But the degree program is not the only reason for listing the rector, Nikita Anisimov. Already in 2023 — a year into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — Anisimov announced his university would fund the education of Russian soldiers partaking in the war, the EU’s legal documents state.
The symbolic move, published Thursday after EU leaders had agreed on the 19th package of sanctions on Russia, freezes Anisimov’s assets in Europe, if indeed he has any.
This week also saw the U.S. move to impose the first new sanctions on Russia since Donald Trump took office as president back in January. Trump sanctioned the oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, rather than applying tariffs to India and China, buyers of Russia’s oil, as he had previously threatened to do.