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Brains Won’t Drain Themselves. What’s Wrong with the U.S. Bill for Scientists from Russia

A bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to counter Russian innovation and protect certain Russian scientists. T‑invariant examines whether it will ever pass and, if so, who might actually benefit from it.

“Sovereign” AI on Chinese Chips. Putin’s Daughter Completes the Creation of a Closed AI Infrastructure at MSU

The Director of the MSU Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Katerina Tikhonova, now oversees a significant portion of AI education, research, and development in Russia. The Kremlin has long been working to consolidate this industry into a single system, and “control over it” can only be entrusted to a select few. However, these technologies are sovereign only on paper and in officials’ speeches. In reality, Russia remains heavily dependent on global AI. T-invariant examines how Katerina Tikhonova, Oleg Deripaska, and VTB Bank are involved in the process, why a “unified AI ecosystem” was built on Sparrow Hills.

Punished for a Prompt: How the State Plans to Control AI in Russia

Russia is currently discussing a draft law on the regulation of artificial intelligence (the AI Law), which may come into force on September 1, 2027. Major market players and legal experts are taking part in the discussion, but it is already clear that the central issue is not technological development. It is control over what users ask and what machines answer. T-invariant explains how the state intends to effectively legalize censorship in the AI sphere, how this mechanism would work, and who may end up taking the blame.

RASA Statement in Support of Professor Alexander Kabanov

The Russian-American Science Association (RASA) strongly condemns the decision of the Russian authorities to declare our colleague, former president of RASA, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and an outstanding chemist professor Alexander Kabanov a “foreign agent.” This step is yet another manifestation of a policy pursued by the Russian leadership that runs against the interests of its own people. It is, however, incapable of stopping the scientific and humanistic work of people like Alexander Kabanov.

From Boutique Research Institute to Science Strike Force: How Igor Shuvalov Is Relaunching Skoltech

The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology has a new rector, a new Kremlin-appointed overseer, and a new mission. The university has recently been headed by Academician Yulia Gorbunova, who now faces the challenge of putting Skoltech on a new track — no longer as Russia’s premier globally oriented research center, but as a key pillar of “technological sovereignty.” Why Skoltech was folded into VEB.RF and what new objectives have been set for it — T-invariant takes a closer look.

“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.

Chapayevsk and Void. A Medical Workers’ Association in a Small Russian City Was Labeled a Foreign Agent Ten Years Ago. How Did the Story End?

In 2016, the Association of Medical Workers of Chapayevsk (Samara Region) was labeled a “foreign agent.” The reason was research grants from U.S. organizations for medical studies that the NGO was conducting jointly with scientists from Harvard University. The organization was later dissolved. It was the first, but far from the last, case in which long-term medical research programs carried out jointly with major Western scientific centers were shut down to serve political interests. T-invariant examines what research was conducted in Chapayevsk and whether the scientists managed to complete their work.

Gamer Under Contract. The State Offers Students a New Role Model

A new way to recruit students into the Unmanned Systems Troops is by encouraging volunteers through the example of their peers. T-invariant reviewed university and college websites and social media pages, along with regional media reports, and compiled the most telling cases. University rectors are required to report on their results at regular meetings with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. But the quota for each institution – at least 2% of the total student body – is hard to meet.

Chronicle of the Persecution of Scientists No. 31

T-invariant publishes the latest press release in the Chronicle of the Persecution of Scientists series: No. 31, dated March 31, 2026. Two more leading American universities – the University of California, Berkeley, and Tufts University – have been declared undesirable organizations. This has already caused alarm not only among scholars, but also among IT engineers. The situation is becoming increasingly complicated: developers are finding themselves in a zone of legal uncertainty.

Social Networks: Mirror or Lever? Ekaterina Zhuravskaya on How the X Algorithm Irreversibly Shifts Views to the Right

Seven weeks in X’s (formerly Twitter) algorithmic feed — and American users’ political views permanently shifted to the right; turning the algorithm off reversed almost none of them. These are the results of an independent study conducted in 2023. One of its authors, Paris School of Economics professor Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, explained in an interview with T-invariant why the algorithm proved to be such a powerful tool for shaping opinions.

Havana Syndrome — Forever? The Psychogenic Roots, Microwave Mirage, Laser Optoacoustic Impact — What’s Going On

The year 2026 marks the tenth anniversary of Havana Syndrome — a mysterious psychophysiological disorder caused divide among scientists. While Trump speaks of a secret “Discombobulator,” and intelligence agencies quietly purchase devices allegedly capable of mimicking Havana Syndrome, new theories about its origin are emerging. T-invariant examined why the microwave hypothesis has hit a dead end, how the laser version could help resolve it, and what the consequences will be if this does not happen.

“Every Day I Live My Best Life” — While Teenagers in Alabuga Assemble Drones for the War

In March 2026, the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) launched an aggressive recruitment campaign targeting teenagers starting from 8th grade to assemble Shahed combat drones. Influencer marketing agencies help attract schoolchildren to build the main tool of daily terror against Ukraine. These managers never visited Alabuga and operate from the upper floors of Moscow City or from exotic islands in Southeast Asia. T-invariant has uncovered how the work of people who “every day live their best life” is organized, how their narratives and technical assignments are turned into videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Telegram, and how young influencers and internet entrepreneurs fight negative comments by scrubbing “stop words” about their client’s activities.

Higher Education or Serfdom? How a Diploma Becomes an Unbreakable Contract with the State

In a single, sweeping reform, the Kremlin aims to remake higher education: forging a direct pipeline from enrollment to a specific job — and reinstating the practice of assigning graduates to workplaces. The previous tacit social contract in education is being canceled: state-funded education is no longer a personal asset or the student’s private matter, but a state investment that must be paid back. In 2026, the contours of the new model can already be clearly seen, which is what senior research fellow at Tel Aviv University Ivan Baydakov has done at the request of T-invariant.

New Mobilization Begins with Students: Universities and Colleges Lure Them to the Front with Cash, “Lighter” Service, and Threats of Expulsion

Recruitment of students into the Unmanned Aerial Systems Forces (UASF) of the Russian Army is turning into a new wave of mobilization. Four years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense, with the assistance of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, is replenishing troop numbers by drawing on students from colleges and universities. T-invariant examines how the mechanisms for recruiting contract soldiers have changed in recent months: first it was students from technical universities, then those facing expulsion, and now it has reached all students.

Winter is coming. Why has the FSB reclassified research on the Russian North as working for foreign intelligence?

Doctor of Medical Sciences Alexey Dudarev spent 25 years as the lead author of regular monitoring reports on pollution in the Arctic originating from Russia. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, official participation by Russian scientists in the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) working group of the international Arctic Council was paused, but contacts resumed in 2025 — something Maria Zakharova of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced enthusiastically. The joy was short-lived: less than a year later, the FSB arrested Dudarev, and the new five-year Arctic pollution monitoring report will likely be released without up-to-date Russian data — for the first time since 1991.

Walks with Leviathan. How Cautious Criticism of the Authorities Led Boris Kagarlitsky to Prison

Two years ago, on February 13, 2024, the Appellate Military Court toughened the sentence of publicist, sociologist, and political scientist Boris Kagarlitsky. The scholar, accused of “public calls for terrorism” (in a YouTube video discussing the explosion of the Crimean Bridge), had his previously imposed fine replaced with five years in a general-regime correctional colony. T-invariant explains why one of the most prominent left-wing intellectuals was not left at liberty and why even careful criticism of the authorities in today’s Russia often ends in a prison term.

Boris Tsilevich: “Russia Has Destroyed the Council of Europe’s System for Protecting Minorities”

Boris Tsilevich spent decades advocating for minority rights in PACE, became the first chair of the subcommittee on minority rights, and in 2023 secured — via Latvia’s Constitutional Court — the right to use Russian-language for higher education in private universities. Today he believes the era of minority rights has effectively come to an end. In an interview with T-invariant, Tsilevich explains how the security considerations dismantled the Council of Europe’s minority protection system, why even “ostensibly satisfied” minorities tend toward political separatism, and how the principles of DEI have supplanted multiculturalism.

Doves of the “Russkiy Mir”. How Potanin’s Money and the Institute of Putin’s Daughter Recruit Neuroscience for Military Service

Russia’s Neiry Group implants electrodes in pigeons’ brains to create remotely controlled “biodrones” that fly longer and blend in better than conventional drones. Founded by advertiser-turned neuro-entrepreneur Alexander Panov, the project has attracted major funding and is tied to scientists at the MSU Institute of Artificial Intelligence, led by Vladimir Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova. T-invariant reveals who profits from the neurotech boom — dubbed “coercive optimism” by academics — and what it can actually deliver in 2026.

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