Russian Academy of Natural Sciences

The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (Russian: Российская Академия естественных наук) is a Russian non-governmental organization founded on August 31 1990 in Moscow in the former Soviet Union, following a decree by the Supreme Soviet of Russia.[1] As of 2018, the Academy operates under the Federal Law of August 23, 1996 No. 127-FZ "On Science and State Scientific-Technical Politics".[2] The academy states that it seeks to unite scholars in different fields for the betterment of Russia.[3]

As of 2020, its president is Oleg Leonidovich Kuznetsov[4] and its Vice President and Chief Secretary is Lida Vladimirovna Ivanitskaya.[5]

The academy is not associated with the Russian Academy of Sciences. It has been criticised because many members lack scientific credentials and some espouse pseudoscientific theories such as Anatoly Fomenko's "New Chronology".[6][7][8] Currently, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences includes 24 central sections, more than 100 regional and thematic departments, research centers, united in eight blocks working in the relevant areas.[9] The public organization “Russian Academy of Natural Sciences” is not related to the Russian Academy of Sciences and is criticized by a number of academics and employees of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the fact that some of its members are people who are far from science, do not have proper education and recognized scientific works in the science field and other scientific areas.