29 Facts About Valery Rashkin

Valery Rashkin was born on 14 March 1955 in the village of Zhilino, Nemansky District, Kaliningrad Oblast, in a large family of collective farmers.

Valery Rashkin joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1983.

Valery Rashkin did not leave the party, and after the collapse of the USSR he moved to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

From 1993 to 2011, Valery Rashkin was the first secretary of the Saratov Regional Committee of the Communist Party.

In 1993, Valery Rashkin was included in the Communist Party federal list in the elections to the 1st State Duma, but dropped out of it before the registration of candidates.

In December 1999, Valery Rashkin was on the CPRF's list in the elections to the 3rd State Duma, listed second in the Volga-Caspian regional group.

In January 2000, Valery Rashkin was nominated for the Governor of Saratov Oblast.

Valery Rashkin's campaign was accompanied by allegations of links to organized crime, untimely campaigning and voter bribery.

In 2003 Valery Rashkin was elected to the 4th State Duma by CPRF party list.

In 2013 Valery Rashkin became deputy chairman of the party's Central Committee.

From 1999 to 2019, as a deputy of the State Duma, Valery Rashkin co-authored 197 legislative initiatives and amendments to draft federal laws.

The phrase "Valery Rashkin's list" was repeatedly used by Valery Rashkin himself and the media meaning lists of parliamentarians and officials who were accused by him of corruption and violation of the law.

In November 2006, at a meeting of the State Duma, Valery Rashkin accused United Russia of corruption, referring to the fact that most of the officials prosecuted for it were members of that party.

Valery Rashkin planned to refer to the list of 297 prosecuted MPs and heads of municipalities, which he received from the Prosecutor General's Office in June 2006.

In January 2007, Valery Rashkin presented a new list, which included 107 convicts and suspects.

Valery Rashkin called on the Russian authorities to apply sanctions to the new Ukrainian leadership.

In March 2014, Valery Rashkin supported the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

In February 2015, Valery Rashkin was included on the list of persons whom the European Union considers responsible for destabilizing the situation in Eastern Ukraine.

Valery Rashkin was sanctioned by the United Kingdom government in 2015 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.

In December 2009, the Prosecutor General's Office sent an official warning to Valery Rashkin following his controversial statements about the current government.

Leninsky district court of Saratov reduced the amount of compensation to one million, which Valery Rashkin paid with 60 kilograms of low-value coins.

In November 2012, Valery Rashkin provoked a scandal, posting on Twitter about his wish to use Russian president Vladimir Putin as a target in a shooting tournament among State Duma members.

Three years later Valery Rashkin said that the degree was actually awarded by a public organization called the "Academy of Social Sciences".

In October 2021, Valery Rashkin was accused of illegal hunting.

Valery Rashkin said that the "almost cut" elk was found by him in the forest.

Valery Rashkin called the incident a provocation by the authorities.

CPRF's press secretary Alexander Yushchenko noted that Valery Rashkin had never been fond of hunting and said that the Communist Party considers this event "another attack" on the MP.

Since Valery Rashkin has parliamentary immunity, law enforcement agencies were able to take the case to court and bring charges only if the State Duma authorized the prosecution.

On 22 April 2022, Valery Rashkin was convicted by the Kalininsky District, Saratov Oblast court of illegal hunting and given a 3-year suspended sentence with a 2-year probation.