Maxim Katz

Maxim Yevgenyevich Katz (Макси́м Евге́ньевич Кац; born 23 December 1984) is a Russian political and public figure, co-founder of the Urban Projects Foundation, author of the YouTube channel of the same name, Russian champion in sports poker, and former deputy of the municipal assembly of the Moscow district Schukino (III convocation 2012–2016) from Party "Yabloko".

Katz was born in Moscow, Russia, to a Jewish father and an ethnic Russian mother.

In the context of a massive wave of ex-Soviet immigration (around one immigrant for every five inhabitants) in the 1990s, the country had trouble integrating all these immigrants, and he was initially largely left to himself at school, at first not understanding a word of Hebrew, and the language barrier preventing any classmates from helping him out.

Until his late 20s he had a huge fear of public speaking, which he said stemmed from school traumas.

After about two or three years, he was able to speak Hebrew "without an accent", but nevertheless felt as though he did not fit in: "I never liked living in Israel. Every year I went to Moscow to visit my grandparents when I was a child. And I always really liked Moscow,... And again, I kind of lived in the Russian media environment, we watched [Russian] TV, that is, I spoke Russian at home ... I never felt like an Israeli. And I always felt like I was visiting. I felt that there is my country, it is there, and I am in another, I am a guest here."

In 1993, at the age of eight he moved to Israel, to join his father who had moved there one year prior and worked as a programmer.

He lived in Givatayim with his parents, and attended the David Ben-Gurion school nearby.

In a 2023 interview, Katz recalled having feelings of alienation in the first few years after moving to Israel.

In Russia, he also stood out "'because I grew up in a school in a Western country with a completely different approach to everything in general and, first of all, to self-confidence. That is, in Israel, self-confidence is very much brought up in children and in people in general, but in Russia, on the contrary, you should be a spineless worm.'" He has credited this difference with opening many opportunities for him over the years, as in the 2000s there was high demand in Moscow for people with Western education of any kind.

After arriving in Russia, Katz played poker in Moscow casinos.

Katz eventually returned to Russia in 2001, at the age of 17.

In 2007, he became the champion of Russia in sports poker.

He won the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the No-Limit Hold’em category.

In an interview, Katz said that he did not have experience of military service.

During his travels to various cities of the world, Katz became interested in the problems of urban planning and in October 2011 he studied at the company of Jan Gehl, which is engaged in urban design.

In 2012, in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station, he said that he studied at three Russian universities, but did not graduate from them.

Instead, Katz went to urban planners in Denmark and the United States to take private lessons at his own expense.

In 2014, Katz was accused of having Israeli citizenship, which would ban him from participating in elections in Russia.

However, his electoral headquarters' head denied it.

Later, Yevgeni Fyodorov, member of the State duma, complained of the same case to the Investigative Committee of Russia asking to institute criminal proceedings, but the case was not opened.

In 2016, Katz was among 13 Russians who received a Chevening Scholarship from the UK government.

The scholarship allows students with leadership skills in various fields to study at a British university master's program.

Katz enrolled in graduate studies at the University of Glasgow at the Department of Social and Political Sciences with a degree in Urban Management and Public Policy.

According to Katz, he is fluent in Russian, Hebrew and English.

In 2019 and 2021, Katz visited Israel and shot videos for his YouTube channel about his school and the country.

On 6 May 2020, he married Ekaterina Patulina (CEO of "Author's Media" LLC).

On May 3, 2022, their daughter Valeria was born.

In early 2022, Katz declared his opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and left the country.

On 22 July 2022, he was designated as a "foreign agent" by the Russian Ministry of Justice.

On 29 October, he was put on the federal wanted list.

Earlier that month, he was also added to the Ukrainian Myrotvorets database.

On 5 December 2022, he became the first Russian to be fined for failing to add the "foreign agent" label to his posts and videos.

Due to the fact that, since the start of the invasion, Katz resided in Israel, the trial took place in absentia.

On 23 March 2023, he was arrested in absentia by the Basmanny District Court on charges of "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces.

He faced up to 10 years in prison on these charges.

It was the first time the prosecution officially asked for the highest sentence available under the statue.

On 24 August 2023, he was given an 8 year sentence in absentia.

According to the decision, he is also barred from "managing websites" for 4 years.

(The prosecution asked for a 5-year long ban on this activity).

As of 2023, Katz was studying for a master's degree in education at the Tel Aviv University.