How the Kremlin is Hindering the Normal Development of Russian Youth: 5 Key Processes in Early 2026
Welcome to Groza’s newsletter, published every two months. Groza is an independent Russian media outlet covering students, young people, and higher education in Russia. In this newsletter, we highlight key developments in Russia that affect our area of focus.
Our goal is to help experts navigate the political shifts reshaping Russian academia and youth: militarization, propaganda, and increasing isolation from the global community.
The overall situation for young people in Russia is difficult. They are surrounded by propaganda and encounter it more often and more directly than older generations on average, largely because young people are more dependent on state institutions such as schools and universities.
The government systematically exploits this dependency. For example, students who join “patriotic” organizations while still at school may gain an advantage in university admissions. Universities then continue what schools have started, imposing military ideology and Putinism: they introduce ideologically driven courses, encourage participation in “patriotic” events, and intimidate those who resist.
Every two months, we publish a digest of the key trends shaping the lives of young people in Russia. Subscribe to stay up to date.
Groza Digest: 5 key takeaways
1. Students are being widely pressured and coerced into signing contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. Russian universities are running a large-scale campaign to recruit young people for the war against Ukraine. Authorities tell students they will serve “in drone units” for just one year and far from the front line. In reality, this is a standard military contract, under which a student can be sent to serve in assault infantry. Groza has counted more than 260 universities and colleges that have, in one way or another, recruited or pressured students into signing such contracts. The most common tactic is to gather students in a classroom with a military representative, who tells them about the “benefits” of signing up. Universities are also filled with outdoor advertising for contract military service. Some institutions promise students extra payments, forgive academic debts, or academic leave. Universities, colleges, and regional governors have reportedly been assigned quotas for the number of students they must recruit for the war.
2. Russian universities continue to pressure students into using Max, a state-backed messenger that is fully transparent to the Russian authorities. It is being promoted as an alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp — two popular messengers that have been blocked or restricted in Russia. Universities are using different tactics to coerce students using Max. At the Moscow Aviation Institute and the University of Tyumen, students can access dormitory Wi-Fi only through Max. Students at Moscow Pedagogical State University have been threatened with not receiving their diplomas unless they install the app. At Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, students were told their applications for financial aid would not be considered unless they installed Max. Students are resisting. For example, students at Far Eastern Federal University created Telegram channels for individual dormitory buildings, where they repost information from Max. Students at the University of Tyumen launched a petition against making dormitory Wi-Fi access dependent on Max. The campaign to impose Max is struggling, but it is moving forward methodically. For example, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development in Tatarstan claimed that only 15% of students use Max.
3. Russian authorities continue to make higher education more state-controlled and less market-driven. They now control admissions to paid university places as well; previously, universities could independently determine the number and distribution of fee-paying places. In addition, the government plans to increase the number of state-funded places in fields that, in official wording, will “help Russia achieve technological independence and technological leadership.” These are mostly STEM fields. At the same time, the number of students in the humanities is expected to be reduced.
4. Russian authorities continue their course toward isolating Russian science. In January, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education recommended that researchers seek approval for trips to countries Russia designates as “unfriendly.” It also advised researchers to “assess the political nature” of academic events abroad. Foreign institutions continue to be designated as “undesirable.” In February, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) was declared an “undesirable” organization; in April, Stanford University received the same designation. Direct or indirect financing of such organizations can lead to criminal prosecution.
5. Russia’s intensifying campaign to increase the birth rate continues, and students are one of its key target audience. The authorities mainly try to motivate students through financial incentives and improved infrastructure for students with children. For example, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education reported that the number of mother-and-child rooms at universities increased 2.5-fold over the past year. However, the financial support available to young families still covers only a small share of the costs of raising children.
See else. More articles on the website
Students across Russia are being pressured and recruited into signing contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. We have published a detailed account of how this campaign works, along with a list of the universities involved.
The Russian government has published a large-scale plan for working with young people until 2030. Groza highlighted the main points of this (creepy) document.
Groza has uncovered a corruption scheme: a young government official allegedly offered students to act as nominal participants in a startup grant competition. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, which officially responded that such practices are unacceptable.
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