After the start of the war against Ukraine, Russian authorities began to interfere more frequently in the work of universities and academic projects. At the same time, the persecution of independent educational initiatives intensified: from 2022 to 2025, 21 projects related to the academic environment were included in the register of "undesirable organizations." Another 10 educational projects were added to the list of "foreign agents" by the Ministry of Justice. Since the beginning of the war, 71 scientists and teachers have been designated as "foreign agents." "Groza"* and "OVD-Info"* conducted a study on the pressure of authorities on the academic environment.
According to "OVD-Info," 113 students and 34 teachers were fined in administrative cases for "discrediting" the army. For example, in January 2023, two students in Moscow were fined 55,000 rubles each for placing a candy at the monument to Lesya Ukrainka. In March of the same year, a student of a music college in Nizhny Novgorod named Dmitry was fined 30,000 rubles for the status "No to war" on his VK page. According to him, the report against him was made by the acting director of the college, Andrey Pankratov.
According to "OVD-Info," politically motivated persecution of students and teachers in criminal cases began long before the full-scale war against Ukraine. Since 2009, no fewer than 325 people have become defendants in politically motivated criminal cases: 190 students and 135 teachers. Most cases against them were initiated in Moscow (54), Bashkortostan, and St. Petersburg (20 each). The number of politically motivated criminal cases in Russia sharply increased in 2021 against the backdrop of rallies in support of Alexei Navalny** (521 cases compared to an average of 250 cases in previous years). After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the repressions intensified (861 cases).
From 2022 to 2024, there were 131 recorded cases of pressure on students and teachers (including 70 student expulsions and 32 teacher dismissals) for their anti-war stance.
Since 2022, at least 10 cases of pressure on student councils have been recorded. According to a survey by "Groza," representatives of "The First Movement," Russian Student Brigades, or other pro-government movements were introduced into student councils in at least 29 universities and three colleges. Nine university administrations urged students to report on each other. In June 2023, after a report by students belonging to the "Brotherhood of Academics," history teacher Mikhail Belousov was dismissed from St. Petersburg State University. The conflict arose due to the teacher's messages in a chat with students, where Belousov critically spoke about the "SVO rhetoric" and called the approval of "rashism" "disgusting." Following the teacher's dismissal, seven students were expelled from the university for their anti-war stance and alleged connection with Belousov.
Universities strive to control student activity and intimidate active students. In August 2024, the head of the public relations department of MGIK, Ekaterina Levdina, prohibited residents of the university dormitory from creating chats without the dormitory's management.
At the same time, students continue to be used as an administrative resource: at least 559 times from 2022 to 2024, they were herded to rallies, actions, and patriotic events.
* Recognized as "foreign agents" in Russia.
** Included in the list of "terrorists and extremists."
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