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Maria Gaidar

Maria Yegorovna Gaidar (Russian: Мари́я Его́ровна Гайда́р; 1990-2004 Smirnova (Russian: Смирно́ва); born 21 October 1982, Moscow) is a Russian political activist and the founder of the Youth movement "DA!" ("Yes!") (Russian: "ДА!"). She is the daughter of former Russian Prime Minister, Yegor Gaidar. On July 23, 2009 she was confirmed as a deputy governor in Kirov Oblast.She was one of the leaders of The Other Russia organization and Union of Rightist Forces party. She has been a fierce critic of Putin's government and has been briefly detained for involvement in peaceful dissenters' marches and for placing a propaganda poster under a bridge using mountaineering gear. In connections with her arrests, she said that "Politics is becoming more dangerous. I think this is a message people want to put across - if you come to such an event, then you are risking your life".She was actively involved in Russian presidential election, 2008 and manufactured numerous video materials where Vladimir Putin is painted as anti-Christ who leads the world to the nuclear Apocalypse.In February 2009 she became an advisor to the new governor of Kirov Oblast Nikita Belykh and on July 23 she was confirmed as a deputy governor in Kirov Oblast. Gaidar had previously stated that Nikita Belykh had "sold his soul to the devil" when he accepted the post as governor from president Dmitry Medvedev.In June 2011, Gaidar announced that she was to resign as advisor due to her admission to Harvard University for a Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration.