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Sometimes They Don’t Come Back: Stories of Émigré Scientists 35 Years After the Soviet Collapse

Exactly 35 years ago, on August 21, 1991, the coup attempt by the self-proclaimed State Committee on the State of Emergency collapsed. The Soviet Union itself had four more months to live, but after those three days in August, a completely different life began for millions of Soviet citizens. The changes touched everyone, but scientists were among those whose old lives fell apart especially fast — and on the ruins, new ones began to take shape. Institutes were left without money or staff, and entire fields of research lost their funding. Yet at the same time, the borders opened, and it became possible to work at universities and research centers abroad. Some left for a few months and never came back; others emigrated right away. How did these scientists discover the world of Western science? What did they have to go through? What did it cost them? And why did a temporary departure turn out to be permanent for so many of them? T-invariant presents the stories of how they left and the new lives they built.

They Came for the Geneticists? Why Scientists See the New Genetic Data Law as a Threat to Russian Science

On September 1, 2026, right after the summer vacation season, Federal Law No. 43-FZ and Government Decree No. 750 take effect, regulating the transfer of human genetic data outside Russia. Authorities describe the new rules as a measure to protect national security and “genetic sovereignty.” Many scientists, however, see them as a serious blow to international scientific cooperation — fearing new bureaucratic barriers, difficulties publishing in leading scientific journals, and even the risk of criminal prosecution.

“Propaganda Works Because People Don’t Read Enough.” Publisher Vladimir Kharitonov on Censorship, Tamizdat 2.0, and Life Inside the Absurd

Vladimir Kharitonov is one of the key figures shaping today’s independent Russian-language book world outside Russia. In an interview with T-invariant, the technical director of Freedom Letters and head of the Free University’s publishing project explains how today’s tamizdat differs from Soviet samizdat and why the printed book is still very much alive — TikTok notwithstanding.

“Their Wings Have Been Clipped.” What DAAD’s Designation as an “Undesirable” Organization Means

Russia’s Justice Ministry has designated the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) an “undesirable” organization. It is not the first organization of this kind to end up on the ministry’s list: the Central European University, the British Council, the International Baccalaureate, EF Education First, and others were added earlier. T-invariant examines how blacklisting one of the world’s most successful academic exchange programs deprives hundreds of Russian students and researchers of opportunities to study and work in Germany, dismantles scientific ties built over decades, and pushes Russian science even deeper into isolation.

The End of a 35-Year Partnership: Why Pleiades Publishing Is Terminating English Versions of Russian Academy of Sciences’ Journals

American publisher Pleiades Publishing has informed 108 Russian scientific journals that it will stop producing their English-language editions and distributing them through its channels. The company stated that the move is due to the upcoming expiration of its contract with Springer Nature on December 31, 2026. Under that agreement, the journals were included in Springer Nature’s publishing package. T-invariant spoke with editors and researchers to understand how they view the implications of this decision.

By the Color of Their Passport: Sanctions Control Rules Applied to Scientists Now Extended to Students

In several European countries simultaneously, Russian students have been banned from studying IT-related specialties. Cases have also emerged of restrictions on admission (for example, to the politically sensitive program “Arctic Shipping”). Previously, export-control procedures applied only to university and research-center employees, visiting researchers, and collaboration participants; now the same checks are being applied to students. For instance, the University of Bonn has blocked 65 students from Russia from accessing IT courses. Similar measures have been taken against students from China and Iran. Human-rights advocates call this outright discrimination on the basis of nationality: education has never fallen under EU sanctions. T-invariant spoke with students affected by the restrictions and examined how export control works in German universities in both theory and practice.

“Professors have no right to drag ideological preferences into the university.” Marina Kalashnikova on the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences in Montenegro

The Russian authorities, through Rosobrnadzor, are dismantling Shaninka (the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, MSSES). T-invariant spoke with Marina Kalashnikova, former dean of Shaninka’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, now leading the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences in Montenegro. Was it challenging to explain the program to Montenegrins? How did the university find its place in a resort country? And why did around 40 students choose it over other European universities also teaching in English?

“This Bridge was Burned”. Why did Young Scientists from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus not Find a Place in the United States?

Fellows of the prestigious Fulbright program faced big problems after the program’s sponsors (IIE and Cultural Vistas) were recognized as undesirable organizations in Russia in March 2024. T-invariant reported on this in detail last summer. What is happening today with young scientists from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine?

Everything Has Already Been Written on Tor. Russian Scientists Cut Off from Up-to-Date Research Databases

In January, it became known that bioRxiv—a vital tool for researchers in the natural sciences—had become inaccessible in Russia. Investigating this situation, T-invariant sought to determine how frequently and for what purposes Russian scientists and educators rely on VPNs in their work, as well as how YouTube’s throttling has impacted their research and outreach efforts.