Russian Academy of Sciences

The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of Russia's various national academies, institutes, and any affiliated libraries, publishing houses, or hospitals. It was established in 1724 by Peter the Great, following extensive lobbying by Gottfried Leibniz.^[1]

In December 1917, Sergey Fedorovich Oldenburg, a leading ethnographer and activist in the Kadet Party, met with Vladimir Lenin and agreed that the academy should work with the Soviet Regime. Both men were sympathetic to the Assassins and gave them access to several of the academy's naukograds (lit. "science cities"), one of which in Protvino was turned into a secret laboratory and remained home to a small community of scientists and Assassins until 2014.^[2]

By 1928, Lenin had passed away and Joseph Stalin was leading the Soviet Union. Under the Templars' influence, the Politburo started interfering in the academy's affairs. The Templar Yuri Petrovich Figatner headed a special government commission to inspect the academy and purge it of "counter-revolutionaries", effectively turning the academy into a Stalinist organization.^[3] Many Assassins and scientists loyal to their cause were killed or forced into hiding. After World War II ended, the academy was able to reorganize and rid itself of Templar influence.^[4]