Ex-Ukrainian PM lands top Moscow academic post
Azarov, who is a Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences and a professor at Donetsk National Technical University, was Ukraine's head of government between 2010 and 2014. He resigned during the Western-backed Euromaidan protests in Kiev and fled to Russia after the overthrow of democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovich in February 2014.
The former PM became an academician alongside 84 other scientists, including 39 from foreign countries, the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement on Friday. During the vote the previous day, his candidacy was supported by 521 members of RAS, it added.
Azarov became an academician in the Department of Earth Sciences; his specialty is the mining sciences, the statement read.
According to RAS, Azarov, who has written more than a hundred scientific papers, made a significant contribution to the theory of the rational industry-related transformation of Earth's depth during the development of solid mineral deposits.
Through his scientific work, the 77-year-old also facilitated the development of efficient and safe technologies for the extraction of ore, diamonds, coal and gas deposits, it added.
Azarov, who is a critic of Vladimir Zelensky and the current Ukrainian authorities, has been accused of treason by Kiev. A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2021; he stands accused of working in the interests of Moscow during the 2010 negotiations of a deal to prolong the stay of the Russian fleet in Crimea by another 25 years in exchange for discounts on gas supplies. The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, saying that the case against him was fabricated.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
4 hours ago
- Russia Today
‘No defense against' Russia's Oreshnik missile – ex-Pentagon analyst
Neither Ukraine nor its Western backers have any means to counter Russia's newly deployed intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, Michael Maloof, a former senior Pentagon security analyst, told RT in an interview on Friday. Maloof noted that the Oreshnik could 'easily shift the balance of power overwhelmingly in favor' of Russia in any conflict, including the ongoing hostilities with Ukraine. 'Having a hypersonic [missile] for which there's no defense currently… is astonishing. It absolutely alters that balance of power dramatically, for which the Ukrainians have no defense,' he said. He noted that while the US is working to adapt missile defense systems such as THAAD to counter hypersonic threats, these programs remain under development. 'There's no operational ability at this point to deal with a hypersonic missile,' Maloof said, adding that the Oreshnik could reach its targets within mere minutes. The former analyst added that the missile also travels at a speed of over 7,000 miles (11,000km) an hour. 'There's no defense against that,' he said. The missile system, Maloof stated, has already been tested successfully in Ukraine in battlefield conditions. He was referring to a strike on Ukraine's Yuzhmash military industrial facility in the city of Dnepr in November 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin said afterward that the missile's warheads flew at speeds exceeding Mach 10 and could not be intercepted by existing air defenses. The missile could also carry conventional and nuclear payloads and travel up to several thousand kilometers. According to Putin, the Oreshnik strike on Ukraine was a response to the country's decision to use Western-supplied long-range missiles for attacks deep into Russia. On Friday, the Russian president said that the first serially produced Oreshnik missile system had entered service with the armed forces. He also noted that the question of supplying the weapons to Belarus, Russia's key ally, will likely be resolved by the end of the year.
Russia Today
7 hours ago
- Russia Today
Four people killed by Ukrainian drone raids across Russia
Four people have been killed in Russia following a series of Ukrainian drone strikes that damaged industrial facilities and residential areas, local officials have said. On Saturday, Yury Slyusar, acting governor of the southern Rostov Region, reported that the Russian military had repelled a 'massive air attack,' with drones downed over several districts. He added that one security guard had been killed at an industrial site in the town of Uglerodovskoye. The facility caught fire, but the blaze was later extinguished, the acting governor reportded. In Penza Region in central Russia, Governor Oleg Melnichenko said drones targeted a local enterprise, killing a woman and injuring two others, who he said were expected to recover. Meanwhile, Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said an elderly man had died when debris from a drone hit his summer house in Kuybyshevsky district, triggering a fire. The Ukrainian drone raid also prompted temporary mobile internet restrictions in the area. Operations at airports in Penza, Saratov and Tambov regions were also temporarily suspended for security reasons. Later in the day, Maksim Pukhov, head of the city of Energodar in Russia's Zaporozhye Region, reported that one woman died and one man was injured in a Ukrainian drone raid on an industrial zone, which targeted a civilian vehicle. He also said there was high activity of Ukrainian UAVs in the area, which he said impeded the operations of emergency services. According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, a total of 112 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight across Russia, with the bulk neutralized over Rostov and Krasnodar regions. Ukraine has been carrying out drone attacks deep into Russia for months, frequently striking residential buildings and critical infrastructure. In retaliation, Moscow has been using high-precision weapons to attack Ukraine's military-related targets, while insisting the strikes are never aimed at civilians.
Russia Today
8 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukraine must say ‘yes' to gay marriage — EU state
Ukraine should extend full legal protections to gay people, including same-sex marriage, as part of its bid for EU membership, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said. Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in 2022 shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia. While Brussels has floated 2030 as a possible accession date, all current member states must approve the move. 'There's a living expression of the libertarian values that Ukraine is fighting for,' Kristersson wrote in a post on Friday, after meeting with LGBTQ Ukrainian veterans and Sweden's rights group RFSL in Stockholm. He noted that same-sex couples in Ukraine 'cannot enter into marriage or a registered partnership' and said Sweden would 'closely monitor' the matter during the EU accession process. The message comes as Ukraine faces growing pressure from Brussels to adopt EU standards, including legal protections for LGBT citizens. Critics, however, say both countries have yet to guarantee full equality. In Sweden, transgender healthcare access remains limited, and activists say more progress is needed on legal gender recognition. In July, a Ukrainian court reportedly recognized a same-sex couple as a legal family for the first time. Two men married in the US were granted permission to live abroad after a Kiev court ruled that they met the definition of a family, despite lacking legal or blood ties. Ukraine's government has repeatedly pledged to improve LGBTQ rights. In 2015, then-President Pyotr Poroshenko proposed legalizing civil partnerships. In 2022, under pressure from activists and EU officials, Vladimir Zelensky ordered legislation to be drafted on same-sex unions. However, no law has passed due to opposition from conservative and religious groups. Russia banned 'LGBT propaganda' in 2022 and labelled LGBT an extremist organization in 2024. Moscow opposes Ukraine joining NATO but initially stayed neutral on EU membership. In March, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kiev had the 'sovereign right' to join if the EU remained economic in nature.
