact, Kyrlyakov himself was in uniform, wearing the old clothes he had worn during his time in the Politburo, which was a red trench coat covered in medals and in awards, along with a clean, white shirt under it. To some, it was merely a nostalgia rally. However, to others, it was the beginning of an era. It was effectively a show of force for the CPRF, and it had drowned out Aleksei's rally significantly. A journalist jokingly commented: "If anything, it was Aleksei that had to resist Kyrlyakov, rather than the other way around.". After about 30 minutes of singing Soviet hymns and even the Soviet anthem and the Internationale, Kyrlyakov began to speak.

"Samuel P. Huntington once said:“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”. And so, we shall never forget. To some, the West is salvation and justice. But that is far from the truth. The West is a wolf with dark, crimson eyes and teeth covered in the blood of innocents. It never hesitates to kill those it deems are 'lesser peoples'. The Western wolf is a vulture-like being, eating the innocent peoples of the third world, unleashing a deluge of blood and fire. The right and the liberals want to ally with this wolf, feeding the Russian people to its maws, as the claws of the demonic beast seize our land, our freedom and our sovereignty! Your brothers, your sisters, your sons and your daughters, all fed to a ravenous wolf which seeks to rule the world and all beneath it. It is a beast directly from hell, wielding the sword of the devil, stained with the blood of millions.

The Western cannibal has brought wrath upon the world, killing tens of millions in nothing less than genocide. It murders children through plagues and those that survive are put to work as slaves in large pits to harvest blood diamonds. It wipes out entire peoples in the name of establishing an apartheid state. This may seem like lies, but the bodies from which the cannibal had its feast from lay upon every shore of the land. The truth is laid clear upon shores of blood and death, of war and of terrorism: the West are bloodsucking cannibals. Hate fills every bit of its soul, as even in the 'shining city on the hill' it builds great walls to keep out the masses it has made homeless and starving. It sends those it deems to be 'criminals' to what are effectively concentration camps where they are forced to sleep on the floor without heat and have nothing but foil to cover themselves, as 100 are stuffed into a single bedroom. What they call their lesser peoples are removed from the neighbourhoods of the 'master race' and are locked up en masse as the police are allowed to shoot them with no punishment whatsoever. Is this the land we want to become? One of hate, one of war and one of genocide?

We must forge a new path, and protect those the West has done wrong. It was once the Soviet bear that did this. Now let us carry forth our legacy as protectors of the oppressed, and strike back at the cannibals of the West! Death to the West! Death to the West! Death to the West!"

The crowd chanted with him, as several thousand cries of "Death to the West!" ring across Moscow, as many are dragged into it. The magnitude of the shouting and chanting was so loud that Aleksei's rally was completely drowned out, as though it was not present in any way, shape or form. It was the most deafening thing in the world. But the onlookers now knew the truth: the Russian people did not want to ally with the West.[

[Endem]

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
Aleksei's home
an hour after his rally

Aleksei smiled as he saw the recording of the counter protest Kyrylakow organized, he then spoke to himself
"You gave me a weapon, that I shall strike with" he then took out his phone and accessed VK

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:03 a.m

I think the Communists and Kyrylakow truly showed their colors today. I tried to preach a message of peace, while he tried defeaning people with a message of violence. I kept things civilized, while Kyrylakow only shouted... Some historical parallels make their way into my mind, but, I will not tell them. But, considering this facts, can we truly trust someone like him and can we trust people spreading such a message. I think not #RussiaTogetherWithWorld

Thought, at least the 700 that came for his rally listened, and the radio broadcasted his message, who knew if Kyrylakow didn't win this round simply because he belonged to a bigger party

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:03 a.m

I think the Communists and Kyrylakow truly showed their colors today. I tried to preach a message of peace, while he tried defeaning people with a message of violence. I kept things civilized, while Kyrylakow only shouted... Some historical parallels make their way into my mind, but, I will not tell them. But, considering this facts, can we truly trust someone like him and can we trust people spreading such a message. I think not #RussiaTogetherWithWorld

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Peace isn't what we need when we deal with genocidal cannibals. I want to stand up for the oppressed peoples of the third world, you want to join the imperialists in a merry band of bloodshed.

[Endem]

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:03 a.m

I think the Communists and Kyrylakow truly showed their colors today. I tried to preach a message of peace, while he tried defeaning people with a message of violence. I kept things civilized, while Kyrylakow only shouted... Some historical parallels make their way into my mind, but, I will not tell them. But, considering this facts, can we truly trust someone like him and can we trust people spreading such a message. I think not #RussiaTogetherWithWorld

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Peace isn't what we need when we deal with genocidal cannibals. I want to stand up for the oppressed peoples of the third world, you want to join the imperialists in a merry band of bloodshed.

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:10

If you didn't notice, it was the Western World that organized UN and it' peace missions that saved so many, and, the people of the third world are not oppressed by the West, but by their dictators and leaders. You are using hate speech, while I use facts.

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Peace isn't what we need when we deal with genocidal cannibals. I want to stand up for the oppressed peoples of the third world, you want to join the imperialists in a merry band of bloodshed.

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:10

If you didn't notice, it was the Western World that organized UN and it' peace missions that saved so many, and, the people of the third world are not oppressed by the West, but by their dictators and leaders. You are using hate speech, while I use facts.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Facts, eh? Here are the facts: the West have invaded more than 30 countries since WW2, leading to 20 million victims of Western imperialism. Now, if we turn to the present, the West has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia who have handed it over to ISIS, along with Yemen which is currently suffering from a large cholera outbreak thanks to the West. ISIS exists because of Western intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. It is simple: the West are bloodthirsty tyrants.

[The Archipelago Territory]

Viktor Serebrov
We should not resort to such violence regarding our foreign policy. What happened to diplomacy? Now listen, I’m not saying Chudov is correct. We shouldn’t fraternize with the West when they repeatedly sanction us. But resorting to violence is communist propaganda at its worst. Invading the West would mean the end of world peace. All of NATO would retaliate. We would be sucked into war. And ISIS does not exist because of the west, it exists because of proxy wars. Russia should only negotiate with the west if they drop their sanctions, but we should not resort to war if they don’t.

[Endem]

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:10

If you didn't notice, it was the Western World that organized UN and it' peace missions that saved so many, and, the people of the third world are not oppressed by the West, but by their dictators and leaders. You are using hate speech, while I use facts.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Facts, eh? Here are the facts: the West have invaded more than 30 countries since WW2, leading to 20 million victims of Western imperialism. Now, if we turn to the present, the West has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia who have handed it over to ISIS, along with Yemen which is currently suffering from a large cholera outbreak thanks to the West. ISIS exists because of Western intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. It is simple: the West is bloodthirsty tyrants.

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:15

Now, let's look at this, Afghanistan, why did the West invade there, to stop various extremist and terrorist groups running rampant there. Iraq, to overthrow a bloody tyrant. And, the West never invaded Syria, the civil war there happened because the tyrant didn't want to step away from his throne. The West never knew Saudi Arabia would sell the weapons to ISIS. And, we can't drag Yemen Cholera Outbreak into this, as, the outbreak happened because the government of Yemen made a poor job of separating waste from clean water ( it definitely didn't help that there is a civil war going on there ). And finally, most of these 20 countries happened during the period known as the Cold War, nearly all of them were proxy wars that the Soviet Union also had a business in keeping them raging on.

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

Facts, eh? Here are the facts: the West have invaded more than 30 countries since WW2, leading to 20 million victims of Western imperialism. Now, if we turn to the present, the West has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia who have handed it over to ISIS, along with Yemen which is currently suffering from a large cholera outbreak thanks to the West. ISIS exists because of Western intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. It is simple: the West is bloodthirsty tyrants.

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:15

Now, let's look at this, Afghanistan, why did the West invade there, to stop various extremist and terrorist groups running rampant there. Iraq, to overthrow a bloody tyrant. And, the West never invaded Syria, the civil war there happened because the tyrant didn't want to step away from his throne. The West never knew Saudi Arabia would sell the weapons to ISIS. And, we can't drag Yemen Cholera Outbreak into this, as, the outbreak happened because the government of Yemen made a poor job of separating waste from clean water ( it definitely didn't help that there is a civil war going on there ). And finally, most of these 20 countries happened during the period known as the Cold War, nearly all of them were proxy wars that the Soviet Union also had a business in keeping them raging on.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

You mean the same groups funded by the West to overthrow the Soviet-backed Afghan Government? Alright...As for Iraq, we all know that was a fake. It was all just for oil and economic control. If the West thought Hussein was a tyrant, why did they praise him significantly before Haliburton got involved? The West do know, but they're still selling the weapons. The only reason the government of Yemen can't fix the cholera outbreak is because of the West. There's still more cases: what about the apartheid in Palestine?

[Endem]

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:15

Now, let's look at this, Afghanistan, why did the West invade there, to stop various extremist and terrorist groups running rampant there. Iraq, to overthrow a bloody tyrant. And, the West never invaded Syria, the civil war there happened because the tyrant didn't want to step away from his throne. The West never knew Saudi Arabia would sell the weapons to ISIS. And, we can't drag Yemen Cholera Outbreak into this, as, the outbreak happened because the government of Yemen made a poor job of separating waste from clean water ( it definitely didn't help that there is a civil war going on there ). And finally, most of these 20 countries happened during the period known as the Cold War, nearly all of them were proxy wars that the Soviet Union also had a business in keeping them raging on.

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

You mean the same groups funded by the West to overthrow the Soviet-backed Afghan Government? Alright...As for Iraq, we all know that was a fake. It was all just for oil and economic control. If the West thought Hussein was a tyrant, why did they praise him significantly before Haliburton got involved? The West do know, but they're still selling the weapons. The only reason the government of Yemen can't fix the cholera outbreak is because of the West. There's still more cases: what about the apartheid in Palestine?

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:15

I told you before and I shall again, we all made mistakes, no human that walks on Earth never made one, but they, unlike us, actually try to fix them, sometimes they make mistakes during this attempts. But, from all the conversation with you I can definitely say one thing, The opposed will always find arguments to oppose

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

You mean the same groups funded by the West to overthrow the Soviet-backed Afghan Government? Alright...As for Iraq, we all know that was a fake. It was all just for oil and economic control. If the West thought Hussein was a tyrant, why did they praise him significantly before Haliburton got involved? The West do know, but they're still selling the weapons. The only reason the government of Yemen can't fix the cholera outbreak is because of the West. There's still more cases: what about the apartheid in Palestine?

Aleksei Ivan Ivanow
12:15

I told you before and I shall again, we all made mistakes, no human that walks on Earth never made one, but they, unlike us, actually try to fix them, sometimes they make mistakes during this attempts. But, from all the conversation with you I can definitely say one thing, The opposed will always find arguments to oppose

Prodniz Kyrlyakov

They don't see their atrocities as mistakes. They see them as glory. They see them as victory. How are they trying to fix their mistakes if they don't realise their mistakes are mistakes in the first place?

[The Archipelago Territory]

“Thank you, Mr. Sapozhnik. I think we could discuss this in further detail when President Zhirov arrives at 2:00. If you could please allow me to meet with my Defense pick Vorshevsky in the meantime that would be appreciated.”

Serebrov takes out his phone and sends an encrypted message to his FSB security agent, who is currently in the room. As the agent decrypts it, he sees:

Keep an eye on him. He is fit for the job, but I trust Zhirov’s instincts.

[Greater Arab State]

The Kremlin, Moscow

Deputy Vorshevsky arrived outside the office of the Prime Minister and knocked on the door of the office at the scheduled time for the meeting.

[Yaana Noore]

Arkady Sapozhnik

White House, Moscow, Russia

"A pleasure, Prime Minister. I thank you for your time." With another nod he stood up and left, his assistant following him out the door. By the time they were in the limousine she was tapping away at her tablet, showing him a model cabinet that she had produced, speculating on who Serebrov's picks could be in the imminent reshuffle. Each position had a number of names afterward, with symbols to denote who was guaranteed to be in, names confirmed to be in the running, and those that were mere speculation. Based on what had just been learnt from Serebrov, Vorshevsky looked nailed on for defense, while Foreign Affairs and Trade suddenly lacked a most likely candidate. His own name meanwhile was taken out of the running for Foreign Affairs, and added solely to Finance. He'd done a small amount of preliminary reading around state finances as a precaution in case Serebrov had wished to hear a pitch then and there, but his focus now turned to getting better informed for when he was in the position.

---

"Do you think I made the correct decision?" He posed to her, lifting his eyes up from a paper by a thinktank based in Saint Petersburg. It was not a test, but rather a sincere question to know her feelings.

Marija tilted her head, pursing her lips in thought. "Oh, I don't know. I wasn't expecting him to just allow you to choose whatever you felt, he was very forthcoming..." She said.

"But?" Sapozhnik asked, perking an eyebrow.

"I did like the idea of being in Foreign Affairs." She conceded. "Travelling around the world on business. It would have been a real chance to improve relations with the west."

"Or, alternatively, defend an increasingly belligerent foreign policy that I ultimately cannot control. I'd be little more than a dancing monkey."

"Be kind. A monkey does not look half so good in a suit as you."

He chuckled, but soon changed the subject. "Vorshevsky in at Defence, hm. Decorated soldier, long-time member of the Duma, and a part of the Defence Committee. It's a solid choice, he has strong credentials." Sapozhnik admitted. "Quite the hawk, mind."

"I can't imagine that is a liberal hawk either," she teased.

"You could say that. He's always been in favour of escalation." Costly escalation, he thought, trying to get in the Finance Minister mindset.

"I am trying to work out where Konovalov could end up, but I am not sure. He's been out in Tver for years, but I imagine he is itching to get back to Moscow. Doing what, though?" Marija wondered. "It if were Trade Minister then Serebrov would not have so swiftly offered the position to you. Could it be Minister of Energy? Chariman of the State Duma?"

Sapozhnik shrugged and raised a hand, gesturing for her to stop. "Not to worry, I am sure we shall find out in due course. Zhirov and Serebrov will be meeting soon to discuss it, and then we will know. Still, what we do know he is likely to be in some position of influence. Make some calls, find out his number for me. It never hurts to form a strong working relationship."

Boris Konovalov

Boris!

What good fortune crossing paths with you in the White House earlier today. It has been such a long time since we last spoke, it would be good to have a chance to reminisce about past achievements. I do not know how long I shall be in Moscow for, so was wondering if I could interest you in joining me and Marija for dinner - tonight?

Arkady

[The Archipelago Territory]

Serebrov saw Vorshevsky as Sapozhnik left and gestured for him to come into his office. “Privyet Deputy Vorshevsky, please come take a seat.” Serebrov pulled out the dossier on him, but didn’t open it, knowing Vorshevsky was a strong candidate. “I would like to thank you for coming. Your credentials are strong, you look good on paper, but people remember what’s not on paper. I wanted to make you my Deputy, the First Deputy Chairman of The Government, but I don’t know you well enough yet. The Ministry of Defense has been left rudderless right now, would you like to take a position as the Defense Minister? When Zhirov arrives I can ask him to name you the Acting Minister. Then we could seek confirmation, which I’m sure you’ll get.”

Serebrov hesitated, then added “I’d have it known that if you accept the offer, we won’t invade the west. We’re not looking for war, but if proxy wars continue and we get caught in the crossfire, we may increase our involvement in the Middle East region. Of course, we should speak with Zhirov, since most of this is up to him. Would you mind if Sapozhnik attends the meeting?”