Valery Rashkin

Deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF) from 2000 to 2022. Member of the Presidium of the CPRF Central Committee from 2003 to 2021. Leader of the Moscow branch of the CPRF until 2022. Actively participated in protest events until 2021, when he opposed electronic voting and the results of the Duma elections. In late October 2021, less than two months after the election, Rashkin was detained in the Saratov region with an animal carcass in his off-road vehicle. At first, Rashkin claimed that he had found a dead moose and wanted to take it to the police. Later, the deputy said that he was invited to the hunt, assured that it was legal, and that he shot the moose by mistake, mistaking it for a wild boar. Rashkin emphasised that he voiced his initial version in order "not to frame anyone". Rashkin considers his prosecution to be political. He noted that he had "ensured the sky in a cage to more than one hundred corrupt officials and placeman", and was engaged in the fight "for fair and clear elections". On November, 25th, 2021, Rashkin was stripped of his parliamentary immunity. In early December, it became known that he became a suspect. He was assigned a ban on certain actions as a preventive measure. On April, 22nd, 2022, Rashkin was sentenced to three years of probation. In May, he was stripped of his deputy mandate.