Rogozin, Dmitry Olegovich

(1963– )

   Politician. A vocal advocate for the rights of ethnic Russians in the near abroad, Dmitry Rogozin rose to prominence as a member of General Aleksandr Lebed’s Congress of Russian Communities political party in the early 1990s. He was elected to the State Duma in 1997, representing Voronezh on the Rodina party ticket. As the leader of Rodina, he oversaw the party’s shift toward strident nationalism, racism, and anti-immigration advocacy. He left the party when it merged with two other parties to form Fair Russia. Rogozin left the Duma in 2007 and formed the Great Russia Party, which closely reflected his own ultranationalism. Since 2008, he has served as Russia’s envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The bombastic Rogozin made international headlines regarding Georgia’s and Ukraine’s prospective admission to NATO, as well as recent espionage disputes between Moscow and the organization.

   See also Ethnic violence.