1/ At least 2,500 scientists are reported to have left Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 and the number of published scientific papers has collapsed. This comes as the result of isolation due to sanctions, visa restrictions and state paranoia. ⬇️
2/ Novaya Gazeta Europe (NGE) reports on the outcome of a survey of the international ORCID database, which lists more than 20 million scientists globally. Registration in ORCID is mandatory for publishing employees of large Russian universities.
3/ The data indicates more than 130,000 scientists resident in Russia in October 2023. The share of these changing their residence from Russia to a foreign country was practically unchanged from 2012 to 2021, but jumped to 30% in 2022.
4/ NGE estimates that, based on the trendlines, around 2,500 scientists have emigrated since 2022. The number of foreign scientists choosing to come to Russia has also dropped by over two-thirds.
5/ Many of the emigrants are likely to be younger people, as older, more established scientists face more professional and personal difficulties from emigration. Younger men are also more likely to be subjected to mobilisation and have a bigger incentive to leave Russia.
6/ According to one university professional interviewed by NGE, "the best are trying to leave immediately after completing their bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate studies." Unlike IT workers, scientists are not exempted from being mobilised to fight in Ukraine.
7/ While most emigrating Russian scientists left for the US, Germany and the UK before the war, since February 2023 other destinations have been prefered, in particular Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and the UAE with a 300% growth in Russian scientific immigration.
8/ The top three destinations are now Germany, the US and Israel – which has had a 175% increase. However, Russian scientific immigration to the UK, France and the US has fallen by more than 20%.
9/ The impact on Russian science is already visible, with a sharp fall in the number and quality of published papers. The share of global science attributed to Russia has fallen from 2-3% to only 1-2%. Russian participation in international scientific conferences has shrunk.
10/ The collapse has been particularly noticeable in the proportion of academic conference papers with a Russia-affiliated author. Around 35,000 had at least one Russia-based author in 2021 but this dropped to about 20,000 in 2022 and only about 11,000 in 2023.
11/ One publication, the UK-based Journal of Physics: Conference Series, illustrates this trend starkly: papers by Russian authors presented in the series fell from nearly 6,000 in 2021 to only 106 by November 2023, despite Russia traditionally being a leader in physics research.
12/ The reasons for this are not hard to find. Scientists are often physically unable to attend conferences due to visa restrictions and bans on direct flights between Russia and the West. Russian scientists were also removed from international collaborative programmes.
13/ Russian scientists report an growing atmosphere of fear and paranoia at home, as well as a shortage of equipment and scientific supplies due to sanctions. Contact and collaboration with foreigners is regarded with increasing suspicion by the authorities.
14/ In some instances, distinguished scientists working on hypersonics and quantum technology have been charged with treason and illegally sharing information in a number of high-profile cases, even though they are said to have had official permission to collaborate.
15/ The impact on Russian science is likely to last for decades. The losses are not all one way, however, as Russia's withdrawal from the global scientific community is likely to hinder collective efforts on issues such as climate change. /end
1/ Wounded Russian soldiers are being ordered to crawl into battle if they cannot walk. "You’re still meat, no one gives a shit about you," they have been told by their commander, according to relatives. The men are now missing, and their relatives want Vladimir Putin to help. ⬇️
2/ A number of female relatives of missing men have posted an 'appeal to the Tsar' video on social media. They are complaining about what has happened to their loved ones and appeal personally to Putin to intervene on their behalf against the Russian bureaucracy.
3/ Their account helps to explain why so many crippled Russian soldiers have recently been filmed on the battlefield. It appears to be the result of chronic shortages of manpower and casual brutality, with men being used as "meat probes" in minefields.
1/ The conviction of former General Ivan Popov has produced a vehement reaction from Russian warbloggers, who denounce it as unjustified. Although he has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment and loss of rank, Popov may yet go back to fight again in Ukraine. ⬇️
2/ Popov has been in detention since May 2024 on charges of fraudulently appropriating and selling 1,700 tons of rolled metal structures intended for use in building defensive structures on the front line. He argued that it was scrap metal which he sold to aid his troops.
3/ He was also charged with falsification of official documents relating to the metal parts. His former deputy, the late Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, was also implicated. A businessman, Sergei Moiseyev, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 400,000 rubles ($4,800).
1/ A catastrophic explosion at a Russian arsenal may have taken place while an ammunition train was being loaded or unloaded. Images from the depot show ammunition stacked in the open, while its bunkers seem to have been poorly protected.
2/ Triangulation of videos showing the initial explosion suggests that it took place at the very centre of the arsenal near Kirzhach (coordinates 56.101466125876044, 38.74729263195981), where satellite images show a rail loading/unloading facility.
3/ New satellite images released today show that the most heavily impacted area of the arsenal is centred on the rail loading/unloading facility, which may support the hypothesis of an accident with an ammunition train.
1/ Ukrainians are scamming millions of rubles a day from Russians and directing the proceeds to fund the Ukrainian armed forces, according to Russian investigators. They accuse the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of being behind the scam operations. ⬇️
2/ Russian journalist and warblogger Anastasia Kashevarova has posted on her Telegram channel the results of an investigation by SNOS Call Centre, a group which is dedicated to countering Ukrainian scam operations against Russian citizens.
3/ The scams are said to be organised like regular businesses, complete with offices, employees, HR managers and corporate policies. Kashevarova cites the example of a concern called Strongcall, which operates in Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities.
1/ Two Russian policemen who were sent to Ukraine after being found guilty of killing two teenage girls with an axe have both died there, according to Russian sources. ⬇️
2/ The two men, Dmitry Istomin and Yevgeny Inkin, committed the double murder in the Selenginsky District of Buryatia in 2002, but were not caught until 2019.
3/ 17-year-old Evgenia Shekunova and 18-year-old Ekaterina Pateyuk were found stripped to their underwear and chopped up with an axe at an area called Klyukvennaya Pad, two weeks after going missing.
1/ The 51st GRAU arsenal near Moscow, which exploded spectacularly today, was the target of a massive theft in 2017 which 646 million rubles ($7.9m) out of a 1.3 billion ruble ($16m) budget were stolen from a modernisation programme. ⬇️
2/ These photos show the interior of the arsenal in happier times; the drone footage above was filmed in 2017 during a press tour. The Russian authorities say that the explosion was due to "safety violations" and are setting up a commission of inquiry to investigate it.
3/ In October 2017, the FSB opened a criminal investigation into Spetsmontazh LLC, a company which had been given a 1.3 billion ruble contract by the Russian Ministry of Defence in 2013 to carry out construction and maintenance work at the arsenal. It was paid in advance.