EU sanctions Russian university rector for offering degree in … how to bust sanctions

BRUSSELS — The EU on Thursday sanctioned the rector of a Moscow university after the school started a program on how to circumvent Western sanctions.

A senior EU official said “we thought that it would be a good idea to sanction the rector of this university so that he can have the opportunity to share his own experience with students,” adding that “I hope this will be [seen as a] little trait of humor.”

The Higher School of Economics announced in July it was opening a two-year master’s program on sanctions-busting, as reported by The Moscow Times. Formally called a Masters in Sanctions Compliance, the program promised “vivid case studies illustrating real-life risk situations faced by Russian and international companies.”

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.