The Russian Investigative Committee conducted searches at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences due to translations of Aristotle

The Investigative Committee of Russia conducted searches at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at the place of residence of its employees. According to sources, about ten scientists were brought in for questioning, including the acting director of the institute, 87-year-old academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Abdusalam Guseinov, The Moscow Times reports with reference to the T-invariant publication.

After interrogation, most were released on their own recognizance. At the same time, Svetlana Mesyats, a senior researcher at the institute, candidate of philosophical sciences, was charged with fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code). The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, at the request of an investigator from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sent the philosopher under house arrest, sources familiar with the situation told RBC.

According to them, the investigation believes that during the implementation of the scientific project “Aristotle’s Legacy,” which was financed from budget funds in 2018-2024, inaccurate information about the completion of work could have been included in the reporting documentation. The project involved the preparation of a complete academic collection of Aristotle’s works in Russian, including the translation of previously unpublished treatises, the development of historical and philosophical commentaries and the study of the ancient Aristotelian tradition. However, according to the investigation, some of the declared results were actually absent or existed only in the form of draft and unfinished materials. The audit also revealed possible overestimation of the volume of scientific work and the inclusion in reporting of texts prepared earlier or borrowed from already published studies.

RBC sources linked the searches and detention of Mesyats with the activities of the former head of the institute, Anatoly Chernyaev. According to them, he contacted law enforcement agencies with applications for grants to the institute. The Ministry of Education and Science appointed Chernyaev as acting head of the institute in December 2021, but two weeks later the decision was canceled due to a protest from employees. The scientist actively supported the war against Ukraine and was the first among the philosophers of the Russian Academy of Sciences to visit the occupied regions to participate in the conference “Philosophy on the Front Line: Hybrid Wars and Their Transformations in the 21st Century.”

Philosopher Alexander Dugin and head of A Just Russia Sergei Mironov spoke in support of Chernyaev in a dispute with employees of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The latter promised to appeal to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov and Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov with a request to check the legality of Chernyaev’s dismissal.