Over the three years of the war, the record holder for the number of politically motivated expulsions and cases of pressure on students among the top 15 universities became Saint Petersburg State University, calculated DOXA*. In the first months after the invasion began, the university administration only threatened to expel 46 students who participated in anti-war actions. They were reprimanded in exchange for a promise that they «would no longer participate in unauthorized events». Since then, the university's policy has become stricter, and students began to be expelled, for example, for picketing, urban protection activism, or laying flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny**.
Since February 24, 2022, at least 14 students have been expelled from SPbSU for political reasons. The most massive case was when the university stripped seven students of their status at once — the administration did not require any disciplinary offenses or serious evidence for this.
Moscow State University ranks second in the number of politically motivated expulsions.
For example, two female students were expelled from the MSU journalism faculty for critically discussing a pro-war rally held by another journalism student, Stepan Antropov, in the faculty hall.
The reasons for two other expulsions were participation in an anti-war rally and renaming a Wi-Fi network in the dormitory to Slava Ukraine.
At least two students were expelled from Tomsk Polytechnic University after being detained at anti-war rallies in March 2022. The reason was «violation of internal regulations».
The Higher School of Economics focused its repressions on teachers, six of whom were forced to leave the university. Although SPbSU also leads here, seven teachers lost their jobs due to their position.
The most common reason for dismissal or refusal to cooperate at SPbSU was support for former political prisoner and artist Sasha Skochilenko. Due to participation in the process and statements, at least three teachers were dismissed from the university.
Another common political reason for dismissals from Russian universities was the law on «foreign agents», which since the end of 2022 has prohibited teaching in universities. The first from the top 15 universities to be dismissed due to this status was an associate professor of the mechanics and mathematics faculty and politician Mikhail Lobanov. This happened just a few weeks after being added to the register.
* Recognized in Russia as an «undesirable» organization.
** Included in the list of «terrorists and extremists».