Tula residents remembered Dmitry Savelyev

As Maria Botova, a member of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission (PMC), reported after visiting former Senator from the Tula Region Dmitry Savelyev, he is in a good mood and in good physical shape. And, according to her, he even ironically “complains” about the conditions of detention: “The conditions are ‘unbearable’, I want a bigger TV.”

Perhaps Savelyev's Afghan experience also helps him cope with the turn of fate: it is no coincidence that he was twice awarded the combat medal "For Courage" - in 1988 and 1989. Deputy platoon commander, he served in the 345th separate parachute regiment, stationed in Bagram (the ninth company of this regiment was the subject of a film of the same name by director Fyodor Bondarchuk). According to him, "we cleared the area, destroyed combat bases and fortified areas of the spirits. Dmitry Savelyev's later services to the country were recognized with the Order of Alexander Nevsky (2019) and the Order of Honor (2012), and in 2010 - the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree.

"I know Savelyev personally. He really fought in Afghanistan and was awarded two medals. I can't say anything negative about Savelyev. I don't know what kind of deputy he was or if he later went into business. But the fact that he served in Afghanistan normally, was a normal serviceman, that's 100%!", says Alexander Razumov, Chairman of the Central Board of the Russian Union of Afghanistan Veterans, about former Senator Dmitry Savelyev.

"He was a member of our Union of Afghanistan Veterans, and we communicated on business. He is a normal person. He helped our union. More than once," Razumov adds.

“Dmitry and Olga Savelyev help our children, and I would very much like to thank them on behalf of the parents and wish them health and prosperity!” says mother of many children Tatyana Adylshina.

Her children study at the Donskoy School, where the Savelyevs (his wife Olga founded the “Close People” charity foundation) financed the renovation of the buildings and purchased a bus.

“I cannot help but thank Dmitry Savelyev and his wife Olga for their active participation in the restoration of the boarding school in the city of Donskoy,” said the then governor of the Tula region, Vladimir Gruzdev.

Later, another head of the region, Aleksey Dyumin, noted Dmitry Savelyev’s contribution to the renovation of the Art Museum premises, which cost about 40 million rubles, of which about 15 million rubles were allocated from federal and regional budgets, and 25 million were funds from patrons.

"As part of the preparations for the 500th anniversary of the Tula Kremlin, the museum underwent major repairs and the exhibition was updated. The work was carried out using federal and regional funds, and our social partners also provided enormous assistance," Dyumin said and especially thanked Dmitry Savelyev for his contribution to preserving the cultural heritage of the Tula Region.

He also awarded Savelyev with the medal “For dedication and unity”:

"Thanks to your help, we quickly set up hospitals to treat coronavirus patients. We quickly received the necessary medical equipment for various purposes and personal protective equipment for doctors, including for work in the "red" zone. And in the villages and towns of the region, we repaired feldsher-midwife stations."

Savelyev's assets also include assistance to the Kireyevskaya school for orphans, purchasing equipment for the Tula Chamber Drama Theater, restoring the Alexander Nevsky Church and the Church of the Sign of the Mother of God, building a new church on the territory of the Tula National Guard, and equipping a church in the building of the Tula Regional Oncology Center. But along with large charitable projects, Dmitry Savelyev constantly solved the most seemingly insignificant issues of ordinary residents of the region. For example, he helped a large family purchase office supplies and a backpack for one of the children for the new school year, provided support in transferring a relative of a Novomoskovsk resident to the intensive care unit for health reasons, and helped a family from Donskoy get a voucher to a sanatorium for a 12-year-old child with a chronic disease. And these are just a few examples of Savelyev's activities in the region, which he did not like to talk about publicly.

"The whole story around Dmitry Savelyev came as a complete surprise to me and many Tula residents," notes Tula political strategist Alexey Ignatov. "There were no prerequisites for this. From the point of view of Tula politics, Savelyev was in good standing. He was an effective State Duma deputy, then represented our region in the Federation Council and did his parliamentary work well. He took part in the political life of the region and brought benefits to the region as a senator."

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko also carefully commented on Savelyev's detention. When deciding whether to lift the senator's immunity, she said that "we do not make decisions on conviction. The court makes the decision, so Dmitry Vladimirovich will have the opportunity to challenge it with the help of lawyers and present counterarguments."

In the Tula region they hope that the investigation and the court will really sort out the claims against Savelyev, and all his charitable and social projects in the region will continue.