MOSCOW (Realist English). Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) Gennady Zyuganov delivered a policy speech in the State Duma, summing up the results of the first quarter of 2026. The communist leader stated that the country is sliding into a socio-economic dead end due to oligarchic capitalism, the unwillingness of big business to invest in victory and support large families, and also criticized the failure of the space program.
Oligarchs Don’t Want to Invest in Victory, While the Country Is Dying Out
Zyuganov declared: “We are sliding into a complete dead end with our oligarchic capitalism. They don’t want to invest in our victory, in our children, in large families, and so on. Another 600,000 people died out last year. We are sliding into a dead end from a socio-economic point of view. This interest rate, this policy, this financing.” He drew attention to the situation in agriculture on the eve of the planting season: “2,000 combine harvesters and tractors are sitting at Rostselmash, 400 at the Kirov Plant. We are approaching the planting season. Who’s stopping you from allocating the money so they can be bought tomorrow, prices can be reduced, and you can be paid back with bread and everything else?”
The parliamentarian also pointed out problems in education: “The grassroots are suffocating. They are sitting without money. Schools are being consolidated. After all, it was school that made Yuri Gagarin. Primary school.”
The Three Great Feats of the Soviet People and the Space Exhibition
Zyuganov recalled: “In the last century, our people performed three outstanding feats: the Great October Revolution, the Great Victory, and the great exploration of space. No matter what anyone tells you, for these three feats, honest people will erect the most majestic monument on Earth for us. And it is no coincidence that this year the anniversary of Gagarin’s flight coincided with Bright Easter.”
He invited deputies to an exhibition opening on April 15: “You will see personal belongings. You will understand what great Soviet science was and how a simple boy from the Smolensk land became the first cosmonaut, whose smile lit up the entire planet. The discovery of Tsiolkovsky, the design genius of Korolev, and the spark of Gagarin lit that hope of which we are all proud.”
The CPRF leader noted that the faction includes twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the only woman cosmonaut in the world, Svetlana Savitskaya, who, together with her father — also a twice Hero and a Marshal of the Soviet Union — is splendidly represented at the exhibition. Also on display are the camera of German Titov (the second cosmonaut, who was the first in the world to film our planet) and paintings by Alexei Leonov.
Space Is the Main Arena of Struggle, and Russia Has Fallen Behind
Zyuganov stressed: “Space is today the main arena of struggle and the sphere of defense. If you call your friends who are fighting against Nazism and fascism, they will tell you: ‘Above us, above each of us, 20–30 drones are hovering, they are being guided by American space forces.’ And if we hadn’t fallen behind in this area, victory would have been ours long ago.”
He recalled that from the first Soviet satellite in October 1957 until the treacherous year 1991, the USSR carried out 2,500 successful space flights: “I flew to Baikonur for the joint flight of our cosmonauts and the Americans. Next to me sat the director of NASA. I asked: ‘What is your assessment?’ He said: ‘Your Soviet space program was 20 years ahead of us. As for the Buran, it’s absolutely delightful.’ Weighing 103 tons, it was launched, and in autonomous mode, flying around the entire planet, with a strong crosswind, it landed with pinpoint accuracy on a runway 30 cm wide. It was the best drone in the world. There were already three ready-made units, two in the pipeline, and four mock-ups standing at our best factories.”
“And today, over the past year, we have launched 17 rockets. The Chinese — 91, the Americans — 182. And as a result, our guys are sitting on the battlefield without cover. Three wars are already being waged against us: a financial-economic war — the fifth column, which with its interest rate has stifled all production; a war on the battlefield, where they fight face to face; and drones are flying all over the country, knocking things out and frightening citizens,” Zyuganov declared.
The Space Program Is 80% a Failure, No One Has Answered for It
The communist leader noted that the president, on the eve of Cosmonautics Day, received Dmitry Bakanov. “I would very much like Bakanov to tell the president everything he thinks. This modern man knows what production is. And he will say straight out: ‘Ten years ago, we approved a space program.’ We decided to spend almost 2 trillion, we would have ensured our security, everything else, but it has been completed only 20%, and no one has answered for the fact that it was a resounding failure, and today we are paying for it with great blood — this is a complete outrage.”
Zyuganov also expressed satisfaction that Channel One, for the first time on Cosmonautics Day, showed the best of everything: “This is very important, especially for the new generation.”
The Three Geniuses and Gagarin’s Honesty
The politician recalled: “Our team, in full force, from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, came to Red Square and bowed to those who invented and made it happen. Korolev, Keldysh, and Kurchatov — these three geniuses created the nuclear-missile parity and the space program. These were people who possessed immense will, power, and at the same time were exceptionally responsible.”
The communist leader told the story of the selection of the first cosmonaut: “Korolev could not decide for a long time who to send first. Titov was the most suitable, but he didn’t really like his name. He decided to test them. The night before the flight, they were given not only a good dinner but also medicine. Everyone was supposed to have a headache. In the morning, he gathered them all and started questioning them. Gagarin hesitated and said: ‘I must tell you honestly, I have a very bad headache.’ Korolev realized that Gagarin would tell him everything that had happened, that he would hide nothing, that he was absolutely honest even at that moment. And he understood the risk involved, and he hugged Yuri and sent him into space.”
Zyuganov stressed that Gagarin was a deeply educated man: he graduated from a vocational school, a technical college, a military school, and the Zhukovsky Academy. When asked if he had seen God, Gagarin honestly replied: “If you haven’t met God on Earth, you won’t see Him in space. God must be first and foremost in the soul, in the conscience. You must fulfill His commandments and the moral code that was copied from those commandments.” He said: we must thank the worker and the peasant, the teacher and the doctor, our great science, the Soviet power that paved this glorious path into space for us.
Concerns about Trump and a Call for Dialogue
Zyuganov also spoke about the international situation: “The president said four years ago at Valdai: capitalism has reached a dead end. But [US President Donald] Trump has already driven all of globalism into a dead end. A rabid man who doesn’t know what’s going on. And those who are counting on him, and the negotiations of those two real estate agents and one talkative person there, are simply naive people. If you are weak, they will eat you alive in any case, especially a man for whom neither international nor moral laws are written.”
Concluding his speech, the communist leader called on the ruling party to take urgent measures and urged deputies to familiarize themselves with the communists’ program. “We are going into the elections. We have offered you a dialogue, to discuss the problems, and we invite you to all our events. Look at our program, our materials. All 12 leaders: Melnikov, Kashin, Afonin, Novikov, Taysaev, Kalashnikov, Ostanina, Baranova, Soboleva — all have presented them to you.”
The politician also congratulated all Orthodox Christians on Bright Easter and wished them health and good luck.
