DMITRY HMELNICKY
Recruitment of foreign youth has always been part of the KGB’s work abroad. But never before have Soviet special services had such fantastic opportunities as those now available to the Russian ones—when the Russian-speaking diaspora numbers in the tens of millions.
After Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022, the conditions for Russian special services’ work in Western countries sharply deteriorated. The expulsion of hundreds of officers working under diplomatic cover paralyzed the activities of the agent networks they supervised. Direct contacts became more complicated. The cessation of financial ties with Russia made financing European and North American influence agents difficult. At the same time, the need for overseas agents sharply increased. The work previously done by career special service officers now has to be shifted to overseas agents.
Judging by several signs, during wartime Moscow began to focus on mass recruitment of foreign youth. There are two main target groups—foreign students in Russian universities and Russian-speaking foreign schoolchildren participating in various contests and Olympiads. Both groups have become objects of increased interest from Russian special services in recent years.
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Foreign students financially and academically dependent on Russian authorities are an ideal base for recruiting future agents. There are understandably few students from Western Europe in Russia now. Most students coming to study in Russia are from Asian, African countries, and former Soviet republics whose relations with Russia have not suffered since the war with Ukraine began.
The Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education in 2025 allocated 1.1 billion rubles in grants for two thousand foreign students—for “flights to Russia and back, dormitory accommodation, and insurance.” According to the ministry’s plans, the number of foreigners studying in Russia will reach 10,000 by 2029—“selection of those worthy of support is planned based on the results of international competitions and Olympiads.”
Every year the Russian government allocates quotas for budget-funded university education for foreigners. For example, Argentina was allocated 30 spots in 2025. From Gabon, 63 students arrived in 2024 under quotas. One of them will study even at MGIMO. For Turkey, 199 budget spots are intended in 2025 (with competition of more than five people per place).
Budget places can also be awarded in international Olympiads. For example, Ulyanovsk Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov announced in April 2025 an International Youth Olympiad in various subjects. Winner diplomas provide a chance to receive a budget place or a contract discount.
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There is currently no incentive for youth from Western countries to obtain Russian diplomas. However, it is precisely in Western democratic countries that many millions of migrants from the USSR and Russia have settled. Their children and grandchildren are ideal material for turning into Russian influence agents and simply agents. Young people who do not feel at home in the West but just “at home,” who know the languages, are not restricted in movement or university choice, have every chance to make a political or scientific career, and sympathize with the Russian regime—this is a goldmine for special services. In Soviet times, to cultivate such an agent from a Soviet person, it took long training—languages, Western manners, behavior… Initially, only loyalty was evident. This took years and decades. But then there was no choice. Now there is. And ensuring the loyalty of émigré youth to the Russian regime is easiest through propaganda work among their parents. Hence the endless coordination councils of compatriots, “Immortal Regiments,” Russian schools funded by the “Russian World” foundation, and other mass ideological initiatives.
The next step is to engage the youth themselves. Directly doing this today in most Western democratic countries is difficult, so reliance is placed on “soft power.”
The sharp reduction of Russia’s direct ties with the Western world has led to the development of new, mostly remote, forms of communication with “friendly” foreigners.
Since 2022, the number of various international contests, programs, Olympiads, and educational programs aimed primarily at foreign schoolchildren and youth in general has rapidly increased. However, some are also targeted at adults—officials of pro-Russian organizations, Russian language teachers, scientists. The organizers vary—both official government institutions and pseudo-public associations often created for this very purpose. All are connected to special services to some extent. These contests are usually funded by government grants and follow roughly the same scheme.
First, organizers publish announcements on the pages of Russian Houses and Coordination Councils of compatriots in various countries. “Russian Houses” are representations of Rossotrudnichestvo, the agency working with émigrés. “Coordination Councils of compatriots” are pseudo-public émigré organizations created by Moscow. All wishing to participate register online and submit their works or projects on a given topic. The topics are usually patriotic, related to love for Russia. Selected participants then attend online or at some quiet foreign resort (not necessarily in Russia) training sessions conducted by professional propagandists, followed by contests of final works. Finalists are invited to Russia with travel and accommodation paid, awarded, and sometimes granted budget places for study in Russian universities or other bonuses.
Thus, people potentially ready to dedicate their lives to working for Russian special services come to Russia themselves.
Besides recruiting youth, Russian authorities need to stimulate long-standing influence agents—leaders and activists of numerous fake public organizations. After 2022, they found themselves in a difficult position in EU countries. Due to sanctions, open financial support from the “Russian World” foundation and Pravfond ceased. Public events—conferences, forums, etc.—jointly with Russian partners became impossible. Openly supporting Russia in many countries became unsafe in terms of public reputation and sometimes legally as well. Special programs are now being developed for remote support of such people and organizations.
For example, since 2022 the international contest “Leader of People’s Diplomacy” (held inside Russia since 2015) has been organized by the pro-government “Assembly of Peoples of Eurasia and Africa,” established in 2021 and presenting itself as an “international union of non-governmental organizations and active citizens.” The Secretary General is Andrey Yuryevich Belyaninov (b. 1957), head of the Federal Customs Service, doctor of economics and political sciences, who in Soviet times was an officer of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB (foreign intelligence), serving at the Soviet embassy in the GDR simultaneously with Putin. From 1995 to 1999, he was chairman of the board of Novikom-Bank, founded by the Association of Foreign Intelligence Veterans; in 2000, he headed Rosoboronexport; in 2004, the Federal Service for Defense Orders; and since 2017, chairman of the board of the Eurasian Development Bank. It is quite natural that a high-ranking SVR officer leads work with overseas influence agents.
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There are no age restrictions for the “Leader of People’s Diplomacy” contest, but the “Speakers League” contest is aimed at youth aged 18 to 36. As stated on the “Russian World” website, the “Speakers League” offers master classes in oratory skills for young compatriots.” In other words, these are training courses for foreign party propagandists. The first contest with this name was held in 2023 in Perm for internal use. In 2024, it became international and only for foreigners. Its organizers are the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of Moscow and the “Moscow House of Compatriots” (MDC). The MDC plays roughly the same role in funding various patriotic organizations and initiatives abroad as Rossotrudnichestvo but under the Moscow government.
The contest announcement appeared in February 2024 on the website of the All-German Coordination Council of Compatriots “Russian Field.” Participants invited were “compatriots” aged 18 to 35 with foreign citizenship or permanent residency abroad. Applicants had to register with documents confirming their residence abroad.
The contest itself (or, in the organizers’ words, a “set of events”) consisted of two stages—on-site and remote.
First, participants had to record and submit a one-minute video on one of two topics: “Why Russia Cannot Be Canceled?” or “The Fortress of the Russian Spirit: About the Character of the Russian Person.” After completing the course, participants were to record a video on one of two topics: “A Russian Achievement I Am Proud Of” or “How to Preserve Identity in Another Country.”
Then, out of 90 participants, 42 winners were selected (seven people per mentor) who went to Kyrgyzstan to Lake Issyk-Kul. From May 18 to 23, the on-site part of the contest took place, where young propagandists prepared five-minute speeches on one of three topics: “Russian Culture as the Engine of World Civilization,” “Russia in My Country: What Keeps Me From Forgetting My Homeland?” or “I Am a Compatriot: How I Promote Russia in My Country.” At the end of the week-long stay at Issyk-Kul, the organizers awarded four winners, and everyone returned to their countries to apply the knowledge in practice.
This program is not only aimed at Germany. The same Moscow government announcement has been published by coordination councils in various countries and regions: Greece, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Costa Rica, Qatar, Tunisia, Egypt, Peru, Ireland, the Netherlands… In 2024, the contest was won by girls from Transnistria, Belarus, and Armenia, who were awarded “gift sets of mobile equipment for content creation.”
In 2025, the contest was held following the same scheme. Only the age limits expanded (18-38 years), and the final stage took place in Uzbekistan, in the Bostanlyk district of the Tashkent region from May 18 to 23—an area of mountain resorts.
For the contest, participants first had to prepare a video on one of the topics: “Russian Language: A Bridge Between Peoples”; “No One Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Forgotten”—how I Preserve the Memory of Victory in the Great Patriotic War; “Science in Russia: Discoveries That Changed the World”; “Sport as a Unifying Factor: Examples from Russia”; “Russia and the Stars: Russia’s Achievements in Space”; “The Russian Soul: About Spirituality and the Role of the Russian Orthodox Church in Uniting Compatriots.”
The on-site stage of the contest, which admits less than half of the participants, was held in Uzbekistan. After six days there, participants prepared final speeches on topics: “The Great Victory in Each of Us: My Family and the Great Patriotic War”; “Russian Compatriots: Key Intermediaries of Cultural Exchange and Dialogue in the World”; “Modern Heroes of Russia: What Inspires Us About Them?”; “Russia’s Cultural Heritage: The Contribution of Russian Cultural Figures to the Development of the Country of Residence”; “History of Russia—A History of Great Victories.”
The essay and speech topics are interesting because they cover the entire sphere of modern Putinist propaganda and all the main plots of propagandistic historical falsifications. Participants are not required to have knowledge in any field, but mastery of propaganda clichés.
In 2025, announcements about this contest were published on the pages of embassies and coordination councils in Switzerland, Albania, Ireland, China, the Baltic countries, Abkhazia, Peru, Albania, Spain, Armenia, Georgia… Forty-two finalists of the remote stage represent 23 countries. In addition to those listed—Lebanon, Belarus, Algeria, Transnistria, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, UAE, Tajikistan, Germany, Zambia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Slovakia, China, the Netherlands. It is clear that the set of countries does not repeat year to year, so the contest can cover the whole world in a few years.
The number of similar initiatives in 2024 and 2025 has noticeably increased: announcements appear almost every week. “Most” has counted 29 contests and programs of this kind. Here are just some of them.
- In January 2024, Rossotrudnichestvo announced the first international contest “My Family in History” for compatriots aged 18-19. Countries whose citizens may participate: Abkhazia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, China, Cuba, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Finland, France, Czech Republic, South Ossetia. Participants wrote essays on one of the proposed patriotic topics—for example, “The History of My Family in the History of the Russian Diaspora and the Family’s Ties with Russia” or “The Role of the Historian-Archivist in Preventing Historical Falsification and Preserving an Objective Perception of Russia in the Modern World.” Winners were promised “the opportunity to participate in the School of Historian-Archivists within the framework of the ‘Hello, Russia!’ program in Moscow.” In 2025, Rossotrudnichestvo organized a second similar contest. The age range of participants expanded to 16-19 years.
Rossotrudnichestvo—the “Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation”—was created in 2008 as a separate special service engaged in agent work among the Soviet/Russian diaspora. It was headed by international journalist and Middle East specialist Yevgeny Primakov—the grandson of former Russian Prime Minister and former SVR director Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov.
- In April 2025, the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization for Promoting International Cooperation “Eurasia” announced the continuation of the “Discover Russia” program, aimed at youth aged 18 to 35. It consists of five-day “tours of iconic places in Moscow, creative master classes, meetings with youth leaders, and live communication.” The program targets citizens of the USA, Canada, EU, and other European countries who have never been to Russia. Participants are selected through a competition after an interview. All travel expenses are covered by the organizers.
ANO “Eurasia” was created in 2024, apparently specifically to organize and finance such patriotic projects. “Eurasia” is headed by Nelly Parutenko—one of the close associates of the Moldovan pro-Russian politician Ilan Shor, who fled to Russia. For example, “Eurasia” under Parutenko was responsible for voter bribery in Moldovan elections in Russia’s interests. In February 2025, applications were announced for a month-long internship for young foreign engineers (25-35 years) at Novosibirsk State University under the “InterRussia” program. The topic is “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.” Participants receive travel, accommodation, and a scholarship. Among the program’s partners is the A.M. Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Support Fund, which organizes various propaganda events abroad. The fund is headed by Leonid Drachevsky—a sports official, recruited by the KGB in 1979 and who made a brilliant diplomatic career thanks to this.
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It can be stated with a high degree of confidence that programs for ideological processing of foreign (primarily Russian-speaking) youth will become more intense as Russia’s international isolation tightens. The explosive increase in the number of influence agents is the only hope of the Russian government and its special services for any destabilization of the political situation in the world hostile to Russia. Read more: https://mostnews.org/en/posts/what-keeps-me-from-forgetting-my-homeland-russian-authorities-intensively-prepare-young-influence-agents-around-the-world