Who's Who in the Russian Govt? - Interview with Duma Deputy from Russia's Samara Region (Alexander Khinshtein)
"This year our whole family plans to visit the spiritual heart of Russia - the Trinity-Sergius Lavra." (Russia's largest Orthodox Christian monastery)
2024 has been declared the Year of the Family in Russia. The Parliamentary Gazette asked famous politicians to talk about their family traditions and share their warmest and most vivid memories of their family and friends.
Our interlocutor today is Alexander Khinshtein, State Duma deputy from the Samara region, chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications.
- Alexander Evseevich, what meaning does the concept of “family” have for you personally?
- I agree with the words of our president that the family is not just the basis of the state and society, it is a spiritual phenomenon, the basis of morality. There is nothing more valuable in life than parental and family happiness.
Since childhood, my parents instilled in me a love for the Motherland. My ancestors lived in Samara and inherited a warm attitude towards this region, where I have been working as a deputy for many years. I can talk about Samara endlessly, but I’d rather invite you to see it with your own eyes.
I try to spend all my free time with my family; we love to travel together. On New Year's Eve we managed to visit Father Frost in Veliky Ustyug, we received unforgettable vivid impressions, especially from the frost - the air temperature was minus 40. This year our whole family plans to visit the spiritual heart of Russia - the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
- What traditions do you have in your family?
We try to spend more time together and always discover something new. It has already become a tradition to go to the banya, to museums and exhibitions with my sons on weekends, to watch theater performances, and to read books together.
In our family, a valuable gift from my wife was a written history of my family — a family tree. She knows how to create a holiday and give unexpected impressions.
One of our long-standing family traditions is that the name of the youngest child is chosen by the eldest. My mother-in-law Elena Vladimirovna named her brother Vladimir, and so her brother became Vladimir Vladimirovich. I don’t think I need to explain that my brother was pleased with the name.
My eldest son Artem came up with a name for his younger brother. We were never able to convince him with other options, so we named our second son Lev. My great-grandfather was also named Lev, so everyone was happy with his choice.
- What are your suggestions for the Year of the Family?
- I consider it very important to raise real men, defenders of our Fatherland and of our family from an early age. After all, we, men, make our women happy. It is necessary from childhood to show our children the right example to follow, to be an authority for them, to support and carefully preserve traditional family values.
I would like for all families to return to the tradition of having more children. Much has already been done in this direction and much more remains to be done. Despite the fact that a lot is changing in the world, the family foundation must remain unshakable.
Source: pnp.ru (Russian)
Russia is the ONLY country in the world maintaining Christian values !
All good writing but I beg to inform you that Putin is seen as a tyrant in the west because of his bombing of residential areas and many children and women. I am not asking you to oppose him as this would be very dangerous to you but please bear it in mind.