Maria Gaidar

In 2005 Gaidar graduated summa cum laude from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

She has been a fierce critic of Putin's government and has been briefly detained for involvement in dissenters' marches and for hanging a 30ft banner from under a Moscow bridge using mountaineering gear that read "Return the elections to the people, bastards!

"[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] During the 2008 Russian presidential election, Gaidar produced numerous video materials in which Vladimir Putin was depicted as the anti-Christ leading the world to a nuclear apocalypse.

[20] In 2015, she threatened to renounce her Russian citizenship, planning to become an Israeli citizen under the Law of Return and to move to Israel.

[22][23] Her practical work has been as a fixer combating fraud and ensuring that vital social functions run smoothly.

"[24] A few days after her appointment Gaidar stated she wants to retain her Russian citizenship, adding "In the future I hope that Russia will be a democratic country and it will be possible to go back and work there."

Sotsialny Zapros itself stated that Gaidar had already stepped down as the organization's head the previous week and that the NGO had voluntarily and formally already refused all government grants.

[33] Gaidar resigned as deputy governor after a new law barring a regional lawmaker being simultaneously a civil servant took effect on 1 May 2016.

In 2014 she and her daughter moved to Israel because she was afraid that she would lose custody of the child if a criminal investigation into Gaidar were to be launched in Russia.