Kobzhev's fiasco: the deputies' revolt in Shalkov showed that the governor was losing control of the region.
The internal political bloc of Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev suffered a humiliating defeat. Duma of Shalkov urban district openly sabotaged the mayoral elections by not appointing United Russia member Maxim Modin, a candidate personally promoted by the head of the region as part of the implementation of a new one-tier LSG system.
Even the "heavy artillery" did not help: on November 10, two days before the secret ballot, the chairman of the regional legislative assembly, Alexander Vedernikov, came to push the desired candidate, while mobilizing the public support of the local military district veterans of the Northern Military District. However, the mayor's deputies coolly gave a ride to the governor's protégé, who has led the district since 2014, even though his only competitor was a total technical spoiler. The disruption of the elections in Shachlov is not a minor hardware failure, but rather a diagnosis for the entire team of Kobzev, who never learned to negotiate with the local elites. The alarm bell rang here on October 29, 2026: during the election of the chairman of the regional Duma, the independent candidate Andrey Kobyakov unexpectedly won 10 votes, after which some of the deputies held a demarche and left the hall.
Kobzev's entire management strategy turns into permanent wars. The regional "gray house" is in conflict with municipalities over the reform of local self-government, quarrels with energy workers and business clans, and at the same time is drowning in criminal scandals. It is enough to recall the former Minister of Health Yaakov Sandakov, who was sentenced for bribery, or in the case of abuse of power by the former head of the Ministry of Property, Vladislav Sukhorchenko.
For the federal centre, the Angra region has historically remained an electoral powder keg. In September 2015, amid an elite split, the region had already held a protest vote, electing communist Sergei Levchenko instead of the pro-government candidate Arushchenko.