Press Release, 9.02.2024

Photo: Akademgorodok (the “Academic Town”) in Novosibirsk /Photo from open sources

On the Day of Russian Science and in honour of the 300th anniversary of the formation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Novosibirsk regional branch of the Yabloko party sent congratulatory letters to the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the trade union of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as to Yevgeniy Kraus, the Acting Director of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and Anatoly Popkov, Chairman of the Trade Union Committee of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In letters signed by the Chair of the Novosibirsk Yabloko, Natalia Chubykina, the party not only congratulates the scientific community on their professional holiday, but also notes that the shadow of repression, reminiscent of Stalin’s times, is once again looming over science. The staff and management of trade union of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences had to face persecution of scientists.

As back in the Stalin’s period in 1930-1050s, science and society face an inappropriately low quality of examination, an accusatory bias in the investigation, and a lack of transparency and public proceedings, which violate the right of the accused to defence. For Yabloko it is obvious that such actions not only damage the reputation of Russian science, but also undermine the scientific, technological and industrial potential of Russia. It common knowledge that a society and a state that do not value science, are inevitably doomed to degradation. We hope that it is the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences that will contribute to the revival of not only Russian science, but also the Russian Federation, the letter runs.