Russian Political Scientist Schulmann Placed on International Wanted List 

The well-known Russian political scientist Ekaterina Shulman, labeled a "foreign agent" in Russia, was placed on the international wanted list on March 25. Meanwhile, Shulman is listed as an associate professor at Maqsut Narikbayev University in Astana, Orda.kz reports.

Ekaterina Shulman responded to the news with irony on her social media:

The photo is cute, the nationality is titular, the article is unknown, there are no special features,
 written by Ekaterina Shulman.

 Her Facebook page states she is an associate professor at Maksut Narikbayev University in Astana.

The university previously announced her lectures on Instagram:

Ekaterina Shulman is an outstanding political scientist, public figure and expert in the field of lawmaking. She is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, where she studies Russian domestic politics, civil society and the media. Ekaterina Mikhailovna is also an Associate Professor at KAZGUU University named after Maksut Narikbayev, where she teaches courses on political communications, comparative politics and political forecasting.

Attendance at her lecture reportedly cost 40,000 tenge.

Currently, the university’s official website contains little information about Shulman. 

 In September 2024, the university’s Instagram also listed Shulman among its instructors.

To find out whether the collaboration with Shulman will continue, and if the university plans to comment, Orda.kz has submitted an official inquiry. Shulman herself could not be reached.

In a YouTube video, Shulman addressed her inclusion:

Some observers thought that this was about cooperation with an undesirable organization, because a few days ago there was news about the drawing up of a corresponding protocol. But this is not the same thing. The protocol, dear listeners, is drawn up within the framework of administrative proceedings. This is not the criminal code, but the code of administrative offenses. Within the framework of the Code of Administrative Offenses, no one can be declared wanted by any means. A criminal article is needed here. What kind of criminal article could this be? Again, it could be the most unexpected. No one notified me, my lawyer was not notified either. Therefore, here we can only guess.

Ekaterina Shulman is widely known for her positive stance toward Kazakhstan. In December 2023, she described the country as the “second Israel” and thanked Kazakhs for their welcoming attitude toward Russian relocatees.

Meanwhile, we later received a response from the university stating that the Russian expert is no longer affiliated with Maqsut Narikbayev University:

Ekaterina Shulman has not been an active associate professor at Maqsut Narikbayev University since the previous academic year. Her employment contract was terminated on August 1, 2024.

Original Author: Alexandra Mokhireva