College applications climbed by almost 2,000 percent in 2022, the year of the Russian invasion. Most students chose low-cost courses with minimal entrance requirements.
The government body, which monitors education standards and implements policy, said it had analyzed state data on men born between 1964 and 1994 who entered or returned to full-time education between 2021 and 2023. At present, higher education students are exempt from conscription.
In 2022, the year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and president Volodymyr Zelensky’s subsequent declaration of martial law, applications to higher education and professional pre-higher education (junior bachelor’s) programs spiked, increasing by 1,880 per cent.