They left Russia to keep teaching. Now the Kremlin has blacklisted the school they built from exile.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office declared the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Montenegro an “undesirable” organization, according to Russian Justice Ministry data found by Mediazona.
Former instructors at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences — known as Shaninka — founded the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (FLAS) in 2023. The faculty received government accreditation in Montenegro in 2024.
The organization has said it is “the first independent institution of higher education founded by Russian instructors in exile that has received government accreditation in its host country.”
Marina Kalashnikova — the former dean of Shaninka’s own Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences — now heads FLAS.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.