Andrii Derkach, a fugitive ex-member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, may be nominated for the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, state news agency RIA Novosti reported on July 31. Derkach is one of three candidates that Astrakhan Oblast Governor Igor Babushkin plans to propose to the Federation Council if he wins the regional elections, which are scheduled for Sept. 6-8. Members of the council – unofficially called the Russian Senate – are not directly elected in a popular vote but are nominated by regional administrations. In the end, a region can send only two r…