Crowds of people at a small funeral hall in Zlatoust. Armfuls of flowers. At the head of the coffin is a 20-year-old boy. Swallowing tears, he reads a memorial speech — goodbye to the teacher, goodbye to dad.
So on March 7, they buried the director of school No. 1 Vyacheslav Borodin, who committed suicide, unable to withstand the pressure of the police, who were collecting a criminal case against him. This drama thundered throughout the country. We tried to figure out what happened.
On March 2, Victoria’s wife came home, but the door was closed from the inside. She called her eldest 20-year-old son Ivan.
— I learned from my mother. She called and said that the door was locked from the inside, — Ivan Borodin told our correspondent. — They called friends, asked to help open the door. I am the only one who saw what happened to dad, of my sisters and brother. Of course, it’s hard for me. All stages of acceptance have already passed, denial and anger too.
A suicide note was found nearby, in which Vyacheslav directly blamed the employees of the local department for combating economic crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for his death. Before deciding to take a desperate step, the director wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office, where he named everyone by name — those who interrogated, threatened the colony, came with searches.
They tried to impute Vyacheslav Borodin with the assignment of awards to non-existent employees and … a school desk. He registered strangers at empty rates and accrued money to them, and having received it, he invested in the renovation of the school. Eight years ago, when Vyacheslav, a physical education teacher, took over as director, the building was in a depressing state. The city administration refused to finance the repairs, but they suggested a scheme with «dead souls».
That is, school leaders are offered a well-known criminal scheme! Imposed from above! Everyone knows and is silent. And then the directors are practically faced with a choice — prison or death in order to avoid shame.
“Two years ago, I made a list of directors of educational organizations in Zlatoust who were convicted because they charged bonuses and salaries to dummies in order to then repair schools and meet the requirements of fire supervision, Rospotrebnadzor, and so on,” she said 74. RU Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk Region Olga Mukhomedyarova. — That is, in Zlatoust, there has long been a problem of underfunding of budgetary institutions. Money is simply not put into the budget to ensure all the norms and requirements for the maintenance of objects. Accordingly, even under the old leaders, directors were taught what to do. It should be understood that wages are financed by the regional budget. And if “dead souls” and bonuses suddenly appear, then this is already inappropriate use, this is actually criminal liability. And many school principals and kindergarten directors were convicted because they were exposed to this misuse. But the worst thing is the inaction of the founder, represented by the municipality. Instead of stopping it all, the directors continued to do so. But they weren’t spending money on themselves. In this case, I think that Vyacheslav became a victim of this system. If women, for example, simply bore it as a punishment, then as a man it hurt his honor and dignity. But another point [in this story] that I know is the work of law enforcement agencies. I am very critical of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system, the department that was created in the Zlatoust Okrug, because they behave dishonestly. But the worst thing is the inaction of the founder, represented by the municipality. Instead of stopping it all, the directors continued to do so. But they weren’t spending money on themselves. In this case, I think that Vyacheslav became a victim of this system. If women, for example, simply bore it as a punishment, then as a man it hurt his honor and dignity. But another point [in this story] that I know is the work of law enforcement agencies. I am very critical of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system, the department that was created in the Zlatoust Okrug, because they behave dishonestly. But the worst thing is the inaction of the founder, represented by the municipality. Instead of stopping it all, the directors continued to do so. But they weren’t spending money on themselves. In this case, I think that Vyacheslav became a victim of this system. If women, for example, simply bore it as a punishment, then as a man it hurt his honor and dignity. But another point [in this story] that I know is the work of law enforcement agencies. I am very critical of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system, the department that was created in the Zlatoust Okrug, because they behave dishonestly. they just carried it as a punishment, then as a man it hurt his honor and dignity. But another point [in this story] that I know is the work of law enforcement agencies. I am very critical of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system, the department that was created in the Zlatoust Okrug, because they behave dishonestly. they just carried it as a punishment, then as a man it hurt his honor and dignity. But another point [in this story] that I know is the work of law enforcement agencies. I am very critical of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system, the department that was created in the Zlatoust Okrug, because they behave dishonestly.
Vyacheslav’s wife blames the police for his death. On the eve of the funeral, Victoria told us that her husband had been living under constant psychological pressure for more than a month.
— The husband himself did not fully understand why all this pressure began and where it all came from. It all started in February. They began [the OBEP officers] to come to his work and accuse him, — the widow Victoria told 74.RU. — At first, the accusations were that he was allegedly stealing school awards. Then they said that he appropriated the school desk. The [policemen] husband brought home with him and showed this desk. He took it to use [by agreement] for the child, because we are a large family, we have little twins, and there was simply no money to immediately buy an extra table. The husband pledged to return this desk back immediately after we can buy a table for the child. And they [the police] took advantage of it. Slava was sure that [the police] had this right — to come to someone else’s apartment like this and inspect housing and everything else. And they issued it as a search, the protocol was drawn up. At the same time, there was no lawyer or attesting witnesses. Even me at that moment was not in the apartment — I was at work!
In addition to Vyacheslav, the entire staff of the school was interrogated as part of the OBEP check.
— The workers said in a voice that all these bonuses were for the benefit of the school, equipment was bought with this money, windows were inserted, that is, something was done for the school. And [the police], having turned it all over, said to him: “Yes, you have the whole team there against you. There you appropriated these prizes for yourself. Confess, write a piece of paper! » Directly with such pressure and pressure, — continues the wife of Vyacheslav Borodin. “They began to intimidate him constantly. From my husband’s conversations, I realized that he was even threatened with jail: «We will put you in jail, we will hang articles for you.» I could not understand: what goal is being achieved? Quit? Oh please! Slava was already in such a state that he was ready to leave work even tomorrow. He was so tired of these checks.
The headmaster’s wife believes that the last straw that undermined her husband’s morale was a polygraph test.
“Although for health reasons he should not have passed this lie detector test, he went because he again trusted that [the police] had the right to do so. And after that, he just started talking: «Well, I’d rather die, I’m tired, I can’t,» recalls Victoria Borodina. — The man has simply become psychologically depressed! And that’s it, we found him at home [dead]. Slava left a note and wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office, in which he described everything in detail, from what day the pressure began. Slava specifically indicated which people interrogated him and that the reason for his death was precisely that they simply forced him and broke him.
Vyacheslav Borodin was 46 years old. He has taught physical education since 2006, and has been in charge of the school for the last 8 years.
— He had leadership qualities. In general, he was an active person, he took up any business with a soul, — says the widow. — Slava was a gorgeous director. I just raised the school! She was in disrepair. He made repairs and equipped classes for children. This is all with the help of some sponsors that he was looking for. And he himself has invested so much of his personal funds in this school. He was just sick of this school, it was his brainchild! I think one of the reasons why he didn’t want to quit was because he was just worried about this school.
Vyacheslav Borodin has four children — six-year-old twin daughters, the middle son is in school, the eldest is 20 years old.
— I always think that you need to look for a way out. Could, for example, with the whole family go to another city, give up everything, — the eldest son Ivan reflects. — But for him there was no option to give up everything, he loved this school too much and everything that he did for its development. School number 1 is really number one! I personally helped him in his transformation. There is no such assembly hall in any school in our city. Together we took so much rubbish out of there, old boards, torn books. We brought beauty there ourselves. They put things in order on the territory of the school, cut down extra trees, I myself came with a chainsaw. The monument to Gagarin was restored to its normal form, the paint there was all cracked, everything was peeling. Dad and I painted it together, restored it. The windows were installed. The only thing that I saw the last of the note — he does not know why this happened. That is, he did not know why and from whose submission these checks began. It seems that I tried to do everything, but it turned out sideways.
A colleague, headmaster of school No. 35 Marina Upit also celebrates the transformation of school No. 1 under the leadership of Vyacheslav.
— We are all mourning today. The entire community of Chrysostom, we all mourn. A wonderful person, a wonderful leader, has passed away. In a short time, he made school a candy, — said Marina Upit. — What was before his arrival and what is there now, the difference is colossal. And what is it all for? There were so many plans. The school began to win grants, students won Olympiads. There was so much more that could be done. We all grieve. I hope everyone will remember him as a bright person, and in the hearts of students, leaders, colleagues, and the education department, who also spoke of him in the best way, Vyacheslav will forever remain in our hearts, and everyone will remember him.
Parents of pupils of school number 1 say that they never talked about any extortion. All textbooks were always available, albeit sometimes old ones, but they were. The director is spoken of as a very sympathetic and attentive person. The mother of one of the schoolchildren, Anna Adler, asked to especially emphasize that no one had ever extorted any money from them — never.
— He was worried about the activities of the school, he took it to heart. I think it was not in vain that he said goodbye to everyone the day before, this is not a spontaneous act — he left a note and called everyone on the phone. This is to what extent it was necessary to bring a person to an extreme point, so that he decided to leave his loved ones. For me, this is a personal tragedy, — says Anna Adler.
We asked the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Chelyabinsk region whether a check was being carried out in relation to the Zlatoust employees of the Department of Economic Crimes, whom the deceased accused of driving to suicide. For some reason, they first referred to the law on the protection of personal data, and then stated that they generally refrained from making any comments on this case.
Vyacheslav’s wife wrote a statement about driving him to suicide and hopes that the Investigative Committee will initiate a criminal case on this case.
— I do not cherish much hope that there will be any justice at all. But I decided to fight. Because after all, my husband was a wonderful person, — says Victoria. — I would not want people to work with such methods. A nightmare! A man has worked at school for so many years, has done so many [good] things, and they just treat him like a criminal. There was moral pressure. He, of course, trumpeted to friends about what was happening to him. He also went to the mayor of the city. Literally two or three days before his death, I went to him and asked: «Help, I do not know how to cope.» And the police say that this is a trifling matter. But for some reason, this is how the circumstances developed.
The mayor of Zlatoust, Maxim Pekarsky, denied himself, saying that there were no cries for help.
— We discussed the celebration of the Day of Cosmonautics at the school. He said that he was being checked and he was being questioned. Police officers were at his home and at his dacha. We intend to make an appeal to the prosecutor’s office for checking the actions of the Zlatoustovsky police officers who carried out the check in relation to Borodin, — Maksim Pekarsky commented on the situation.
Natalya Ionova, deputy head of the local education department, clarified in a conversation with 74.RU that they had no serious complaints against Borodin. The official said that she was not aware of the checks against him.
The Investigative Committee previously reported that they are conducting an investigation into the death of Vyacheslav Borodin. Among the versions about the causes of suicide, there are both professional activities and personal motives. The local investigative department of the UK refused to comment on the statements about the suicide note left by the deceased.
