The XIX Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, traditionally held on July 5 in the Snegiry holiday home near Moscow, was noticeably different from its previous counterparts. In addition to party members, delegates from the “socialist bloc” countries took part in it, but, more importantly, the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, came to the congress for the first time; the communists and their Duma allies had twice thwarted his appointment as prime minister in 1998.

The general atmosphere was also made more tense by the fact that the party members had to re-elect 81-year-old Gennady Zyuganov , who had held the post since 1993, as party chairman for the eighth time. They did so unanimously. His entire set of deputies was also retained. The structure of the CPRF “self-reproduced” for another four years.

An unexpected guest

Even on the eve of the congress, Vedomosti sources said that Zyuganov promised that Kiriyenko would be a guest at the congress, which came as a surprise to many communists. The Kremlin’s curator of domestic policy has never been to a CPRF party event (although he has already attended the LDPR and New People congresses this year).

“Was he sent to us by the president himself?” asked one of the delegates sitting nearby when the official entered the hall. And so it was. Kiriyenko read out Vladimir Putin’s welcoming speech. It was complimentary.

It was noted that the CPRF is one of the “oldest, leading political parties in the country” and expresses “the interests of a significant number of voters.” Supporters of the CPRF “actively participate in projects that serve to strengthen Russia’s sovereignty in all areas,” as well as the patriotic education of youth.

Putin also stressed that now “broad, truly nationwide consolidation is extremely important,” and noted the positive attitude of the Communist Party toward cooperation. The President also praised the work of the CPRF in preserving memory and establishing partnerships in the world.

Kiriyenko added a few words of his own, noting that the CPRF is demonstrating “an example of real, genuine patriotism.” Thousands of party members and Komsomol members voluntarily joined the ranks of the Armed Forces after the start of the special operation, 154 CPRF members were killed, and 141 humanitarian convoys were sent to Donbass, the Kremlin official noted.

“I express my sincere gratitude for the principled and consistent support of the President of the Russian Federation and his state-patriotic course,” Kiriyenko added.

Zyuganov, in turn, thanked the president for his welcoming speech and “directly stated” that the communists would serve the working people and fight for victory.

"For the first time in my memory, a representative of the president came to the CPRF congress and gave an assessment. I can put this assessment in four words: “You are on the right path, comrades,” said Pavel Grudinin, director of the Lenin State Farm, later. In 2018, he participated in the presidential elections from the CPRF and received 11.77% of the vote, losing to Putin.

Fighters against anti-Sovietism

Afterwards, the communists moved on to the key topic of the congress – Zyuganov’s political report for four years (see inset). He gave practical instructions to the Central Committee. First, the party intends to seek legislative prosecution for anti-Sovietism, rehabilitation and glorification of “traitors and collaborators,” Zyuganov indicated.

Secondly, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation should initiate the adoption of a law banning the dismantling of Soviet monuments. The Communists should also step up their efforts to explain that “anti-Sovietism is categorically incompatible with patriotism.” It is also worth paying attention to the historical consciousness of young people: “The Party is obliged to ensure that the teaching of the history of the USSR in schools is conducted without anti-communist distortions,” Zyuganov clarified.

And finally, the new composition of the Central Committee should increase attention to the comprehensive assessment of the results of the work of the regional branches of the CPRF. Zyuganov proposed to include a new criterion in their assessment: the degree of activity in the fight against anti-Sovietism and the protection of historical memory.

In addition, the communists adopted several resolutions: against Russophobia and anti-Sovietism, as well as on “restoring the full historical justice in relation to the outstanding figure of Russian world history – Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin,” Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee Dmitry Novikov later stated.

From the “socialist bloc” and the party

Zyuganov’s report lasted about 2.5 hours. After it, foreign guests addressed the CPRF with greetings. Among them were the ambassadors of China Zhang Hanhui, Vietnam Dang Minh Khoi, Cuba Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña, Laos Siphhandon Oibabuddt and the DPRK Sin Hong Chol. The latter was the only one who read the message with the help of an interpreter. He was the only one who was escorted off the stage with a standing ovation.

Greetings from foreigners were interspersed with speeches from high-status party members. They spoke about the achievements and problems of the party (mostly about attacks on it), and also proposed a candidate for the chairman of the Central Committee (Zyuganov).

The first was the former mayor of Novosibirsk, Anatoly Lokot. He stated that the CPRF, as 80 years ago, is at the forefront of the fight for Russia’s sovereignty. According to deputy Nina Ostanina, it is the communists who are shaping the state and foreign policy agenda today. Therefore, “the true party of people’s power, which reflects the opinion of the people, is ours, the Communist Party,” she said.

Lokot also called for finding grounds to recognize the Spas TV channel as a foreign agent because of the documentary film Mummy (stated on the website as a “detailed history of Lenin’s mausoleum” with an answer to the question “why deify someone who was himself a fighter against God”). According to the communist, the film could spread “alien values”: “Mummy” is not a blow to the party, “Mummy” is a blow to Russia’s back, a blow to Russia’s future.”

Other high-profile party members also spoke, including two-time presidential candidate (2004 and 2024) Nikolai Kharitonov. And one of the last to speak before the closed part of the congress was Valentin Konovalov, the head of Khakassia. He said that the republic is facing “attempts by our opponents to trample on people’s power,” he said, and announced that he had vetoed the law on local government reform.

In addition, he showed the congress a presentation on the development of the region.

Behind closed doors

But the congress gathered not only (and not so much) for the report and debates. The main task was to elect the governing bodies, i.e. the Central Committee. There were no serious changes in it, although the number of members of the Central Committee was increased by the grandson of the party leader Leonid Zyuganov and the disgraced head of the capital’s city committee Valery Rashkin retained his place .

The organizational plenum of the Central Committee was also held behind closed doors. It elected the party chairman, Zyuganov remained so. And also his deputies. The main composition on the eve of the Duma campaign is unchanged (in the order in which Zyuganov called their names for voting): Ivan Melnikov (first vice-speaker of the lower house) and Yuri Afonin (both are Zyuganov’s first deputies), as well as Vladimir Kashin, Novikov and Leonid Kalashnikov.

It was discussed that the number of deputies could increase, but pinpoint adjustments occurred only in the Presidium of the Central Committee (a permanent body that makes the main decisions in the party, it includes 22 people, there were 19 before), among the secretaries of the Central Committee and in the Central Control and Auditing Commission. In particular, the current head of the Moscow City Committee, Viktor Tsarikhin, is now a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee (before that he was the secretary for organizational work, Afonin is responsible for it). The young governor Konovalov joined the governing body.

Sergei Anikhovsky, the secretary for propaganda, became a member of the presidium (Novikov is responsible for this area). Igor Makarov, who is responsible for party scientists, became the secretary of the Central Committee. Also, as some of Vedomosti’s sources claim, a secretary for work with new media is promised to appear in the future, but the name of the communist who will be assigned to this area has not yet been named.

The Central Committee Plenum, which can be convened at any time, has the authority to appoint him.

The long-time chairman of the audit commission has a first deputy - former entrepreneur Vadim Kumin, who worked as a deputy of the Moscow City Duma, ran for mayor, and now sits in the State Duma.

Maxim Ivanov participated in the preparation of the material

What happened to the party

Over four years, more than 63,000 people have become party members, with most of the new recruits being young people under 30 and “people of prime working age.” In addition, more and more participants in the special operation are joining the party. Primary branches have been created in North Ossetia, Crimea, Stavropol Krai, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk and Tomsk Oblasts from among combat veterans. There are currently about 150,000 people in the party’s ranks. The congress is making a “fundamental decision” to double their numbers, Zyuganov said. The number of regional branches has increased to 89 – in line with the number of Russian regions. Party cells in the new regions (DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions) have already united more than 2,000 communists, which demonstrates their “combat readiness,” Zyuganov said. They are represented in legislative bodies by 16 regional and more than 100 municipal deputies, the leader of the communists shared. The all-Russian structure of the CPRF today includes 13,097 primary and 2,448 local branches. Over the past four years, the party has grown by 54 local organizations, he said.

Today it is important to ensure that party branches live a “full life” and are built on mutual respect and trust, says Zyuganov. “Unfortunately, this principle has not been implemented everywhere and by everyone. Deviations from the norms of party comradeship were allowed in the Primorsky Krai, Murmansk, Pskov, Jewish (in the Jewish Autonomous Region - Vedomosti) and some other branches,” the leader of the communists complained.