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Russian Science Rode the “Chinese Express” Through Ukraine to Poland

T-invariant, co-founder of Dissernet Andrei Rostovtsev, and community project coordinator Larisa Melikhova are launching “Plagiarism Navigator”. Through select cases of international academic plagiarism, the project reveals how imitation of scholarly activity operates on a planetary scale. The first installment tells the story of a Chinese scholar who defended a dissertation in Kharkiv—a work essentially composed of Ukrainian translations of two Russian-language theses.

“Aerokitties” Fly in Swarms. How Higher Education Programs in Drone Technology Serve Military Objectives

Leading academic institutions like Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and ITMO University have emerged as key drivers of Russia’s military-technological ambitions. These universities now host the intellectual hubs behind “drone swarm” systems—a cutting-edge frontier in military unmanned aerial vehicles. This report by T-invariant examines the most striking examples of how Russia’s education system is being militarized, detailing state-led efforts to recruit young specialists, university students, and even schoolchildren into drone development programs.

We’re Witnessing a New ‘Children’s Crusade’: You’ve Lost Everything, and Now We’re Left to Clean Up the Mess

As part of an ongoing project, T-invariant continues to document the testimonies of Russian academics and educators who speak anonymously about how their lives and professions have transformed under wartime conditions and escalating authoritarian controls. In this installment, the head of an academic program at a Moscow university describes how her students were initially terrified by the war, how they learned to navigate ideological disagreements among themselves, and why they justify the conformism of their thirties.

The Victim Gets It All: Historian Konstantin Pakhlyuk on the Construction of Historical Memory and the “Genocide of the Soviet People”

The latest censorship scandal in Russia involves historian and political scientist Konstantin Pakhlyuk’s book “In Search of Russian Antiquity”, which was removed from the website of the publishing house “Novoye Literaturnoye Obozreniye” following a complaint by the Orthodox activist group “Sorok Sorokov”. The group accused Pakhlyuk of criticizing the Soviet Army in his social media posts, alleging he had accused it of violence against civilians and liberated concentration camp prisoners. Shortly before this, T-invariant spoke with Pakhlyuk about the most significant shifts in the historical memory of World War II.

Co-authors. Who and How Fabricated the Case Against Physicist Oleg Kabov?

During the trial of physicist Oleg Kabov, it emerged that the criminal case had been initiated by two of his former students. One of them, after threatening Kabov, joined the FSB (Federal Security Service of Russia), after which the second student filed a denunciation against his former scientific supervisor. It also became clear that the embezzlement case lacked any financial evidence, and that the allegations regarding the falsification of Kabov’s scientific results had been manufactured by FSB officers. The prosecution is demanding a seven-year prison term, a significant fine, and a three-year prohibition on conducting scientific research. The defendant has asked the judge to reopen the investigation. The judge must now decide whether there is sufficient information to deliver a verdict or if the case should be sent back for further investigation.

Research Troops: FSB to Get Its Own ‘Government Services’ Portal to Monitor Scientists

The draft law granting the FSB oversight over scientists’ international collaborations appears to be more essential for the Ministry of Education and Science and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) than for the security service itself. However, the document’s drafters failed to account for the substantial resources required to develop and maintain these “government services for monitoring scientists.” It is already clear that, in its current form, the new legal framework will complicate operations for all parties involved: researchers, officials, and law enforcement. This conclusion was reached by T-invariant after analyzing the proposed amendments to the federal law “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy,” along with accompanying assessments from federal agencies, the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, and the RAS.

T-invariant and CISRUS launched a chronicle of violations of the rights and freedoms of scientists and teachers

Dismissals, fines, stigmatization, criminal cases, torture — all this awaits in Russia those who are trying to tell the truth, oppose war, protect peace, criticize the authorities or simply honestly do their academic and teaching work .
T-invariant and the CISRUS Centerwill work together to chronicle the persecution of scientists in Russia for as long as it continues. If you have witnessed or been the target of academic harassment, please contact us at [email protected].
The chronicle records violations of the rights and freedoms of scientists and teachersas citizens of the Russian Federation, as well as violations of their academic rights and freedoms by the leadership of their scientific institution.