Mykola Azarov, the former Ukrainian Prime Minister accused of high treason, is reportedly running for membership in the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), according to the T-Invariant academic community on 2nd April.
Azarov, who headed Ukraine’s government under pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych from 2010 to 2014, is seeking to join the RAS in the field of mining sciences. However, despite his bid, Azarov holds a zero Hirsch index, which is a measure of the impact of academic work. T-Invariant further reports that Azarov has no academic publications, with both the eLibrary database and Scopus, a platform for tracking academic citations, showing no contributions from him.
Azarov was a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NANU) until June 2022, when he was expelled. His lack of scientific credentials raises questions about the motivations behind his candidacy.
The former PM, who fled Ukraine following the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, now resides in Russia, where he continues to make anti-Ukrainian statements and frequently appears on pro-Kremlin propaganda channels.
Azarov’s controversial past has led to serious legal repercussions. In December 2022, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office completed a pre-trial investigation into high treason charges against both him and Yanukovych. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) pressed further charges against Azarov and his assistant in October 2023, related to their “information activities” on behalf of Russia. The case was subsequently sent to court.
As the political and legal spotlight intensifies on Azarov, his attempt to join the Russian Academy of Sciences adds another layer to his ongoing saga.
