Leonid Slutsky | |
|---|---|
| Леонид Слуцкий | |
 Slutsky in 2023 | |
| Leader of theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia | |
| Assumed office 27 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by |
|
| Parliamentary leader of theLDPR in theState Duma | |
| Assumed office 18 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Vladimir Zhirinovsky |
| Chairman of theDuma Committee on International Affairs | |
| Assumed office 5 October 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Aleksey Pushkov |
| Member of theState Duma (Party List Seat) | |
| Assumed office 19 January 2000 | |
| Chairman of the Duma Committee on theCIS,Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots | |
| In office 21 December 2011 – 5 October 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Alexey Ostrovsky |
| Succeeded by | Leonid Kalashnikov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-01-04)4 January 1968 (age 57) |
| Political party | LDPR |
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Leonid Eduardovich Slutsky[a] (/ˈsluːtski/SLOOT-ski;Russian:Леонид Эдуардович Слуцкий; born 4 January 1968) is a Russian politician who leads theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) since 2022, and has served as a deputy of theState Duma since 1999.
With his party being associated with thehard right of political spectrum, Slutsky's tenure as Chairman of the State Duma Committee onInternational Affairs has been eventful and widely covered in the national and international media. In 2018, he was the central figure of asexual assault scandal in parliament. In 2022, he represented Russia duringpeace negotiations with Ukraine followingthe Russian invasion. The following year, he announced his candidacy in the2024 Russian presidential election.[1][2][3][4][5]
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Slutsky has been a First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma's Committee on International Affairs, and became Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs in the 7th State Duma. He is dean of the international relations department at theMoscow State University of Economics, Information and Statistics. He has held senior banking positions and was an advisor to themayor ofMoscow. Slutsky also reported to a directorate of thePresidium of theSupreme Soviet of the RSFSR. He holds an economics doctorate from theMoscow Economic-Statistical Institute.[6][7]
On 17 March 2014, the day after theCrimean status referendum, Slutsky became one of the first seven persons who were sanctioned by President Obama underExecutive order 13661.[8] The sanctions freeze his assets in the US and ban him from entering the United States. Due to theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, he was put also on theCanadian and the EU sanction lists.[9]
On 1 February 2017, Slutsky signaled a closer relationship between Russia andSyria, stating that the International Affairs Committee was planning a joint session of the State Duma and thePeople's Council of Syria.[citation needed]
In 2017, Slutsky called theCatalan independence referendum a "litmus test" for theEuropean Union, asking "Will Brussels agree with the right of nations to self-determination, as was convenient withKosovo, or will it continue to insist on the principle of territorial integrity" as it did with Crimea.[10]
In October 2018, Slutsky expressed concern that United States plans towithdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty would result in anew Cold War and potentially an armed confrontation.[11][12]
Slutskywas a candidate for the2024 Russian presidential election. After receiving the LDPR party nomination, Slutsky said that he does not expect to beat Putin in the election.[13]
In February 2018,BBC Russian Service reporterFarida Rustamova,[14]TV Rain producer Daria Zhuk,[15][16] formerKommersant reporter Anastasia Karimova andRTVi journalistEkaterina Kotrikadze[17] accused Slutsky ofsexual harassment through TV Rain and BBC. The accusations were discussed in Russian media all over spring 2018. In response Slutsky compared himself toHarvey Weinstein, claimed to be the target for defamation and provocation and threatened TV Rain with legal actions.[18][19]
A number of parliamentarians spoke in defense of Slutsky including so-called State Duma "female club" (co-chairmen of different political factions:Yelena Serova,Olga Yepifanova,Tamara Pletnyova, Elena Strokova) and the Duma chairmanVyacheslav Volodin who linked the accusations to political motives.[20][21][22] TheUnited Russia deputyOksana Pushkina supported the female journalists and stated in a television interview with RBC that, according to her observations and experiences, sexual harassment in the State Duma had occurred in the past but it never went public.[23][24]
On 8 March 2018 Slutsky congratulated women on International Women's Day in a Facebook post and apologized to "those of them to whom he voluntarily or involuntarily caused any emotional stress". RBC associated that apology with the sexual scandal in the State Duma.[25][26] The same day the director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation,Maria Zakharova, also recalled the ambiguous behavior of Slutsky towards her.[25][26]
At the end of February, the journalists from State Duma press pool approached legislature's leaders with request to discuss the behavior of Leonid Slutsky.[27][28] On 21 March 2018 the State Duma Commission on Ethics, headed by Otari Arshba, reviewed testimonies and evidence provided by Rustamova, Zhuk, Karimova, Kotrikadze and Slutsky and came to the conclusion that there were no "violations of behavioral norms" in Slutsky's actions, thus exonerating Slutsky of the allegations. According to Arshba, that was the first time the commission had to review such a case and that the reasoning was limited to one person's word against another's. He also pointed out that the journalists were in the right to address the law enforcement authorities with the arguments and materials provided to the commission.[29][30][31][16]
In response to the commission's decision, more than a dozen Russian news outlets announced a boycott either to Slutsky and Commission members in person or the State Duma in whole.[32][31][33][34][35] Some newspapers likeMeduza andVedomosti in their editorial commentaries associated the decision with impunity of the authorities and noted that Slutsky should resign.[18][3]
According to official data, Slutsky's income in 2011 was 1.9 million rubles (64.6 thousand US dollars), in 2016 - 4.9 million (73.3 thousand US dollars). Together with his wife, Slutsky owns 1.2 thousand square meters of land, a house, three apartments, seaside villa at Bodrum on the southwestern Turkish coast, non-residential premises, and several cars, including aBentley Continental Flying Spur, aBentley Bentayga and aMercedes-Maybach S500.[36][37][38]
On 8 March 2018Alexei Navalny and hisAnti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) published an investigation about the property of Leonid Slutsky and accused the deputy of illegal wealth accumulation, as his family does not have an official business, and its total income is unlikely to afford the cars, with the two Bentleys costing about 30 million rubles).[37]
In the same investigation, it is pointed out that Slutsky has been renting an area of one hectare next to the dacha inRublevka, and has never declared it. FBK sent a request to the State Duma's profile committee and asked to renounce the deputy power of Slutsky after the investigation.[37][39]
The investigation ofAlexei Navalny and his the FBK states that in the period from June 2017 and March 2018, aMercedes-Maybach S500 owned by Slutsky violated traffic rules 825 times (including driving on the oncoming lane). The fines amounted to 1.4 million rubles, which makes about 40% of his official income.[38]
Previously,Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported that on 1 June 2013, officers of the Chief Directorate of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained two inspectors of the GIBDD (General Administration for Traffic Safety), who were taking Leonid Slutsky to the airport in a car with the siren light on. Slutsky refused to explain why he was in the car of the traffic police. According to the publication, the deputy was going to fly from the government airport "Vnukovo-3" toAthos together withPatriarch Kirill.[40]
In January 2017, developerSergei Polonsky appealed to Prosecutor General of RussiaYury Chaika with a demand to file criminal charges against State Duma deputiesVladimir Resin and Leonid Slutsky. According to him, two deputies extorted a bribe from him and "got 990 m² in the penthouse of the "Kutuzovskaya Riviera" for the contract registration".[41]
In 2022, Slutsky became a member of the Russian negotiating team following the invasion of Ukraine. His role included peace talks and negotiations on the wounded Ukrainian soldiers in the Azovstal steelworks following the end of theSiege of Mariupol. He stated that members of theAzov regiment among the captured soldiers should be executed, and that they do not deserve to live.[42] This would involve a change in Russian law, which has had amoratorium on the death penalty since 1996, and would potentially break theGeneva Convention.[43]
A partner of the Russian Peace foundation is the German far-right political partyAlternative for Germany.[44]
Russia commissioned Slutsky's organization, the "Russian Peace Foundation", and the Polish associationEuropean Council on Democracy and Human Rights, which in the past had brought election observers from right-wing populist and right-wing extremist circles to Crimea, to organize their trips. Paid relationships are established and maintained with pro-Moscow Western politicians for Russian own interests and influence.[45][46][47][48]
Leonid Slutsky is the political curator ofȘor Party. In 2024 Pro-Russian politicians from Moldova visited Russia: fugitive oligarchIlan Șor, representatives of theParty of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, socialist leader himself, ex-presidentIgor Dodon, two politicians of theRevival Party party, close to fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.
Slutsky is married to Lidya Lyskova. He has an adult daughter from his first marriage. He has also a younger daughter.[49][50]
In March 2018, journalistAnna Mongait reported that singerZara advanced her political career and received the title of "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation" because of her relationship with Slutsky.[51]
Slutsky has close relations with the leadership of theRussian Orthodox Church. On 11 June 2011, the day of Orthodox holiday ofPentecost, Slutsky landed on the territory ofTrinity Lavra of St. Sergius on a helicopter, without having warned anyone in advance. It "caused a great deal of surprise which turned into indignation among parishioners and workers of the church".[52] According to the deputy, he hurried to meet withPatriarch Kirill of Moscow, but because of traffic jams on the Yaroslavl highway he had to use the services of a helicopter company.[53]
The investigation ofTV Rain channel indicates that Slutsky is the chairman of the board of the charity foundation "Kronstadt Naval Cathedral", which contributed 1.3 billion rubles to restore theNaval cathedral of Saint Nicholas in the town ofKronstadt, which is a hometown ofSvetlana Medvedeva. One of its board members isVladimir Resin, who is involved in construction works for the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2013 alone, more than one billion rubles of donations were spent on building churches through the fund's accounts.[54]
Andrei Kononov, the general director of the fund, is an assistant to Slutsky on a voluntary basis. The investigation assumes that the fund financed the rebels of theDonetsk People's Republic. Kononov also met with the leadership of the unrecognized republic, bringing priests and icons with him.[54]
Another non-transparent fund of Slutsky's, the "Russian Peace Foundation", is mentioned in the investigation. ItsSaratov department was involved in fraud with land and, among other things, it got a lease on a pond, where, according to the documents, it planned to build a children's car-racing track.[54]
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