Putin is leaving for the epicenter tragedy in Russia's south

Vladimir Putin’s plane had a technical stop in Moscow on its way from Canada and then left for the city of Stavropol. This was reported by the president’s press-secretary, Aleksey Gromov. During the technical stop, Putin had a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

The prime minister informed the president about the latest problems and the measures that have been taken by federal and regional authorities to render help to those regions that have suffered from the tremendous flood.

Eighty-nine people died as a result of the natural disaster in the southern Russia. The damage totals 16 billion rubles, and restoration works will cost several billion rubles (no exact figure is known).

The fact that the Russian president is heading for the city of Stavropol right after the G-8 summit in Canada was not a surprise to anyone. Vladimir Putin gave his opinion (which was rather impartial) to the events in Russia's south during the summit in Canada. Putin thinks that it was basically because of the local authorities: “It could have been possible to avoid such a disaster, because there was preliminary information about such a development of events. I think that the local government could be more professional in its work.”

As is well known, the president does not waste his words, which is why the local government will have to find reasonable arguments. This is not likely to save them, because the president has all the trump cards in his hands. The Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Stavropol region has already instituted two criminal proceedings in connection with the state of emergency in Russia’s south. The criminal proceedings were instituted on the ground of officials’ role in concealing information about the circumstances that jeopardized people’s lives.

The scale of the natural disaster does not leave anyone indifferent, and the president is not an exception. Putin will not repeat the mistake with the Kursk submarine, so someone will definitely be punished.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov

AP photo