Probe: Consultant who "defended" Russian speakers for Kremlin money works in Ukrainian parliament

An investigation has revealed that Yana Salmina, a chief scientific and expert consultant to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) since 2019, previously received Russian government funding for pro-Russian projects in Ukraine. The probe also found that she was an assistant to Vadym Kolesnichenko, a former pro-Russian Ukrainian politician, and that her father works in Russia's defence industrial base. The revelations have prompted the Ukrainian parliament to launch official checks into her activities.

Source: investigation by Skhemy (Schemes), an investigative project by Radio Liberty

Quote from the investigation: "No law in Ukraine is passed without them – the chief scientific advisors to the Verkhovna Rada...

Among the small circle of several dozen chief consultants relied upon by the parliament is Yana Salmina, a lawyer who, before taking up her current role, regularly received Russian government funding to promote the rights of Russians in Ukraine through public organisations, one of which she still runs."

Details: Information about Salmina's activities was obtained through a leak from Pravfond, a Russian state body established by Vladimir Putin, which has awarded grants for the "protection of compatriots abroad" since 2012 and has been subject to EU sanctions since 2023.

Salmina has served as chief scientific and expert advisor to the Ukrainian parliament since 2019.

Before joining the Rada, Salmina received funding from the Kremlin to promote narratives about the need to "protect Russian speakers" in Ukraine.

Since at least 2012, she has carried out these activities with people who were later charged with treason and left Ukraine.

Salmina founded a public organisation in Kyiv named the "Centre for Minority Rights".

In November 2016, she hosted a roundtable in Kyiv addressing the "protection of minority rights", primarily for Russian speakers.

Leaked documents revealed that Russia had financed the event. The funding came from Pravfond, a Russian state organisation established by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).

At the roundtable, a Russian-funded study was presented, designed to counter what it characterised as "xenophobia and discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine" and the "violent Ukrainisation" of society.

She spent several years working for Russian-Speaking Ukraine, a pro-Russian NGO under the leadership of politician Vadym Kolesnichenko.

Formally, Salmina did not hold a management role there, but she was responsible for securing funds from Moscow.

Rossotrudnichestvo even voiced its backing for funding Russian-Speaking Ukraine in 2016.

Following the onset of Russian aggression in 2014, Salmina travelled to Russia on at least three occasions, notably to meet with her handlers.

Salmina was called by Skhemy journalists, but she hung up when questioned about funds from the Russian Pravfond for Ukrainian projects and ignored subsequent attempts to contact her.

Skhemy also uncovered another link between the Verkhovna Rada official and Russia: Salmina's postal address in Kyiv appeared in Pravfond documents from 2015.

According to property records, ownership of the apartment has been held since 2014 by Oleh Salmin, the father of the official, a Russian citizen and employee of Russia's defence industrial base.

The Verkhovna Rada said that official checks have been launched into Salmina, and measures will be taken, with further details to be announced later.

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