Russian Scholars will be Forced to get FSB Approval for Contacts and Cooperation with Foreign Colleagues, if Government Bill Passes

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Feb. 3 – Under the terms of a new law the Russian education and science ministry has cleared, the FSB will have the power to approve or disapprove any plans by Russian scholars to cooperate with their foreign colleagues, Vedomosti reports on the basis of statements by two sources “close to the government.”
    In recent years, the FSB has intervened to block various cooperation efforts, but the new measure will not only formalize that role but make it more likely that Russian scholars will be more isolated from contacts with scholars abroad than at any time since Soviet times (vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2025/02/03/1089832-sotrudnichestvo-potrebuet-soglasovaniya and thebarentsobserver.com/news/fsb-tightens-control-over-russian-science/424042).
    According to the bill, which is almost certain to be passed and will go into full effect by the end of this year, the FSB must be “informed of any kind of cooperation or contact that Russian scientists have with colleagues abroad” and that the Federal Security Service will have the power to cancel in defense of Russia’s “intellectual sovereignty.”
    Given the risks of punishment, Russian scholars are likely to feel compelled to get approval in advance rather than only informing the powers that be after the fact, a truly chilling step toward the total isolation of Russian scholarship from their colleagues abroad and one that will hamper Russian intellectual life in a wide variety of ways.