Maxim Efimov is a name shared by at least two notable individuals: a Ukrainian politician and former People's Deputy of Ukraine, and a Russian human rights activist and blogger.
1. Maxim Viktorovich Efimov (Ukrainian politician)
Maxim Viktorovich Efimov (Ukrainian: Максим Вікторович Єфімов, romanized: Maksym Viktorovych Yefimov; born 1 November 1974) is a Ukrainian politician and former People's Deputy of Ukraine. He represented Ukraine's 48th electoral district (Donetsk Oblast) in the Verkhovna Rada from 2014 to December 2023.
Early life and career: Efimov was born on 1 November 1974 in Petropavlovsk, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Petropavl, Kazakhstan). He graduated from the University of Bern (Department of Business Administration), Donetsk National University (economics), and Donetsk National Technical University (ferrous metallurgy). He began his career in 1996 as general director of the Kramatorsk Metallurgical and Machine-Building Company, and later became head of the EnerhoMashSpetsStal plant in Kramatorsk.
Political career: Efimov was first elected to the Kramatorsk City Council in 2006 as a member of the Party of Regions, and was re-elected in 2010. He left the Party of Regions in August 2014. In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, he was elected as a People's Deputy as an independent, defeating incumbent Yuriy Boyarskyi with 34.12% of the vote. He joined the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in parliament. He was re-elected in 2019 as an independent with 54.88% of the vote. In May 2022, he became co-chair of the newly formed Restoration of Ukraine parliamentary group. On 1 December 2023, he announced he was stepping down as a People's Deputy, and his mandate was officially terminated on 8 December 2023.
2. Maxim Efimov (Russian human rights activist and blogger)
Maxim Efimov is a Russian human rights defender, blogger, and journalist from the Republic of Karelia. He served as Director of the Karelian regional branch of the inter-regional Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG) and as editor of the human rights newspaper Chas nol (Hour Zero).
In December 2011, Efimov published an online article titled "Karelia Is Tired of Priests" criticizing corruption in the Russian Orthodox Church and advocating for a secular state. In April 2012, he was charged under Article 282, Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code ("incitement of national, racial, or religious enmity"). A court ordered his placement in a psychiatric hospital for forensic evaluation, a decision later overturned by the Supreme Court of Karelia as unlawful. His apartment was searched and his computer seized. Following these events, Efimov left Russia and was granted political refugee status in Estonia. He was subsequently placed on Russia's federal wanted list. In 2023, Human Rights First reported that Efimov continued to face extremism charges related to the same article.
Note: These two individuals are distinct and unrelated. The Ukrainian politician Maxim Viktorovich Efimov has a dedicated Wikipedia entry, while the Russian human rights activist Maxim Efimov is documented through multiple human rights organizations and news sources but does not have a standalone English Wikipedia article.
