Shchelokov, Nikolai Anisimovich. Tragedies of the “Kremlin” wives Shchelokov Minister of Internal Affairs personal life

Today, November 26, marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most controversial ministers of internal affairs, Nikolai Shchelokov. They talked and wrote a lot about him, expressing polar opinions. But few people know that it was he who created the first anti-corruption unit in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1982. The activities of this top-secret group have not been talked about even once over the past almost three decades! Why? What was the fate of the anti-mafia fighters? The editors lift the veil of secrecy over our recent past.

In June 1982, an operational search unit was created in the Main Directorate of the BKhSS by order of Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov. At first this event was not given much attention of great importance. However, after some time, rumors spread within the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the ORCh had a particularly secret “core” - a group of seven elite detectives acting on direct orders from the minister. Among them was Sergei Sergeevich Butenin, who was called to openness 28 years later...

Sergei Butenin began his career at the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, in the homicide department. Then he was a senior inspector for particularly important cases of the ORCh GUBKHSS. Dismissed under Minister Fedorchuk, reinstated after appealing to the CPSU Central Committee. Then he worked in the department for combating organized crime, in the tax police, and in financial intelligence. He completed his service with the rank of general. Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation.

This is what Sergei Butenin said about the first fighters against corruption.

“Our group, like the entire ORCh, was led by Vilen Apakidze. I met him in 1979, being an employee of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department. We were then engaged in solving the high-profile murder of the widow of an army general on Goncharnaya Street in Moscow. At some point, our brigade was headed by Vilen Kharitonovich - as the curators from the GUUR said, on the personal order of Shchelokov. Later we learned a lot about him. Vilen is the son of a bankrupt Georgian prince who was repressed in the 1930s; he grew up in Krasnoyarsk, where his mother was exiled. He was a widely gifted person, a technician, a lawyer, a philosopher. In the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, he rose to the rank of deputy head of the BHSS department. By the time we met, Vilen had five or six high-profile cases under his belt, on one of which he reported to Kosygin. He was recommended to Shchelokov by Eduard Shevardnadze, then the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

After two years of work, we solved the murder on Goncharnaya. There was an order to award us with orders, but in the end they gave each of us an additional salary and forgot about the orders. Vilen left to do some work in Tbilisi, and when he returned, he said that Grandfather (as Shchelokov was called in the ministry) had instructed him to form an autonomous unit within the GUBKHSS. It had industrial, agricultural, technical departments and our anti-corruption department. Vilena was imposed on many from the central apparatus. However, he took young people, mainly those whom he knew personally. Apakidze resolved all major issues directly with Shchelokov. In the nine months we were given, we managed to do quite a lot.

It was already clear then that in a number of regions of the Union power was merging with crime. In one of the cases, we surrounded the head of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. In the Shamkhor region of this republic, two fake collective farms were discovered - with all the details, seals, circulation, and staffing levels. One was led by the Hero of Socialist Labor, the other by a holder of the Order of Lenin. We asked the second one: why was he given the order? He simply answered: “There wasn’t enough money for the Hero Star!” Vilen reported all this to Shchelokov.

Three of our employees secretly go to Azerbaijan at the end of summer to look at these “collective farms”. And they bring killer material. We are waiting for the minister's approval to continue work. After a while we hear from Vilen: “Grandfather said there is no need to do anything yet.” They say that soon we will see everything ourselves on TV. And indeed, in September, Brezhnev unexpectedly went to Baku and presented the Republic with the Order of Lenin. There he is given a saber, cufflinks and a pin with black diamonds for his tie. Vilen: “Understood? These are our collective farms.” Later, already under Gorbachev, many were transplanted in the Shamkhor region.

Vilen and I’s last operation was connected with Georgia, where shadow traders made huge fortunes from “leftist” grapes. One of them earned about 7 million rubles, and gave away part of the money so that they would not touch him. Local operatives (Shevardnadze supported this action) came to the businessman, took samples of the wine, and sent them to Moscow for examination. It turned out that 80 percent of this wine is counterfeit. The millionaire went on the run. We soon learned that his wife and lawyer were looking for access to Moscow and were ready to pay crazy amounts of money for falsifying the results of the examination. Vilen reported to Shchelokov. Minister: “It’s an interesting matter. What do you offer?" Apakidze says: “We have developed a combination, but a corridor is required for people to bring money here without hindrance. We need your sanction." Nikolai Anisimovich gave the go-ahead. Only one of the deputy ministers in the leadership of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs knew about the operation we carried out. Our man was traced to the fugitive's wife. After long negotiations, they agreed that she would pay for the entire 2.8 million rubles. A courier arrived from Tbilisi with two large suitcases containing one million in cash and gold loan bonds for the remaining amount. At Vnukovo we detained them, including the wife of the shadow worker. The capture took place about a week before the new year, 1983. They just filmed Shchelokov...

The operation ended like this. The detained wife of a millionaire wrote him a letter. My colleague and I went with this letter to the businessman’s relatives for negotiations. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs was not informed. They took us somewhere high in the mountains of Kakheti. For a week we were held hostage there. They drank chacha at gunpoint. The shadow guy said: “I won’t go out, but I’ll return the money I have.” We returned from Tbilisi on January 7 almost simultaneously with the guys who delivered the money. Our girls didn’t leave the office for four days, reprinting banknote numbers. This was the largest withdrawal of funds in the history of GUBKHSS. And Minister Fedorchuk rewarded us with a bonus in the amount of our salary.”

...With Yuri Andropov coming to power in the USSR in November 1982, it was logical to expect that the special group’s field of activity would expand. After all, the new secretary general has announced a campaign against abuses at the top. Apakidze and his colleagues were on the crest of success: they had just returned a record seven million rubles to the state. Vilen Kharitonovich told his detectives: “Don’t worry, they won’t touch you, the group was created with Andropov’s knowledge.”

However, they were “touched”, and how! The fight against “Shchelokovism,” which was announced at the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the new Minister Fedorchuk and his deputy Lezhepekov, quickly resulted in settling scores with Shchelokov and his staff, among whom the majority were, after all, real professionals. Today it is difficult to imagine that this was possible. A wave of suicides swept through the leadership of the criminal investigation department (and it included the nominees of the legendary head of the Union Ugro Karpets, who had recently transferred to the All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). People were kicked out of service without explanation, often simply due to anonymous denunciations. They were replaced by security officers, who soon almost all “escaped” because they had no desire to delve into the police “dirt.” Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs museums, on orders from above, scraped off dedicatory inscriptions with the name of the former minister from metal cups and marble figurines. His photographs were burned in courtyards, they were even confiscated from the personal archives of police officers and destroyed. The printed works of not only the ex-minister, but also, for example, Professor Karpets and other suspicious authors were banned in libraries. It would not be an exaggeration to say: it was then that the professional core of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was dealt a blow from which the department never recovered...

In March 1983, it was the turn of the anti-corruption fighters from Apakidze’s group.

“Fedorchuk drove a tank over us,” says Butenin. - He actually dispersed the GUBKhSS, dismissing 180 people from the headquarters. We lost almost all our agents at once. He began to recruit committee members, invited them from the regions, and gave them apartments. With their hands, he fought against the “shchelokism” in our headquarters.

This is how they fabricated the case against Andrei Yartsev from our special group. He had an agent. They told her: either we’ll put you in prison for currency transactions, or testify against Yartsev. “Did you give him money?” “No,” he answers, “he paid me.” As a result, the accusation was made that he received a bribe from her in the form of perfume, two cassette tapes and an Adidas suit. At the trial, the lawyer asks: “What perfume did you give?” She: “I don’t remember, maybe not perfume.” Lawyer: “What kind of tape are they on?” - "I do not remember". - “What suit did they give him, remember?” - “The one I bought for my husband.” They invited her husband into the courtroom - a 46-size bracket entered, and Andrei's was a 56-size one. The case fell apart. When Yartsev was released, the agent came to his home and knelt down: “Sorry, they broke me.” And the man spent almost three years behind bars. He died in 2009, before reaching 60 years of age. Another of our comrades was kept in prison for nine months and was also released due to lack of evidence of a crime.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t find anything against me, because I didn’t even have a bicycle then. In the end, in 1985, he was fired “for lack of operational excellence,” although three months earlier he was awarded “for operational excellence.”

And Vilen completely fell into the millstone. In March 1983, he was fired, but was not touched. Later he told us that even then they began to demand from him to testify against Shchelokov, whose instructions he carried out. At first they even promised me the position of chief of the Internal Affairs Directorate of one of the regions. At the end of 1983, he suddenly disappeared for a long time. He returned - we didn’t recognize him! As it turned out, through an agent provocateur he was lured to one of the republics and there they put him in a psychiatric hospital, where they pumped him with “truth serum” - insulin, three or four times. Although two insulin injections are enough to make a person disabled. He became disabled. I walked with a stick - my knees couldn’t hold me up, all my teeth fell out. He was not 50 years old. Then, until the end of his days, he worked as a security adviser at the academy for Abel Aganbegyan. He was an extremely decent man, bright, indifferent to material wealth. Such fate..."

How the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR Nikolai Shchelokov was driven to suicide

On November 10, 1984, millions of Soviet people learned from newspapers that former USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov was stripped of the rank of army general. On Soviet Police Day!.. It was under Minister Shchelokov, who held his position for 16 years (1966–1982), that this holiday became one of the main ones in the country.

It was a painful blow for him. Then others followed: expulsion from the party, deprivation of government awards in violation of applicable law. On December 13, Nikolai Anisimovich put on dress uniform army general and shot him in the temple with buckshot.

Shchelokov, the most famous Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs (50th, counting from the founding of the department), is not forgotten today. Many take it for granted that he was a thoroughly corrupt official, one of the symbols of Brezhnev’s corruption. This idea of ​​him was formed in 1983–1984.

Let me note: to this day Shchelokov is accused not very specifically, often with reference to some “operational data”, rumors that for some reason could not be verified then. That's amazing! They shook the ex-minister like a pear. It was dealt with by professionals from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB, the General and Main Military Prosecutor's Offices. In Soviet times, nothing was impossible for these structures; no crime could simply withstand such pressure. Why is it not imprinted in my memory of what abuses, thefts, and perhaps facts of theft that Shchelokov was convincingly convicted of?

It is known with what hostility Yuri Andropov treated the 50th minister. Shchelokov was hated even more by his successor in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (also a former security officer) Vitaly Fedorchuk. Checks were carried out throughout the country. There were people close to Nikolai Anisimovich - some behind bars, some retired with a “wolf ticket”, some under threat of dismissal - just give the necessary testimony, and you will be forgiven. The chief economic officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Viktor Kalinin, languished in the KGB detention center in Lefortovo. He scribbled “candid confessions” one after another, blaming everything on his boss. Several more KHOZU employees were also in custody. Searches were carried out at the apartments and dachas of the ex-minister and his relatives. A trial also took place (after the death of Nikolai Anisimovich), which ended with a verdict against Kalinin and his accomplices. Why do they still continue to build certain versions when talking about Shchelokov? What versions could not be verified then?

I remember a recent incident. On one of the TV channels they were preparing documentary to the 100th anniversary of Nikolai Anisimovich (November 26, 2010). The screenwriter (naturally, who had just begun to familiarize himself with the material) invited me to participate as the author of the biography of the 50th minister. I recommended to him several more experts who knew Shchelokov closely. Almost all of them asked in advance whether ex-investigator of the General Prosecutor's Office Vladimir Kalinichenko would participate in the film? If yes, then they will refuse. The screenwriter assured that he would not involve Kalinichenko in the work. I'm looking at the picture. In the finale, Vladimir Ivanovich appears with “operational data” known only to him. In the opinion of some, he added spice and “pluralism” to the television picture; in the opinion of others (and in my opinion), he spoiled the film by retelling old tales.

How the minister and the chairman quarreled

A common idea about Shchelokov: a typical Soviet “strong business executive”, one of those who started well, did something for his department, and towards the end of his life took up organizing his personal affairs.

Meanwhile, Nikolai Anisimovich, both externally and in terms of his activities, was far from a typical representative of the Brezhnev team. Let's look at it through the eyes of his contemporaries. The 50th minister is extremely energetic, constantly pushing projects through the Central Committee, many of which seem dubious to the Central Committee members (for example, they could not understand why a cultural university would be created at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the composer Khachaturian at its head?). He practically does not drink alcohol, does not smoke, and avoids feasts. Since childhood he has been interested in painting. The Shchelokovs are inveterate theatergoers. They are often seen surrounded by famous figures of Russian culture. The Shchelokovs are friends with some of them, and in their friendship they remain faithful and do not break off relations with those of their friends who find themselves in difficult situations. An example: Mstislav Rostropovich, before leaving abroad in 1974, gave a farewell concert in Moscow. Of the high-ranking ladies, only Shchelokova visited him. Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya recalls: “All the VIP seats next to me were empty, Svetlana Vladimirovna came in and defiantly sat down next to me.” In 1970, the minister, wanting to help the disgraced Vishnevskaya, gave her the Order of Lenin! In 1971, when there was first talk about the expulsion of Solzhenitsyn, who had just been awarded the Nobel Prize, Shchelokov sent a letter to the CPSU Central Committee in his defense, warning that the mistakes made earlier in relation to Pasternak should not be repeated...

They will say: Brezhnev’s favorite could afford this. Leonid Ilyich had enough favorites, but who else allowed himself to do this? After working at the Central Committee, Nikolai Anisimovich was hospitalized with a heart attack. The first conflicts between him and KGB Chairman Andropov were connected precisely with the fact that Shchelokov more than once turned out to be an obstacle in carrying out “measures” against the “unstable” part of the intelligentsia. Brezhnev considered it useful to maintain tension in relations between his security forces. Therefore, until the death of Leonid Ilyich, the cautious Andropov did not try to eliminate Shchelokov from his path.

Many clashes arose between the heads of the two law enforcement agencies on other occasions. Sometimes the general entrusted Shchelokov with shares that were within the competence of Andropov. Let's say, in 1972 exactly investigative committee The Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted proceedings in Georgia, which ultimately led to a change of power in the republic (Eduard Shevardnadze took the place of the dismissed Vasily Mzhavanadze). In the late 1970s, the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an operation to introduce operatives into the cotton industry of Uzbekistan. Shchelokov came to Brezhnev with a report and for permission to continue working. Having become familiar with collected materials, Leonid Ilyich ordered to send them... to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Republic to take action. This could be costly for the infiltrated operatives. The minister, at his own peril and risk, delayed for six months the implementation of the general’s decision, giving the opportunity to withdraw people from the operation. Yes, it was the police who laid the foundation for the future high-profile “cotton case” (although later the laurels would be appropriated by prosecutors and security officers, whom Shchelokov allegedly only interfered with). In 1982, the minister created a special anti-corruption group of seven people (as part of the police headquarters for combating economic crimes). Detectives managed to uncover major abuses in the entourage of the head of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev: in the republic they discovered - no less than - fake collective farms with fake Heroes of Socialist Labor at the head. Leonid Ilyich also did not give these materials a go. In Georgia, operatives stopped the activities of a large manufacturer who made counterfeit wine. A record amount of 7 million rubles was then withdrawn in favor of the state. Shchelokov not only was aware of such operations, he participated in their development, supervised them and defended them before the party leadership of the country.

After Brezhnev's death, the anti-corruption group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was dispersed. Two operatives went to prison on trumped-up charges (the court later completely acquitted them). The fate of the head of the unit, Vilen Apakidze, was mysterious: he disappeared somewhere for a year, and returned completely disabled, without teeth, with a severe leg disease... He told only a very narrow circle where he was kept and what information was required from him. This is a riddle of riddles! Who did these people interfere with during the declared “fight against corruption”?

I note that in the conditions of the USSR, only the political police (KGB) could act as an anti-corruption agency, and only in exceptional cases, with sanctions from the very top, the criminal police (Ministry of Internal Affairs). It was believed that the task of the police was to catch criminals. Therefore, it is unfair to reproach the 50th minister for not showing himself sufficiently in the fight against growing shadow crime and corruption. Shchelokov did not shy away from such a role, and often took initiatives. It is worth taking a closer look at his immediate surroundings. Thus, the union criminal investigation department was headed (until 1979) by the famous Igor Karpets. A very influential colleague of Nikolai Anisimovich for a number of years was Sergei Krylov, the ideologist of many reforms in the ministry, the creator of the police academy. Shchelokov's deputy for police, curator of operational headquarters Boris Shumilin... One of the leaders of the Investigation Department Vladimir Illarionov... A war hero who did a lot to create an institute for crime prevention in the country, Valery Sobolev... Commander-in-Chief of the Internal Troops (with him they accepted modern look) Army General Ivan Yakovlev... You can list and list. All these people are stars in today's times. In their honor, memorial plaques are opened, busts and even monuments are erected (a monument to Krylov was recently opened at the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). None of them, who constantly communicated with Nikolai Anisimovich and had extensive operational information, considered him either a swindler, or a money-grubber, or a corrupt official. Thus, Igor Ivanovich Karpets dedicated many pages to Shchelokov in his memoirs. He writes about the minister sometimes kindly, sometimes angrily (they did not part very peacefully), however, Karpets does not reproach him for uncleanliness. The opinion of the long-term head of the criminal investigation department, one of the most informed people in the country, who is still considered among detectives to be the standard of professionalism and decency - does it really mean nothing?!

What lawyers are silent about

Let us restore the chain of recent events in the life of the 50th minister.

On November 10, 1982, Leonid Brezhnev dies. Yuri Andropov becomes the new General Secretary. At first, this fact did not foretell any upheaval for the party apparatus. Andropov has been in the Politburo for a long time, he is known as a person indifferent to material wealth, condemning the excesses of Brezhnev’s entourage, but at the same time he is extremely cautious, and has not been noted for any inclination towards revolutionary actions. Shchelokov is outwardly calm. He still hopes to establish normal cooperation with him. And only Svetlana Vladimirovna Shchelokova immediately understood everything. She told the minister's aides: “We're in trouble now. And you too". However, changes in the country's leadership are not expected until the beginning of next year.

On December 20, Shchelokov was dismissed (transferred to the group of inspectors general of the Ministry of Defense). For many, this event came as a complete surprise. Nikolai Anisimovich seemed like an unsinkable minister. He was much more energetic and cheerful than his peers from the Politburo, counting on further development careers. There were no rumors that seriously discredited him or his loved ones. Really? No, there were no such rumors until a certain point. It was believed that the Shchelokovs’ lifestyle was fully consistent with their status. Kremlin food rations, service in the 200th section of GUM, frequent trips abroad, high salaries(The 50th minister received 1,500 rubles a month with an additional payment for his military rank, his wife, an associate professor of the 3rd medical school and a practicing physician, received about 400 rubles) ... You can live without denying yourself anything.

In the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after Shchelokov’s resignation, his replacement Fedorchuk begins an audit of financial and economic activities. Nikolai Anisimovich goes to the ministry to give explanations. His son, Igor Nikolaevich, recalls:

“We lived at the dacha for 16 years. They bought everything for home: dishes, carpets, and furniture. And there were official things. Everything is mixed up, they have long forgotten which is which. Things were in the basement and garage. Then it begins: “Vacate the dacha in three days.” Where should I take all this? They were hastily taken to different places; a lot was lost during the move. Business executives start calling: “Svetlana Vladimirovna, Nikolai Anisimovich! You have two carpets for 3,200 rubles. Blue, Belgian." We don’t have them, what should we do? I tell my dad: let’s pay. Paid. They call again: “There is a screen behind you.” It looked like there was a screen - an ordinary wooden one. “The projector is behind you”... We pay for everything. There weren't enough brains. Then it turned out that we stole it all and compensated for the damage...

Dad came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said: “They gave me a BMW and two Mercedes.” Take two cars, and I’ll buy the Mercedes.” The Deputy Prime Minister gave my dad written permission that he could take ownership of these cars. If you have any complaints, address them to the government. Dad didn’t have to give away the foreign cars, but he acquired his property for the second time. This is also “compensation for damage”.

(It’s worth dwelling on the last episode. We are talking about the following: in different years, Shchelokov accepted three cars as a gift from German companies (there was a fourth, the minister gave it to Brezhnev). Formally, he did not violate the law, since he acted with the permission of the government, but such behavior of the Soviet a leader who accepted gifts from company employees, of course, can hardly be called ethical. The Shchelokovs did not use the cars. After his resignation, Nikolai Anisimovich decided to return them to the state. His acquaintances dissuaded him, warning that this could be perceived as a confession. But he acted like a conscientious person. Subsequently, the cost of the mentioned cars will actually be added to the cost of the “stolen property” returned to him. And the actual episode itself will fuel rumors that Shchelokov allegedly appropriated several Mercedes that served the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.)

...On February 19, 1983, Svetlana Vladimirovna shot herself at her dacha. She had a hard time experiencing the change in their situation, the vacuum that had formed, and the humiliation to which the family was subjected. From that moment on, it became widely known that the ex-minister was suspected of abuses. An absurd rumor quickly spread that Shchelokov’s wife allegedly shot at Andropov in the elevator, wounded him, and then shot herself. He was on time. The image was drawn of an embittered family who wants revenge for being deprived of privileges. At the same time, it was explained why the new general was constantly in the hospital. In the spring, a criminal case is opened regarding abuses in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is entrusted to the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, a group of investigators led by Vyacheslav Mirtov. In June, at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Shchelokov was removed from the Central Committee. In August, the former head of the KHOZU, General Kalinin, was taken into custody, and later several of his subordinates.

It is worth noting that during Andropov’s lifetime Nikolai Anisimovich was not summoned to the prosecutor’s office for questioning. This happened for the first time in May 1984. Konstantin Chernenko did not start new things, but he did not stop old ones either - in general he interfered with little. Shchelokov was interrogated several times as a witness. The process was started by Andropov; no other signals were received from top officials either by the investigative group or by the party bodies. Therefore, the ex-minister continues to be put under pressure, no one listens to his excuses, he doesn’t even know who to address them to. The skating rink can no longer be stopped. In November - December Shchelokov is deprived military rank army general is expelled from the party. In violation of the legislation of that time, they were deprived of all government awards, except military ones. The apartments of Nikolai Anisimovich and his relatives are being searched. The signals are more than clear. Next in line is the initiation of a criminal case against the ex-minister and detention. The front-line soldier Shchelokov could not come to terms with this. On December 13, 1984, Nikolai Anisimovich, wearing the ceremonial uniform of an army general with awards, shot himself in his apartment with a hunting rifle. IN suicide note, addressed to Chernenko, he denied his guilt and asked to protect his name from slander.

...At the beginning of 1985, the court heard a case about abuses in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The damage caused by Kalinin and his accomplices is estimated at 67.1 thousand rubles. And this is after total checks! It's funny to learn about this today. Less than ten Volgas at the prices of that time. Of course, we could have counted more, but this figure gives some idea. Lawyers cannot ignore it.

Chief military forger

While collecting material for a book about Shchelokov, it was not without difficulty that I found several former investigators from Mirtov’s group. For the first time, I heard something surprising from them: they did not consider the ex-minister a thief and a corrupt official. That's the number! Where did this “tradition” come from? What then were Shchelokov’s abuses? Viktor Shein, now a reserve major general of justice, says:
“The main part of the violations, as far as I remember, concerned the expenditure various materials. Thus, the ministry owned a network of service apartments, which sometimes, in agreement with Shchelokov, were transferred for living to individuals, including his relatives. A huge amount of consumables was written off for these apartments - bed linen, flowers and other things, as if they were apartments in five-star hotels. The end result was absurd amounts. In my case alone, there were about 800 similar episodes over the approximately three-year period that we studied. I am far from thinking that Shchelokov himself knew about these additions or encouraged them - we understood this even then. The guys from KHOZU took advantage of the fact that no one controlled them. There were also episodes related to the work of a special store for the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Nikolai Anisimovich loved his wife, his children and did not deny them anything. We could not verify many of the testimonies, in particular because by that time Svetlana Vladimirovna had already passed away.”

Investigators, according to Viktor Shein and his colleague Alexander Khoroshko (who participated in the search of the ex-minister’s apartment), treated Shchelokov himself with sufficient respect. Nikolai Anisimovich tried to behave with dignity, but was noticeably worried that he had found himself in such a situation. At the same time, he did not dodge, did not lie. When learning about facts of economic abuse, he said: he was guilty, he did not control, he is ready to compensate for the damage. When compensating for damage at this stage, Nikolai Anisimovich sometimes acted recklessly. Thus, he seemed to admit his guilt. For example, he returned an expensive watch that members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs board gave him for his 70th birthday. The investigation established that the watch was purchased by Kalinin with postscripts. As the reader already knows, Shchelokov and three foreign cars were returned to different time given to him. Later, all this will be classified as “stolen.” They will also count household items that were considered household goods and used by the family (something was missing, they gave it away in money).

In various sources about Shchelokov there is a statement that the damage he caused to the state is estimated at approximately 500 thousand rubles. Where did this figure come from? Apparently, it was the then chief military prosecutor Alexander Katusev who first brought it up in 1990 (speaking as a commentator in Kirill Stolyarov’s brochure “Golgotha”). The figure has become almost official. But these are only preliminary estimates of the investigation! In the course of subsequent proceedings, such estimates usually dry out ten times. I remember when I first opened this brochure, I gasped: the unscrupulous minister surrounded himself with even greater swindlers. Subsequently, I more than once compared the information I received first-hand with Katusev’s interpretations of the relevant events. And I thought: God forbid that I fall into the clutches of such a prosecutor! I will limit myself to one example. The brochure states: Shchelokov appropriated amber chess sets that his subordinates purchased to present to the Minister of Security of the GDR as an anniversary gift. How ugly. What did it turn out to be? The direct participants in that story turned out to be alive. The chess, they explained, was not made of amber, but of amber crumbs, and cost no more than five rubles! Consumer goods. That’s why they didn’t take them to the GDR; they were ashamed to give such a gift. The “amber” chess remained in Nikolai Anisimovich’s office...

And so time after time: if it was possible to shed light on one episode or another, the “evidence” of the 50th minister’s dishonesty fell apart. Katusev openly “knocked down” Shchelokov. At that moment, political clouds gathered over the chief military prosecutor, and he did not spare gloomy colors to remind the public of his merits in the fight against corruption.

The 50th minister made mistakes and abuses, he himself admitted it. But why explain them solely by the “uncleanliness” of his nature?

Shchelokov occupied one of the most influential positions in the country. Many people wanted to please him. Not only to him - but also to his relatives, assistants, acquaintances, relatives of acquaintances. His name was abused - come and fight! But he tried to resist it. For example, in 1980, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued an order prohibiting police leaders from the regions from coming to Moscow to congratulate the minister on his 70th birthday. Nikolai Anisimovich’s assistants sent valuable gifts that then came to the ministry to museums, leaving entries in the appropriate book. He was often given paintings as gifts. But he also gave gifts - he sent about 70 valuable paintings to his homeland in Stakhanov, to the museum. Every month, the minister handed over 200–250 rubles in an envelope to his assistants at the reception, so that they could pay for theater tickets, lunches from the canteen, and so on. Nikolai Anisimovich was not a mercantile person by nature. But they could very well have set him up. Let's say, in 1971, he received a gift from the artist Martiros Saryan from Armenia - the painting “Wild Flowers”. It hung at one time in the minister's office. Then it turned out that the painting was purchased from the artist by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, using an illegal scheme. Shchelokov ordered Saryan’s work to be removed from the office, and in the end it ended up in the studio of the artists of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Katusev gives a furious commentary on the episode: the painting was allegedly acquired by order of Shchelokov. Of course, when the Armenian business executives were caught red-handed, they began to babble something like that...

Ten suckling pigs

Where are the deafening revelations that are now flashing everywhere? Patience. First, let's look at the materials of the criminal proceedings. Military investigators from Mirtov’s group, we must give them their due, did not hang too much on the ex-minister.
A sample of the explanations that witness Shchelokov gave during interrogation in July 1984 (after a year and a half of thorough checks):

“...I remember that somehow second-hand books were delivered from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR. I was previously familiarized with the list of these books during the investigation, I examined my personal library, and among the books there were some from Kyiv. I am attaching a list on one sheet of 11 (eleven) pieces to the interrogation protocol, and I will hand over the books themselves in the next day or two.

...I have never had any products made from mammoth tusks, much less the tusks themselves. If anyone talks about such gifts to me, this is sheer nonsense.

...I categorically deny that from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan. The SSR allegedly gave me an Uzbek carpet measuring 10x10 m. The announced testimony of the accused Kalinin that this carpet, allegedly cut into 4 parts in Moscow, was distributed to the apartments of my family members, I consider stupidity and a slander. We don’t have and couldn’t have any “carpet quarters” in our apartments...

...For the first time today I am hearing that allegedly from Tsepkov //(then head of the Moscow Region Main Internal Affairs Directorate - Author)// 10 suckling piglets were delivered for my 70th birthday. This is nonsense. There were no more than 15 people at my table at dacha No. 8, and the entire kitchen was organized through the Prague restaurant.

And so on. Explanations are given by a man who could move millions (what is 500 thousand rubles in 1982? Five appointments to police positions somewhere in Uzbekistan...) They also ask him about “carpet quarters” and suckling pigs.

...Since the spring of 1983, members of the Politburo, the Central Committee, and other responsible comrades began to receive closed certificates about the “second life” of the 50th minister. Such a document marked “Secret” is a powerful weapon. You believe everything about it at once. This is not a court decision for you. After all, a closed certificate is being compiled based on operational information from the special services. Not a joke.

“The document meticulously listed all the sins of the Minister of Internal Affairs: the fact that he “grabbed” several official Mercedes for personal use, and the fact that he did not disdain to take to his home and dacha, as well as distribute to close relatives, property seized by the police evidence and confiscated works of art and antiques... I remember that I was struck by two facts - the organization of an underground store “for our own”, in which those seized things were sold that were not attractive to the chief himself “above the entire police”; and the fact that members of the Shchelokov family were seen exchanging huge sums in worn, captured, rather dilapidated rubles in banks..."

Please note that these terrible accusations are not the development of a criminal case, but, on the contrary, they relate to its very beginning. It's still June 1983. And the ex-minister will be asked about the “pigs” a year later. By that time, the Olympic Mercedes, stolen material evidence and much more will have disappeared. Therefore, before us is gossip - on good paper marked “Confidential”, intended for the top officials of the country. I will not shy away from comments. But first, it is worth mentioning one person, whose testimony mainly served as “operational information.” The head of the HOZU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Viktor Kalinin, is the most serious personnel mistake of the 50th minister. They kept him in office for his entrepreneurial spirit and ability to “solve problems” (a great asset of a business executive in conditions of total Soviet deficit). He turned out to be a swindler and a slanderer. “Black Man” by Minister Shchelokov.

In one of his “candid confessions,” General Kalinin, held in the KGB prison in Lefortovo, reports:

“In the summer of 1979, I went hunting with Shchelokov in the Kaliningrad region. The former head of the Kaliningrad Regional Internal Affairs Directorate, Lieutenant General Valery Mikhailovich Sobolev, was present at the hunt; after the hunt, Shchelokov and I went to the mansion of the Kaliningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU, where the former minister was stationed.

After some time, General Sobolev arrived at the mansion, who gave Shchelokov a chess set made of pure amber with silver edging and a bag of money. I remember Sobolev thanked Shchelokov for transferring him to work in Moscow... Shchelokov gave me the chess for packaging, and the package that Sobolev gave him, he put in his trouser pocket... After a trip to Kaliningrad, the former minister Shchelokov allocated V.M. Sobolev. 4-room apartment (Mira Avenue) through the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR.”

You see, at the same time they found out where Katusev got the truest evidence about the “amber” chess allegedly appropriated by Shchelokov. Let's figure out the rest. General Sobolev's transfer to Moscow took place in 1975, four years before the events described by Kalinin. He received an apartment in the capital only in 1980, the year of the Olympics, having by that time become the head of the 5th Main Directorate (execution of punishments not related to imprisonment). Five years in line for an apartment is even too much for an employee of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under Shchelokov, especially of this rank. That is, the former head of KHOZU made his “revelations” out of thin air, counting on a softening of his fate.

Military investigators knew the value of the “confessions” of the arrested person. Viktor Shein told me: “Once I came to the pre-trial detention center to interrogate Kalinin. He begins to fantasize. I am recording his testimony in every detail. Spent the day. And then presented him with a refutation. He almost burst into tears: I’m sorry, I lied. That's the essence of it."

In June 1983, on the eve of the party Plenum, Shchelokov’s party comrades “know for certain”: the former minister, abusing Brezhnev’s patronage, appropriated furniture and works of art, confiscated from criminals, turned into the property of company cars, organized an underground store for his relatives. He exchanged “old money” in large quantities, which indirectly confirmed that those around him were engaged in fraud. There were no discussions at the Plenum. Shchelokov was removed from the Central Committee.

Now - about the sins of the 50th minister, which in 1983 shocked Viktor Pribytkov and other readers of closed certificates. I'll try to be brief...

The 50th minister did not grab the Olympic Mercedes. In 1984, Fedorchuk ordered to find out the fate of all 12 foreign cars, which after the 1980 Olympics, by agreement with the German side, remained in Moscow. They were safely found in the garage of the Council of Ministers Administration. The results of the inspection were kept silent.

The minister actually exchanged “old” (as in the criminal case) banknotes several times for newer ones. In total, the financiers, at his request, “updated” more than 100 thousand rubles. What is the origin of these funds? Pribytkov paints a picture: the minister is carrying crumpled banknotes, shaken out of the stockings and cans of shop workers, to the cash desk of his department. (How low Nikolai Anisimovich has fallen in the eyes of his party comrades!) But why not take the crumpled rubles, say, to a jewelry store or a savings bank? Let us take into account that it was not “shabby” ones in the literal sense that were exchanged, but ordinary banknotes - for similar ones in bank packaging. Experts of the time suggest a more plausible explanation. The minister could be asked about this by the heads of delegations going abroad. In some socialist countries it was possible to buy currency on the spot, but they accepted rubles only in bank packaging. It’s also not great: in this case, the minister encouraged the not entirely legal operations of his acquaintances. But these, you see, are not “crumpled banknotes from the cans of shop workers.” It’s not self-interest – rather a lack of integrity. Besides, we don’t know who asked for it, maybe people who found it very difficult to refuse.

“Closed stores” in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of course, existed; they belonged to the Voentorg network. The store in question was opened for the needs of the operational staff. The minister had never been there, since he was served in the 200th section of GUM. We talked about the store and stopped.

Now - about the “material evidence” that the 50th minister allegedly used to appropriate. One of the most common unfounded accusations. The property of the entire Shchelokov family was studied very meticulously. They did not find anything that would have been stolen from the museum or taken from convicted criminals. These facts would not be difficult to identify. They would not have escaped the attention of the operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A circle of careerists formed around Brezhnev's son-in-law Yuri Churbanov, first deputy minister since 1979, who told him gossip about their boss. But Churbanov also heard nothing about fraud with material evidence - he writes about it in his memoirs. All of Shchelokov’s associates I interviewed, who knew him closely, categorically denied that he could have appropriated material evidence, and did not understand why he would need this. They probably could have slipped it, although such facts are not documented. In short, this point is a lie.

Finally, let’s look again at the protocol of Shchelokov’s interrogation, which took place in July 1984. They asked him about “old money” (he avoided answering, perhaps he didn’t want to involve others in this story), about “Mercedes” and the rest - no...
Enough. Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov, from the point of view of claims against him from law enforcement agencies, is the head of the department in which financial and economic abuses were discovered. No less, but no more. The rest is speculation, rooted in the notorious closed certificates for members of the Central Committee. Black PR turned out to be extremely tenacious. For three decades now he has existed outside of facts and evidence, without needing them.

Who needs the truth about the 50th minister today?

Let's start with those whose lives it would complicate.

On November 26, 2010, Nikolai Anisimovich would have turned 100 years old. The name of Shchelokov, no matter how you look at it, is associated with an era in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The department did not officially react to this event. There was no such leader in its history. This attitude is understandable.

The current police stability is already more than ten years old (counting from the moment Vladimir Putin came to power). A period comparable in duration to Shchelokov’s 16th anniversary. In both cases, the department was headed by ministers close to the top officials of the state. Now let's compare the results. In the prosperous 1970s for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the ministry turned into one of the most influential departments in the country; the police became better paid, equipped, equipped, more educated and polite. In the prosperous 2000s, the department reached its breaking point, the prestige of the profession fell, the word “policeman” became almost a dirty word, and has now completely fallen out of circulation. Why remember now about Shchelokov’s 16th anniversary? There was no such period, there is nothing to take from there. We have police “reform” here, don’t interfere.

The achievements of the 50th minister will not be recognized at the official level.

Is society ready to take a fresh look at the figure of Shchelokov? The situation here is strange. Many sincerely believe that his rehabilitation is a harmful and reactionary matter. Excuse me, but the minister was slandered and physically destroyed by the party apparatus - the old, Brezhnevist one in essence. Nikolai Anisimovich’s relations with the intelligentsia and the public were in the best possible way. Something worth remembering.

Nikolai Anisimovich took the post of minister 13 years after the death of Lavrentiy Beria (they had one office at Ogarev, 6, although Beria, they say, never worked there). The memory of the NKVD was still strong. It was logical to expect harsh statements from Shchelokov about the need to more decisively fight crime. We are familiar with this. And one of the first orders of the 50th minister was on cultural and polite treatment of citizens. Under Shchelokov, the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to transform from a law enforcement structure into a civilian one. Then the goal was declared, which today people would be embarrassed to even discuss: “to raise a policeman who is internally incapable of committing a crime” (the expression of his comrade-in-arms Sergei Krylov). With a degree of exaggeration, but probably not without reason, they began to say about the Ministry of Internal Affairs: “There are more cultured people here than in the Ministry of Culture, and more teachers than in the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences.” Shchelokov adhered to modern views on the system of execution of punishment (he was against pre-trial detention, in favor of the widest possible use of suspended sentences, especially in relation to minors). He helped many former prisoners register with families in Moscow, and even provided housing for some. The diaries of Nikolai Anisimovich have been preserved. In them, he appears as an inquisitive, educated person, who thinks a lot about the problems of education, pedagogy, and even a romantic.

Does society need such a Minister of Internal Affairs? Yes, I think so.

The memory of Minister Shchelokov, who aroused sympathy among many of his contemporaries and would certainly have pleased us, his enemies tried to erase. Instead of a great personality with achievements and mistakes (for which Nikolai Anisimovich paid handsomely), we are offered a poor caricature. And this experiment on our consciousness lasts for thirty years. Isn't it time to stop it?

P.S. The author of the publication, Sergei Kredov, has collected a large amount of material that allows us to take a fresh look at the personality and activities of Nikolai Shchelokov. His book “Shchelokov” was published in the “ZhZL” series by the “Young Guard” publishing house.

26.11.1910 - 13.12.1984
Stripped of the title of Hero of Socialist Labor

Shchelokov Nikolai Anisimovich - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Army General.

Born on November 13 (26), 1910 at the Almaznaya station, now the city of Almaznaya, Lugansk region of Ukraine, in the family of a metallurgist.

He began his career at the age of sixteen as a horse driver at the Ilyich mine in the city of Kadievka (now the city of Stakhanov), Nikolai Shchelokov, however, studied well and read a lot. From an early age he became interested in painting, showing extraordinary talent. At the age of 14, he created a portrait of Taras Shevchenko, which is still kept in the Stakhanov Museum. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1931. In 1929 he entered and in 1933 graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute.

In 1933-1934 and 1935-1938 he worked at metallurgical plants in Almaznaya and Dnepropetrovsk: engineer, deputy manager and shop manager. In 1934-1935 he served in the Red Army, in the team of one-year students of the 135th artillery regiment of the Reserve of the High Command.

In 1938-39 - 1st Secretary of the Krasnogvardeysky District Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) in the city of Dnepropetrovsk. During this period, he met the future General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L.I. Brezhnev. In 1939-1941, Shchelokov was the chairman of the executive committee of the Dnepropetrovsk City Council. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War on N.A. Shchelokov was given personal responsibility for the construction of defensive lines around the city of Dnepropetrovsk by August 1, 1941, and a little later - the evacuation of the population and material assets.

Secondary service in the Red Army since July 1941. He was awarded the military rank of "senior political instructor". ON THE. Shchelokov was included in the operational group of the Military Council of the Southern Front in Stalingrad, and subsequently headed this group. Then - Commissioner of the Military Council of the Southern Front for the Stalingrad and Rostov Regions (1941-1942), Deputy Chief of Logistics of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian and North Caucasian Fronts for Political Affairs (1942-1943), Deputy Commander for Political Affairs - Head of Political Department 218 1st Red Banner Romodan-Kyiv Rifle Division and 28th Rifle Corps (1943-1945); participated in the battle for the Caucasus, in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

After the war, from September 1945, he was the executive secretary of the party commission at the political administration of the Carpathian Military District (the head of the political administration of the district was L.I. Brezhnev). In July 1946, Colonel N.A. Shchelokov was transferred to the reserve.

Since August 1946 - Deputy Minister of Local Industry of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1947-1951 - in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine. In 1951-1962 and 1964-1965 - First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Moldavian SSR. In 1957-1958 and 1962-1964 - Chairman of the National Economy Council of the Moldavian SSR. In 1965-1966 - second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova.

From September 17, 1966 to November 25, 1968 - Minister of Public Order Protection (MOOP) of the USSR. As a result of the reforms N.S. Khrushchev's Ministry of Internal Affairs was abolished. It was believed that in the Soviet Union “a classless society is being built, where there will be no crime,” and the rights of the police were significantly limited. July 23, 1968 L.I. Brezhnev, who became the first leader of the country after Khrushchev, transformed the MOOP into the Union-Republican Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, and appointed Shchelokov as Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR in November 1968.

Shchelokov, after being appointed to this high and responsible post, had to completely restore the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Under him, the Moscow Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and seventeen higher education institutions were opened. educational institutions Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. He immediately managed to resolve the issue of additional conscription of fifteen thousand people into the internal troops in November-December 1966 due to a large shortage. He made a lot of efforts to return the internal troops to a single military structure, abolished in 1951.

The first among the country's leaders was N.A. Shchelokov realized how important it is to create a positive image of a law enforcement officer - a Soviet policeman. Largely thanks to him, such literary characters as “precinct Aniskin” Vilya Lipatov, captain Gleb Zheglov and senior lieutenant Vladimir Sharapov of the Vayner brothers appeared; The multi-part film “Born of the Revolution” was released. The Ministry itself created the Central Museum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, the Central Studio of Artists named after V.V. Vereshchagin, the song and dance ensemble of the internal troops and other creative groups. All this undoubtedly produced positive results.

Since 1966 N.A. Shchelokov is a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee. Member of the CPSU Central Committee since April 1968. Elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 4th-9th convocations.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Army General Shchelokov, did a lot of work to strengthen law and order, improve the activities of internal affairs bodies and internal troops, strengthen connections between the police and labor collectives and public organizations, and strengthen the legal education of citizens. In 1978 he was awarded the academic degree “Doctor of Economic Sciences”.

By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 25, 1980, for fruitful activities as Minister of Internal Affairs and in connection with the 70th anniversary of the birth of the Army General Shchelokov Nikolai Anisimovich awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

On November 10, 1982, patron N.A. dies. Shchelokova Brezhnev L.I. The Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, held on November 12, 1982, elects Secretary General CPSU. And in December 1982, Army General N.A. Shchelokov removed from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR. He is replaced by V.V. Fedorchuk, former Chairman of the Committee state security THE USSR.

Having lost his ministerial post, N.A. Shchelokov, as an army general, in December 1982 was appointed military inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

But, a comprehensive audit of the activities of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was carried out at the direction of the new Minister of Internal Affairs V.V. Fedorchuk. revealed numerous abuses of the former minister. In particular, during this period, material assets worth over 80 thousand rubles were transferred free of charge to members of Shchelokov’s family, including the cost of apartment renovations - about 30 thousand rubles. Among the property received were expensive furniture, radio equipment, video tapes, electrical and plumbing equipment, Construction Materials. Only after Shchelokov was released from office did he and his family members contribute 65 thousand rubles to the ministry’s treasury for these valuables.

Under the guise of special facilities, over 60 thousand rubles were illegally spent on the maintenance of nine apartments, in which Shchelokov’s relatives and acquaintances mainly lived (the daughter of Shchelokov’s personal tailor, this family later went to Israel; the nephew of the minister’s wife; the ex-husband of Shchelokov’s daughter and others). In 1972, at the direction of N.A. Shchelokov, allegedly to serve the operational staff, a store was opened, which was used only by family members and relatives of the minister. By agreement with foreign trade organizations, imported goods of high demand were received here: tape recorders, televisions, radio equipment, fur products, shoes, clothing and more. The named persons annually bought scarce goods worth 50-70 thousand rubles here. According to some reports, these goods were then resold by Shchelokov’s relatives at a higher price.

In 1975-77, an agreement was reached on the free transfer by Daimler-Benz of three Mercedes-Benz cars to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs for the purpose, as stated in the documents, “to ensure traffic safety in connection with the Olympic Games 1980 in Moscow." However, then one of them was registered with the traffic police of the Kievsky district of Moscow as belonging personally to N.A. Shchelokov. The money for the specified car in the amount of 15.2 thousand rubles was paid by Shchelokov only in February 1982. Then, in 1977, 1978, 1980, the same cars were registered to Shchelokov’s wife and children.

In the village of Bolshevo, Moscow Region, and the village of Redkino, Kalininskaya, now Tver Region, there were two dachas registered in the name of close relatives of Shchelokov, and, in addition, another dacha was being built in the village of Nikolina Gora. Dachas are, as the document dispassionately testifies, multi-room permanent buildings with garages, bathhouses and other outbuildings.

In May 1979, at the direction of N.A. Shchelokov was given at his disposal antique valuables worth 248.8 thousand rubles, which are material evidence in the criminal case of one of the currency dealers, as well as the painting “Wild Flowers” ​​by M. Saryan, purchased for 10 thousand rubles with funds from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Armenian SSR. According to the documents, all this was registered as property transferred to the Museum of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. After Shchelokov was removed from office, many of these items, as having high artistic value, were transferred to the Kremlin Museum, the Ostankino Palace Museum and other museums.

Extent of use of N.A. Shchelokov's official position for personal purposes amazes the imagination. The documents of the criminal case eloquently testify that only in 1980-82, at the direction of N.A. Shchelokov, fresh flowers worth 36.3 thousand rubles were delivered to the apartments of close and very close people. Flowers were written off as supposedly laid on the grave Unknown Soldier and to the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin. The glaring fact was that his father-in-law, at the age of 64, N.A. Shchelokov enlisted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs! He awarded him the special rank of major, then retired him with the sum of 120 rubles, and when his father-in-law died, he was buried at the expense of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was subsequently fictitiously written off.

In 1980-1982, in the film department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, on the instructions of Army General N.A. Shchelokov. a two-part documentary film “Pages of Life” was created about the stages of his life path. The cost of creating this film amounted to over 50 thousand rubles. The film has never been shown anywhere and is in storage in the Krasnogorsk archive of film and photo documents.

In total, according to the documentary materials of the preliminary investigation, N.A. The Shchelokovs caused damage to the state in the amount of over half a million rubles. To compensate for the damage, property worth 296 thousand rubles was returned to him and his family members and confiscated by the investigative authorities, and 126 thousand rubles were paid in cash.

On February 19, 1983, N.A.’s wife committed suicide. Shchelokova Svetlana Vladimirovna, whom he met at the front. In June of the same year, Shchelokov was removed from the CPSU Central Committee for mistakes in his work. Employees of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office continue the investigation and are uncovering more and more abuses by Shchelokov. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 6, 1984, Shchelokov N.A. deprived of the highest military rank of “army general”.

On December 7, 1984, the Party Control Committee under the CPSU Central Committee makes a decision: “For gross violation of party and state discipline, the principles of selection and placement of leading personnel, abuse of official position for personal gain when he was the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, member of the CPSU Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov (party card No. 00139000) to be excluded from the party."

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 12, 1984, Shchelokov N.A. deprived of all state awards, except those received during the Great Patriotic War, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

On December 13, 1984, in Moscow, in the government house on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, former Minister of Internal Affairs N.A. Shchelokov, wearing the ceremonial uniform of an army general with all the awards, committed suicide by shooting himself with a collectible hunting rifle “Gastin-Rannet”.

He was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery next to his wife (site No. 20).

After the death of the former all-powerful Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, materials in the amount of twenty-one volumes on N.A. were allocated into separate criminal proceedings. Shchelokova. But the investigation had no choice but to issue a resolution refusing to initiate a criminal case in connection with the death of the accused...

Military ranks: senior political instructor, battalion commissar; lieutenant colonel (1943); colonel (1944); Lieutenant General (1966); Colonel General (1967); General of the Army (09/19/1976).

He was awarded 4 Orders of Lenin (06/19/1945, 04/30/1966, 11/25/1970, 11/25/1980), the Order of the October Revolution (01/05/1978), 2 Orders of the Red Banner (including 04/14/1945), the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2- 1st degree (06/29/1945), Patriotic War 1st degree (10/16/1943), Red Banner of Labor (01/23/1948), Red Star (05/22/1943), medals, including “For Courage” (01/31/1943 ), as well as departmental badges “Excellent Policeman”, “Honored Worker of the Ministry of Internal Affairs”, “Excellent Firefighter”. Deprived of some awards. Honorary citizen of the city of Dnepropetrovsk (1980).

In the city of Almaznoye, Lugansk region of Ukraine, on October 23, 2007, the House-Museum of the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR N.A. was opened. Shchelokova. Restoration work in house No. 8 on Barnaulskaya Street, where Nikolai Shchelokov lived with his parents until he was 19, lasted for a month. Exhibits for the exhibition were provided by the regional museum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local historians. The most valuable exhibit of the museum is the general’s jacket with order bars, which was given to the museum by the son of N. Shchelokov. In addition to the house-museum, in memory of N.A. In Shchelokov, a station street is named after him ( former name- “Barnaulskaya”). in 2011, a square named after N.A. Shchelokov was opened in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in which a memorial sign was installed.

Essays:
Development of industry of the Moldavian SSR. Chisinau, 1963;
Economy of the Moldavian SSR and prospects for its development. M., 1964.

Why didn’t marriages with top officials of the state, nor wealth and other benefits bring them happiness?

The husbands of these women stood at the pinnacle of power. It seemed that fate intended its chosen ones only to shine and enjoy, not knowing the hardships of life. And only a long time later it became clear: behind the external well-being there was hidden real suffering, from which only death could often get rid of.

The most mysterious: Nadezhda Alliluyeva

Husband: head of the Soviet state Joseph Stalin

Died: at 31

November 7, 1932 after the parade in the apartment Kliment Voroshilov Party leaders and their wives gathered, led by Joseph Stalin and his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. The company cheerfully celebrated the anniversary of the October Revolution. But soon a disagreement occurred between Stalin and Alliluyeva. According to one version, Joseph Vissarionovich told his wife: “Hey, drink!” To which she was indignant: “I’m not saying ‘hey!’ to you.” She left the table and never returned to the holiday.

According to another version, Nadezhda sarcastically directed at Stalin, who was talking with one of the ladies, for which he loudly called his wife a fool. And Alliluyeva, offended, left the banquet. On the night of November 8-9, Nadezhda shot herself with a Walter pistol, aiming at her chest.

According to the testimony of Stalin's daughter and adopted son, the death of his wife was a terrible blow for him. At first, his relatives were even afraid to leave him alone, he was so worried about the death of his wife. And later he very often came to her grave and sat there for a long time.

Today there are many versions of why Nadezhda Sergeevna died. Some historians suggest that the young woman was wildly jealous of her husband, and also failed to cope with the political differences that arose between the spouses. Other scientists believe that Alliluyeva was actually shot by one of Stalin's aides. There are also suggestions that Nadezhda committed suicide because of terrible headaches, which she suffered for a long time and for which she even tried to be treated in Germany.

The most cynical: Evgenia Khayutina (Yezhova)

Husband: People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Nikolay Ezhov

Died: at 34 years old.

She was called a court favorite behind her back. In the 30s Evgenia Khayutina was one of the most prominent Kremlin wives. Beautiful, energetic, positive, sexy, and a great singer - men liked her.

Her maiden name Feigenberg. She was born in Gomel, into a large Jewish family. From childhood I knew what I wanted, and at the age of 17 I married a mechanic Lazar Khayutin. Thanks to her first husband, she moved from Gomel to Odessa, where she got a job as a typist in a local newspaper.

To move to Moscow, Evgenia began an affair with the director of a Moscow publishing house. So the 20-year-old beauty became a wife Alexey Gladun, with whom she went on a diplomatic mission to London in 1927. Interestingly, Gladun was soon sent back to his homeland, and Khayutina was transported to Berlin, where she worked as a typist at the Soviet trade mission. In principle, Evgenia no longer needed a second husband. Therefore, meeting Deputy People’s Commissar of Agriculture Nikolai Yezhov in the summer of 1930 in a Sochi sanatorium was very opportune.

Soon she married this small, ugly man. And Yezhov gradually rose through career ladder and soon found himself right hand Joseph Stalin, actually leading the “cleansing of the party.” It was Yezhov who became the organizer mass repression in the years 37-38. According to some reports, about 1.5 million people were shot or sent to camps on his orders.

Evgenia got a job as deputy editor of the magazine “USSR in Construction”, effectively heading it. At home, she organized literary salons, where famous writers, actors, singers, and party officials gathered. They say that among Khayutina’s lovers there were writers Mikhail Sholokhov And Isaac Babel, academician Otto Schmidt, as well as colleagues from the magazine. Her love affairs and literary parties were legendary. But gradually her acquaintances, friends and colleagues began to disappear in the dungeons of the NKVD.

They say that Stalin repeatedly told Yezhov to divorce Khayutina, but he delayed the difficult conversation. In addition, the wife’s condition began to deteriorate noticeably. She felt that the ring around her was narrowing and that retribution was inevitable. She wrote letters to Stalin, assuring him of her devotion, but received no response. As a result, the woman ended up in the hospital with a severe form of psychoneurosis.

Khayutina tried to find support from her husband, but he sent her a package of Luminal sleeping pills and a small souvenir. It is believed that it was this trinket that served as the signal for the patient to take decisive action. Evgenia swallowed pills. They tried to revive her for two days, but on November 21, 1938, she died. A year later, Nikolai Yezhov was arrested and executed on February 4, 1940. The former People's Commissar of the NKVD was also charged with the murder of his wife, but Yezhov did not confess to it.

The most beautiful: Nino Gegechkori (Beria)

Husband: People's Commissar of the NKVD and General Commissioner of State Security Lavrenty Beria.

Died: at 86 years old.

Photo: Youtube frame

She was called the most beautiful among the wives of the party leadership. Unlike other women, Nino Gegechkori managed to avoid a terrible death, living to a respectable age. It is interesting that until her death she justified her husband and spoke only good words about him. They met in 1921. He was 22, she was 16.

The young people got married almost immediately, without even informing their relatives. Later, when everyone found out about the secret wedding, they began to whisper behind the young couple’s backs that Lavrentiy Beria had allegedly kidnapped the girl. But Gegechkori herself, giving an interview after perestroika, claimed that everything happened by mutual consent.

They lived together for more than 30 years. Now there are many rumors, articles are being written about how many women Lavrenty Pavlovich raped and killed. But his wife called him a calm, quiet person, a good family man and a wonderful father. Nino did not believe the evidence presented of her husband’s terrible deeds, believing that they were all fabricated to remove him from power and denigrate him.

After Beria's arrest in 1953, Nino and their son Sergo spent 16 months in solitary confinement, where they were interrogated daily. After that, Nino and his son were put on a freight train and dropped off in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg). They had no housing, no money, no work. Later, Sergo, deprived of scientific degrees and titles, the former chief designer of one of the Moscow design bureaus and a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, found it difficult to find a job as a technician. A few years later they were allowed to choose any city to live in, except Moscow. Nino dreamed of returning to her hometown of Martvili in Georgia, but she was asked not to appear there. And Beria’s family left for Kyiv. They say that the son took his mother’s surname and became Gegechkori.

The greediest: Svetlana Shchelokova

Husband: Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR Nikolay Shchelokov

Died: at 54 years old.

Svetlana and Nikolai Shchelokov.

Nikolay Anisimovich Shchelokov(November 13 (26), 1910, Almaznaya station (now the city of Almaznaya, Lugansk region), Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province, Russian Empire - December 13, 1984, Moscow, USSR) - Soviet statesman. Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR (-), Army General (September 10, stripped of his rank on November 6).

Biography

Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov was born on November 13, 1910 at the Almaznaya station (now the city of Almaznaya, Lugansk region of Ukraine) in the family of metallurgist Anisim Mitrofanovich and Maria Ivanovna. Wife Svetlana Vladimirovna.

Pre-war period

After graduating from college, he went to Dnepropetrovsk, where he entered the institute. In 1931 he joined the CPSU(b). Graduated in 1933. Throughout the 1930s he worked at Ukrainian enterprises.

In 1938, being the head of the open-hearth shop of the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Plant, he was elected first secretary of the Krasnogvardeisky district party committee of the city of Dnepropetrovsk.

In 1939-1941 he worked as chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk City Executive Committee. At the same time, he met the future General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, who at that time worked as secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

During the Great Patriotic War

Shchelokov was the first leader who began the search for the remains of Nicholas II. When the writer Geliy Ryabov turned to Shchelokov: “We, as Russian people, must fulfill our duty and find the body of the Tsar,” Shchelokov ordered the head of the Sverdlovsk Internal Affairs Directorate to provide full assistance.

Resignation and death

From a conversation between “Facts and Comments” correspondent Vladimir Shunevich and the widow of the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Police Lieutenant General Vitaly Zakharov:

General Zakharov was well acquainted with N.A. Shchelokov. How did he react to the news that he was accused of serious violations of the law?
Widow of Lieutenant General of Police V.F. Zakharov: “I was very worried and believed that Shchelokov was atoning for the sins of others. A person without honor is unlikely to commit suicide.”

Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov is buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery (site No. 20).

Awards

• Four Orders of Lenin
• Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 2nd degree
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
• Medal "For Distinction in Protecting the State Border of the USSR"
• Four Medals “For excellent service in maintaining public order”

Memory

Addresses in Moscow

• Kutuzovsky pr., building 26
• Kutuzovsky pr., building 30

Film incarnations

• Vladimir Zemlyanikin in feature film Murder at Zhdanovskaya, 1992.
• Gennady Bogachev (“Brezhnev”, 2005).
• Vladimir Golovanov (“Galina”, 2008).
• Alexey Krychenkov (“Diamond Hunters”, 2011).
• Vladimir Steklov in the documentary series “Employees.” KGB vs. Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2011.
• Vasily Bochkarev, television series “Nesterov’s Loop”, 2015.
• Vladislav Piavko, television series “The Jackal”, 2016.

Video

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Notes

Literature

• Evgeniy Dodolev// Moskovskaya Pravda: newspaper. - M., 1988. - No. 07 December. - P. 04.
• Kredov S. A. Shchelokov. - 2nd ed. - M.: Young Guard, 2011. - 320 p. - (Life of remarkable people, issue No. 1298). - ISBN 5-235-03421.
• Shchelokov, Nikolai Anisimovich // Chagan - Aix-les-Bains. - M. : Soviet Encyclopedia, 1978. - (Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / chief ed. A. M. Prokhorov; 1969-1978, vol. 29).

Links

Russian Empire (1802-1917) Provisional Government (1917) White movement (1918-1919) RSFSR (1917-1931) Soviet Union (1934-1960) RSFSR (1955-1966) Soviet Union (1966-1991) RSFSR (1989-1992) Russian Federation (since 1992)

Excerpt characterizing Shchelokov, Nikolai Anisimovich

"What it is? thought Nikolai. Where did this hunter come from? This is not my uncle’s.”
The hunters fought off the fox and stood on foot for a long time, without rushing. Near them on chumburs stood horses with their saddles and dogs lay. The hunters waved their hands and did something with the fox. From there the sound of a horn was heard - the agreed signal of a fight.
“It’s the Ilaginsky hunter who is rebelling with our Ivan,” said the eager Nikolai.
Nikolai sent the groom to call his sister and Petya to him and walked at a walk to the place where the riders were collecting the hounds. Several hunters galloped to the scene of the fight.
Nikolai got off his horse and stopped next to the hounds with Natasha and Petya riding up, waiting for information about how the matter would end. A fighting hunter with a fox in torokas rode out from behind the edge of the forest and approached the young master. He took off his hat from afar and tried to speak respectfully; but he was pale, out of breath, and his face was angry. One of his eyes was black, but he probably didn’t know it.
-What did you have there? – Nikolai asked.
- Of course, he will poison from under our hounds! And my mousey bitch caught it. Go and sue! Enough for the fox! I'll give him a ride as a fox. Here she is, in Toroki. Do you want this?...” said the hunter, pointing to the dagger and probably imagining that he was still talking to his enemy.
Nikolai, without talking to the hunter, asked his sister and Petya to wait for him and went to the place where this hostile Ilaginskaya hunt was.
The victorious hunter rode into the crowd of hunters and there, surrounded by sympathetic curious people, told his exploit.
The fact was that Ilagin, with whom the Rostovs were in a quarrel and trial, was hunting in places that, according to custom, belonged to the Rostovs, and now, as if on purpose, he ordered to drive up to the island where the Rostovs were hunting, and allowed him to poison his hunter from under other people’s hounds.
Nikolai never saw Ilagin, but as always, in his judgments and feelings, not knowing the middle, according to rumors about the violence and willfulness of this landowner, he hated him with all his soul and considered him his worst enemy. He now rode towards him, embittered and agitated, tightly clutching the arapnik in his hand, in full readiness for the most decisive and dangerous actions against his enemy.
As soon as he left the ledge of the forest, he saw a fat gentleman in a beaver cap on a beautiful black horse, accompanied by two stirrups, moving towards him.
Instead of an enemy, Nikolai found in Ilagin a personable, courteous gentleman, who especially wanted to get to know the young count. Having approached Rostov, Ilagin lifted his beaver cap and said that he was very sorry for what happened; that he orders to punish the hunter who allowed himself to be poisoned by other people's dogs, asks the count to be acquainted and offers him his places for hunting.
Natasha, afraid that her brother would do something terrible, rode not far behind him in excitement. Seeing that the enemies were bowing in a friendly manner, she drove up to them. Ilagin raised his beaver cap even higher in front of Natasha and, smiling pleasantly, said that the Countess represented Diana both by her passion for hunting and by her beauty, about which he had heard a lot.
Ilagin, in order to make amends for the guilt of his hunter, urgently asked Rostov to go to his eel, which was a mile away, which he kept for himself and in which, according to him, there were hares. Nikolai agreed, and the hunt, having doubled in size, moved on.
It was necessary to walk to the Ilaginsky eel through fields. The hunters straightened out. The gentlemen rode together. Uncle, Rostov, Ilagin secretly glanced at other people's dogs, trying so that others would not notice, and anxiously looked for rivals for their dogs among these dogs.
Rostov was especially struck by her beauty by a small pure-dog, narrow, but with steel muscles, a thin muzzle and bulging black eyes, a red-spotted bitch in Ilagin’s pack. He had heard about the agility of the Ilagin dogs, and in this beautiful bitch he saw his Milka’s rival.
In the middle of a sedate conversation about this year's harvest, which Ilagin started, Nikolai pointed out to him his red-spotted bitch.
- This bitch is good! – he said in a casual tone. - Rezva?
- This? Yes, this one - kind dog“He’s catching,” Ilagin said in an indifferent voice about his red-spotted Erza, for which a year ago he gave his neighbor three families of servants. “So you, Count, don’t boast about threshing?” – he continued the conversation he had started. And considering it polite to repay the young count in kind, Ilagin examined his dogs and chose Milka, who caught his eye with her width.
- This black-spotted one is good - okay! - he said.
“Yes, nothing, he’s jumping,” answered Nikolai. “If only a seasoned hare ran into the field, I would show you what kind of dog this is!” he thought, and turning to the stirrup man said that he would give a ruble to anyone who suspected, that is, found a lying hare.
“I don’t understand,” Ilagin continued, “how other hunters are envious of the beast and the dogs.” I'll tell you about myself, Count. It makes me happy, you know, to take a ride; Now you’ll get together with such a company... what’s better (he again took off his beaver cap in front of Natasha); and this is to count the skins, how many I brought - I don’t care!
- Well, yes.
- Or so that I would be offended that someone else’s dog catches it, and not mine - I just want to admire the baiting, right, Count? Then I judge...
“Atu - him,” a drawn-out cry was heard at that time from one of the stopped Greyhounds. He stood on a half-mound of stubble, raising his arapnik, and once again repeated in a drawn-out manner: “A—tu—him!” (This sound and the raised arapnik meant that he saw a hare lying in front of him.)
“Oh, I suspected it,” Ilagin said casually. - Well, let's poison him, Count!
- Yes, we need to drive up... yes - well, together? - Nikolai answered, peering at Erza and the red Scolding uncle, two of his rivals with whom he had never managed to match his dogs. “Well, they’ll cut my Milka out of my ears!” he thought, moving towards the hare next to his uncle and Ilagin.
- Seasoned? - Ilagin asked, moving towards the suspicious hunter, and not without excitement, looking around and whistling to Erza...
- And you, Mikhail Nikanorych? - he turned to his uncle.
The uncle rode frowning.
- Why should I meddle, because yours are pure marching! - in the village they pay for the dog, your thousands. You try on yours, and I’ll take a look!
- Scold! On, on,” he shouted. - Swearing! - he added, involuntarily using this diminutive to express his tenderness and hope placed in this red dog. Natasha saw and felt the excitement hidden by these two old men and her brother and was worried herself.
The hunter stood on the half-hill with a raised arapnik, the gentlemen approached him at a step; the hounds, walking on the very horizon, turned away from the hare; the hunters, not the gentlemen, also drove away. Everything moved slowly and sedately.
-Where is your head lying? - Nikolai asked, approaching a hundred paces towards the suspicious hunter. But before the hunter had time to answer, the hare, sensing the frost by tomorrow morning, could not stand still and jumped up. A pack of hounds on bows, with a roar, rushed downhill after the hare; from all sides the greyhounds, who were not in the pack, rushed at the hounds and the hare. All these slowly moving hunters are screaming: stop! knocking down the dogs, the greyhounds shout: atu! guiding the dogs, they galloped across the field. Calm Ilagin, Nikolai, Natasha and uncle flew, not knowing how or where, seeing only dogs and a hare, and only fearing to lose sight of the course of the persecution even for a moment. The hare was seasoned and playful. Jumping up, he did not immediately gallop, but moved his ears, listening to the screaming and stomping that suddenly came from all sides. He jumped ten times slowly, allowing the dogs to approach him, and finally, having chosen the direction and realizing the danger, he put his ears to the ground and rushed at full speed. He was lying on the stubble, but in front there were green fields through which it was muddy. The two dogs of the suspicious hunter, who were closest, were the first to look and lay after the hare; but they had not yet moved far towards him, when the Ilaginskaya red-spotted Erza flew out from behind them, approached a dog's distance, with terrible speed attacked, aiming at the hare's tail and thinking that she had grabbed it, rolled head over heels. The hare arched his back and kicked even harder. Wide-bottomed, black-spotted Milka came out from behind Erza and quickly began to sing to the hare.
- Honey! mother! – Nikolai’s triumphant cry was heard. It seemed that Milka would strike and catch the hare, but she caught up and rushed past. The Rusak moved away. The beautiful Erza swooped in again and hung over the hare’s very tail, as if trying to grab him by the back thigh so as not to make a mistake now.
- Erzanka! sister! – Ilagin’s voice was heard crying, not his own. Erza did not heed his pleas. At the very moment when one should have expected her to grab the hare, he whirled and rolled out to the line between the greenery and the stubble. Again Erza and Milka, like a pair of drawbars, aligned themselves and began to sing to the hare; at the turn it was easier for the hare; the dogs did not approach him so quickly.
- Scold! Swearing! Pure march! - shouted at that time another new voice, and Rugai, his uncle’s red, humpbacked dog, stretching out and arching his back, caught up with the first two dogs, moved out from behind them, kicked with terrible selflessness right over the hare, knocked him off the line onto the green, Another time he pushed even harder through the dirty greens, drowning up to his knees, and you could only see how he rolled head over heels, getting his back dirty in the mud, with the hare. The star of dogs surrounded him. A minute later everyone was standing near the crowded dogs. One happy uncle got down and walked away. Shaking the hare so that the blood would drain, he looked around anxiously, running his eyes, unable to find a position for his arms and legs, and spoke, not knowing with whom or what.
“This is a matter of march... here is a dog... here he pulled out everyone, both thousandths and rubles - a pure matter of march!” he said, gasping and looking around angrily, as if scolding someone, as if everyone were his enemies, everyone had offended him, and only now he finally managed to justify himself. “Here are the thousandths for you - a pure march!”
- Scold me, fuck off! - he said, throwing the cut-off paw with the earth stuck on it; – deserved it – pure march!
“She pulled out all the stops, gave three runs on her own,” Nikolai said, also not listening to anyone, and not caring whether they listened to him or not.
- What the hell is this! - said Ilaginsky the stirrup.
“Yes, as soon as she stopped short, every mongrel will catch you from stealing,” said Ilagin at the same time, red-faced, barely catching his breath from the galloping and excitement. At the same time, Natasha, without taking a breath, squealed joyfully and enthusiastically so shrilly that her ears were ringing. With this screech she expressed everything that other hunters also expressed in their one-time conversation. And this squeal was so strange that she herself should have been ashamed of this wild squeal and everyone should have been surprised by it if it had been at another time.
The uncle himself pulled the hare back, deftly and smartly threw him over the back of the horse, as if reproaching everyone with this throwing, and with such an air that he didn’t even want to talk to anyone, sat on his kaurago and rode away. Everyone except him, sad and offended, left and only long after could they return to their former pretense of indifference. For a long time they looked at the red Rugay, who, with his hunchbacked back and dirt stained, rattling his iron, with the calm look of a winner, walked behind the legs of his uncle’s horse.
“Well, I’m the same as everyone else when it comes to bullying. Well, just hang in there!” It seemed to Nikolai that the appearance of this dog spoke.
When, long after, the uncle drove up to Nikolai and spoke to him, Nikolai was flattered that his uncle, after everything that had happened, still deigned to speak with him.

When Ilagin said goodbye to Nikolai in the evening, Nikolai found himself at such a far distance from home that he accepted his uncle’s offer to leave the hunt to spend the night with him (with his uncle), in his village of Mikhailovka.
- And if they came to see me, it would be a pure march! - said the uncle, even better; you see, the weather is wet, the uncle said, if we could rest, the countess would be taken in a droshky. “Uncle’s proposal was accepted, a hunter was sent to Otradnoe to pick up the droshky; and Nikolai, Natasha and Petya went to see their uncle.
About five people, large and small, courtyard men ran out onto the front porch to meet the master. Dozens of women, old, big and small, leaned out from the back porch to watch the approaching hunters. The presence of Natasha, a woman, a lady on horseback, brought the curiosity of the uncle's servants to such limits that many, not embarrassed by her presence, came up to her, looked into her eyes and in her presence made their comments about her, as if about a miracle being shown, which is not a person, and cannot hear or understand what is said about him.
- Arinka, look, she’s sitting on her side! She sits herself, and the hem dangles... Look at the horn!
- Father of the world, that knife...
- Look, Tatar!
- How come you didn’t somersault? – said the bravest one, directly addressing Natasha.
The uncle got off his horse at the porch of his wooden house overgrown with a garden and, looking around at his household, shouted imperiously that the extra ones should leave and that everything necessary for receiving guests and hunting would be done.
Everything ran away. Uncle took Natasha off the horse and led her by the hand along the shaky plank steps of the porch. The house, unplastered, with log walls, was not very clean - it was not clear that the purpose of the people living was to keep it stain-free, but there was no noticeable neglect.
The hallway smelled of fresh apples, and there were wolf and fox skins hanging. Through the front hall, the uncle led his guests into a small hall with a folding table and red chairs, then into a living room with a birch round table and a sofa, then into an office with a torn sofa, a worn carpet and with portraits of Suvorov, the owner’s father and mother, and himself in a military uniform . There was a strong smell of tobacco and dogs in the office. In the office, the uncle asked the guests to sit down and make themselves at home, and he himself left. Scolding, his back not cleaned, entered the office and lay down on the sofa, cleaning himself with his tongue and teeth. From the office there was a corridor in which screens with torn curtains could be seen. Women's laughter and whispers could be heard from behind the screens. Natasha, Nikolai and Petya undressed and sat on the sofa. Petya leaned on his arm and immediately fell asleep; Natasha and Nikolai sat in silence. Their faces were burning, they were very hungry and very cheerful. They looked at each other (after the hunt, in the room, Nikolai no longer considered it necessary to show his male superiority in front of his sister); Natasha winked at her brother, and both did not hold back for long and laughed loudly, not yet having time to think of an excuse for their laughter.
A little later, the uncle came in wearing a Cossack jacket, blue trousers and small boots. And Natasha felt that this very suit, in which she saw her uncle with surprise and mockery in Otradnoye, was a real suit, which was no worse than frock coats and tails. Uncle was also cheerful; Not only was he not offended by the laughter of his brother and sister (it could not enter his head that they could laugh at his life), but he himself joined in their causeless laughter.
- That’s how the young countess is - a pure march - I’ve never seen another like it! - he said, handing one pipe with a long shank to Rostov, and placing the other short, cut shank with the usual gesture between three fingers.
“I left for the day, at least on time for the man and as if nothing had happened!”
Soon after the uncle, the door opened; judging by the sound of her feet, a girl was obviously barefoot, and a fat, ruddy, beautiful woman 40 years old, with a double chin, and full, rosy lips. She, with hospitable presence and attractiveness in her eyes and every movement, looked around at the guests and bowed respectfully to them with a gentle smile. Despite her greater-than-usual thickness, which forced her to stick her chest and stomach forward and hold her head back, this woman (the uncle’s housekeeper) walked extremely lightly. She walked up to the table, put down the tray and deftly with her white, plump hands removed and placed bottles, snacks and treats on the table. Having finished this, she walked away and stood at the door with a smile on her face. - “Here I am!” Do you understand uncle now?” her appearance told Rostov. How not to understand: not only Rostov, but also Natasha understood her uncle and the meaning of the frowning eyebrows, and the happy, self-satisfied smile that slightly wrinkled his lips as Anisya Fedorovna entered. On the tray were herbalist, liqueurs, mushrooms, cakes of black flour on yuraga, comb honey, boiled and sparkling honey, apples, raw and roasted nuts and nuts in honey. Then Anisya Fedorovna brought jam with honey and sugar, and ham, and freshly fried chicken.
All this was Anisya Fedorovna’s farming, collecting and jamming. All this smelled and resonated and tasted like Anisya Fedorovna. Everything resonated with richness, purity, whiteness and a pleasant smile.

Exactly 28 years ago, December 13, 1984, all over the room luxury apartment brains scattered on Kutuzovsky Prospekt former general Army and USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Shchelokov. On this day, he put on his ceremonial uniform with all the awards, and shot himself in the temple with buckshot from a hunting rifle.

As soon as Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982, and Andropov was elected as the new General Secretary, this meant the end for Shchelokov. And indeed, as soon as he was removed from the post of Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR on December 17, 1982, the military prosecutor's office immediately opened a criminal case, ordering a comprehensive audit of the activities of the entire ministry.
The first, unable to withstand such a drastic change in their situation, in February 1983, Shchelokov’s wife Svetlana Vladimirovna shot herself at the dacha. Gossip immediately spread throughout Moscow that Shchelokov’s wife had shot at Andropov in the elevator, wounded him, and then shot herself.

Andropov really died soon, but his death did not change anything in Shchelokov’s fate. The sick Chernenko did not initiate new criminal cases, but he did not stop the old ones either - he did not interfere in anything at all. Further, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 6, 1984. Shchelokov N.A. was stripped of the highest rank of army general. Four days later, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 10, 1984. In 1984, Shchelokov was deprived of all state awards, except military ones, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. That Decree was adopted, not without mockery, on November 10, when the USSR celebrated Soviet Police Day, which Shchelokov made one of the main holidays in the country. And finally, five days before his suicide, on December 7, 1984, Shchelokov was expelled from the ranks of the CPSU.

I will not analyze, prove or refute all the accusations that were brought against Shchelokov: the Olympic Mercedes allegedly appropriated by him; “old” banknotes that the minister exchanged for newer ones; “material evidence” from criminal cases, which the Minister of Internal Affairs seemed to be in the habit of appropriating; bribes, etc. Shchelokov has enough prosecutors and lawyers even without me. I will only say that the ex-minister was shaken like a pear by professionals from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB, the General and Main Military Prosecutor's Offices, for whom in Soviet times nothing was impossible for these structures. They dug up, but in these times it looks like a small thing that current officials would disdain to tinker with.
And I’ll also note that I never heard from the police officers who worked under him in the authorities, not a single bad word about their minister. The fact is that as a result of Khrushchev’s reforms, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was abolished, the rights of the police were significantly curtailed, and Shchelokov had to completely create the Ministry of Internal Affairs system from scratch. Shchelokov was the first of the leaders to understand how important it is to create a positive image of a guard of order - a Soviet policeman, and acted as the main “PR man” of his ministry. Uncle Styopa, Aniskin, Gleb Zheglov and Volodya Sharapov - these heroes appeared on the screen under the patronage of Shchelokov.
Over the entire 300-year history of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Russian Empire And Soviet Union, there was no minister who held this post for so long. For almost two decades, Shchelokov resolved the issues of technical equipment of the internal affairs department and providing employees with decent housing. wages(under him, bonuses for rank and length of service were first introduced), uniforms, etc.

1971 visit to the Krasnoluchsky city police department. From left to right: head of the city department Kotvanov, Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Golovchenko, Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR Shchelokov

And if in Russia Shchelokov was forgotten, then in Ukraine they remember. Last year in Dnepropetrovsk, the square near the building of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Dnepropetrovsk region was named in honor of Nikolai Shchelokov, and there is now a memorial sign there. In 2007, in the Luhansk region, in the Almaznaya station on Barnaulskaya Street (now Shchelokova Street) in house No. 8, the Shchelokov House Museum was opened. The future minister and army general came from there, and the museum exhibits his general’s jacket with order bars and the gold star of the Hero of Socialist Labor. Deprived of this title, Shchelokov was supposed to hand it over, but he shot himself with this Star on his chest. In the confusion surrounding the suicide, they forgot about it, and Nikolai Anisimovich’s son, touched by the memory of his father, donated it to the museum (by the way, on the black market for antiques, the Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor costs from 5 to 10 thousand dollars).

Psychologists say that the “hands behind the back” gesture means a lack of readiness for action,
as well as hidden shyness and predicament

We often hear that Brezhnev was almost a fool in power, but pay attention to how skillfully he placed his two main power ministries - the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs - in different corners of the political ring. And it’s impossible to imagine two large antipodes put in charge of these security forces. On the one hand, KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, a sickly ascetic, a man indifferent to material wealth, almost an intellectual, who at the same time mercilessly suppressed any manifestation of dissent. And on the other hand, there is the Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov, who loves life in all its manifestations, a philanthropist, a sybarite, and at the same time a “guy from the plow.”
So, in addition to the political rivalry between the heads of the power ministries, Andropov and Shchelokov simply humanly hated each other, and a conspiracy between them to deprive Brezhnev of power was physically impossible. So if you are lucky in this life and you have subordinates, learn...