Students at prestigious Russian university openly defy Putin
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Students at prestigious Russian university openly defy Putin with demand to bring back online learning so they can study from abroad – and avoid being drafted to fight in Ukraine
- At the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow
- Some 3,100 students are reported to have threatened to drop out if refused
- Students’ ‘blackmail’ threat has enraged pro-war commentators
- But it’s a vote of no confidence in Putin by some of Russia’s brightest students
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Thousands of elite students at one of Russia’s most prestigious universities openly defy Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine with demands for a return to online learning so they can study from abroad – and avoid being called to fight in the bloody conflict.
According to reports, some 3,100 students at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow have threatened to quit if they are refused.
Their threat of “blackmail” has infuriated pro-war commentators, but their action highlights a devastating vote of no confidence in Putin by some of Russia’s brightest students.
It is the only university in Russia to be in the top 100 of The Times Higher Education Young University Rankings.
According to reports, about 3,100 students from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (pictured) in Moscow have threatened to quit if they are refused.
A well-known graduate of the HSE is Maxim Oreshkin (right), 40, Putin’s own economics adviser, who was previously his Minister of Economic Development
Pro-Kremlin Readovka channel showed an alleged leak of students’ demands
The pro-Kremlin Readovka channel complained about two HSE students being forced to remove Z and V stickers, which are pro-war symbols, from their dormitories
A well-known graduate of the HSE is Maxim Oreshkin, 40, Putin’s own economic adviser, who was previously his minister of economic development.
“More than 3,000 opposition-oriented students from the Higher School of Economics collaborated to blackmail the university board into introducing distance learning,” the pro-Kremlin Readovka channel said.
It revealed an alleged leak of student requirements.
It claimed the students viewed Putin’s policies as “offensive” and had threatened “mass dismissal” from their elite degree programs if they were barred from online learning from abroad.
Hundreds of thousands of military-aged men have already fled Russia as Putin’s forced mobilization gets underway.
Many still want to leave.
“The opposition-oriented students literally decided to spit into the pit to betray their state, but continued to receive its benefits,” Readovka lamented.
Other pro-war nationalists skimmed over the student action.
The emerging wave of protest shows Putin – who turns 70 this week – is out of step with many younger Russians who deny his view that Ukraine is full of Nazis and should be invaded using forced mobilization of civilians.
In theory, students are exempt from mobilization.
The HSE protest indicates that students do not trust the authorities on the student exemption.