Aleksey Kochetkov

Aleksey Vladimirovich Kochetkov (; born 8 September 1971). Aleksey Kochetkov is a former engineer and political analyst well known for his closeness to official Russian policy under President Putin. He has often written in support Russia's occupation of Georgia, and also in support of pro-Moscow conspiracy theories in his book Neo-nazis and Maidan.

He is a Russian political scientist, publicist. He was the general director of Commonwealth of the Independent States - Election Monitoring Organization set up with Russian government backing as an alternative to the OSCE from 2003 till 2013. He is the researcher and the author of some modern methodologies of election monitoring processes and election campaigns. In 2013 he headed the Foundation for Development Civil Society Institutions "Public Diplomacy".

Biography

Aleksey Kochetkov was born in 1971 in Moscow.

1989-1994 – Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

In 1992 Kochetkov was an editor of the Russkiy poryadok (Russian order) - a newspaper of the RNE, Russian fascist organization, of which he was a top member.

In October 1993 he participated in the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. He was arrested and during 5 months stayed in Lefortovo prison. He was released by to the State Duma political amnesty, for participants of 1993 Russian constitutional crisis on February 23, 1994.

In 1995 Kochetkov was expelled from the RNE for alleged collaboration with Russian security services. Kochetkov was in contact with Russian ultranationalists. Kochetkov's support of election candidate was against "the principles of international election observation that insist on the strict impartiality of observers and unacceptability of any bias or preference in relation to political contenders". and jailed but released some days later in the absence of any formal charge.

In August 2008, he was an organizer of the international Press-Center ‘Tskhinval-2008’. Later this center was given to the Ministry of Communication of the Republic of South Ossetia.

In 2008, he became the chief of the Centre for Monitoring of Democratic Processes ‘Quorum’. The organization was set up as a counterweight to the OSCE. Aleksey Kochetkov was a participant of a number of international conferences, including in EUP, OSCE.

As a head of the international election monitoring mission of CIS-EMO participated in more than 50 missions in countries of CIS and EU.

Writings

Kochetkov's books repeat Kremlin official narrative about neighborhood countries. He falsely represents Ukraine as built on nationalism ideology, and falsely represents nationalism as Nazism or fascism.

He is the author of books and monographs like:

South Ossetia: Armed Aggression and Peacekeeping War Transnistrian Moldavian Republic: Law Bases of Independence’ Recognition In the Center of Echo: Elections in Ukraine, 2010 Dynamics in the developing of the democratic institutions in the Republic of South Ossetia in the first year after having been recognized Abkhazian presidential elections, 2011 S. Byshok, A. Kochetkov. «Neonazis & Euromaidan: From Democracy to Dictatorship». . The book "exaggerates and sensationalises" the role of far-right groups in Ukrainian Euromaidan. In 2009 he was honored by the ‘Friendship Order’ of the Republic of South Ossetia by the President of South Ossetia. In 2010 he was presented with the ‘Letter of Thanks’ by the Head of the President Administration of the Russian Federation, Sergey Naryshkin, for strengthening of friendship and co-operation with foreign countries. In 2007 he received ‘Letter of Thanks’ from the Head of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Vladimir Churov for participation in organization of elections to State Duma of the Russian Federation. In 2008 he received ‘Letter of Thanks’ from the Head of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Vladimir Churov for participation in organization of President elections of the Russian Federation. In 2009 he received ‘Letter of Thanks’ from the Head of the Central Election Commission of Russia, Vladimir Churov for participation in organization of the United Day of Voting (regional elections in Russia).