Vladimir Talismanov, the vice dean of molecular and chemical physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MFTI), has resigned from his post, following scandalous remarks he made about the murder of Boris Nemtsov.
“Mr. Talismanov resigned because he understood that it was no longer possible for him to continue in his current position with us. The internal environment rejects him, as it were,” said Nikolai Kudryavtsev, MFTI’s provost.
Talismanov has apologized to Nemtsov’s family and admitted that his comments were inappropriate.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t earned the ‘world fame’ this incident has brought me. With all my heart, I condemn any murder, any violence, and any crime. I consider my emotional outburst to have been inappropriate and I regret that I posted it on my [VKontakte] page. I want to apologize to the family of the deceased,” Talismanov said.
“He [Talismanov] certainly can’t be vice dean any longer. Concerning his future at MFTI, that is a matter to address with our internal statutes. I need to meet with him. First I need to look him in the eyes. This is an issue that will require some time to resolve,” Kudryavtsev said.
Commenting on Nemtsov’s murder, Vladimir Talismanov wrote on VKontakte (Russia’s most popular social network), “That’s one less piece of scum.” He also recommended seeing the film ….ov —An Enemy of Russia. (The film in question is an eight-minute-long smear video fully titled Nemtsov—An Enemy of Russia.) Talismanov also called on people not to attend the vigil for Nemtsov.
MFTI students wrote a collective letter apologizing for the remarks and delivered it to the university's administration. The school’s leadership has called Talismanov’s comments “deeply inappropriate and offensive.”
Nemtsov’s only son, Anton, is a student at MFTI.