Alina, from the village of Dzhida in the Republic of Buryatia, wanted to study railway engineering — her father had been dreaming of this before he died in the war against Ukraine. Alina and her mother, Lyudmila, were certain that she would be accepted into any university with no tuition fees.
This year, Russian authorities introduced a mandatory allocation of at least 10% of government-funded university spots for war participants and their children. Sons and daughters of fallen or injured soldiers were granted admission without entrance exams. However, Alina was not admitted to a university and had to enroll in an agricultural college instead.
Baikal People and Groza spoke with students from the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk region. This year marked the first time that participants in the war against Ukraine and their children were admitted through a special quota. Universities did not disclose their names, using special codes instead — making the admission process highly secretive.
More than 8,500 students were admitted to Russian universities under the new quota for war participants and their children, as well as for the children of medical workers who died from COVID-19. This accounts for approximately 1% of all government-funded university seats in the country.
Lyudmila Gilyazova believes that her daughter failed math due to poor teaching in Dzhida, a rural village in the Republic of Buryatia. “The teachers don't teach the kids,” she says. According to her, nearly all core subjects for 11th-grade pupils were taught online this year due to a lack of teachers for biology, chemistry, and Russian language. She explains that low salaries deter teachers from working in schools. “The former chemistry teacher now works at a local store,” she adds.
Since Alina could not enroll in a university, she used her eligibility for benefits to get into an agricultural vocational college to study agronomy. “We got a certificate from the military enlistment office stating that her father had died in the Special Military Operation. That’s how she was admitted — no entrance exams, no requirements,” Gilyazova told journalists from Baikal People.
Alina’s agronomy program lasts four years. Children of war participants can receive up to 10 extra points in vocational colleges as well. After finishing vocational college, Alina still hopes to earn a university degree.
Alina's mother Lyudmila and her younger brother Kirill remain in Dzhida in the Republic of Buryatia. Kirill is currently in 11th grade at school. Lyudmila also has three other adult children from previous marriages.
Lyudmila transferred her youngest son Kirill to an evening school, believing he will receive a better education there. She hopes he will pass the Unified State Exam and enroll in a military academy in Orenburg. “After all, his father and brother died for this country, for the future,” she says.
Alexey, a first-year student from Irkutsk (names have been changed at the request of the interviewees), has a father who was mobilized in December 2022 and is currently fighting in Ukraine. He wanted to enroll in Irkutsk National Research Technical University in a part-time program specializing in oil and gas engineering and technology.
Alexey hoped to be admitted under the special quota for children of war participants. To do so, the university required an official certificate from the military enlistment office confirming his father’s participation in the war. However, when Alexey visited the enlistment office that had drafted his father, they were unable to help and directed him to contact his father’s military unit in Ukraine.
“They had more important things to deal with. What matters more — a piece of paper or human lives?” Alexey explains.
Since obtaining the certificate in person was impossible, his father called the university’s admissions office, which then agreed to accept a digital copy of the document. However, the admissions office still did not award Alexey the additional points he was supposed to receive under the quota. When he took the entrance exam in mathematics, he fell five points short of the minimum threshold required for a government-funded place. The university offered him the chance to retake the exam, but Alexey declined because he was working part-time.
Alexey’s mother, Galina, was outraged that her son did not receive the additional points:
“The required certificate confirming his father’s deployment in the 'Special Military Operation' was provided. So what is the purpose of these certificates, and what priority do they actually provide when my husband is fulfilling his duty to the state, risking his life? It’s just an empty piece of paper, plain and simple,” she wrote on social media.
Frustrated, Galina took her complaint to the governor’s aide in the Irkutsk region. “I understand her,” Alexey reflects. “Her loved one is at war, and yet her children face restrictions when applying for state-funded education. But ultimately, it depends on the admissions staff, who monitor and decide who qualifies for these benefits.”
The university eventually offered Alexey a state-funded spot, but only in a different program related to automotive engineering. He declined and instead retook the math exam, earning a high enough score to enroll in his desired oil and gas program — though on a tuition-paying basis. The admissions office informed him that if he performed well in his first two semesters, he might be eligible for a tuition-free transfer if any state-funded places became available.
Unlike his mother, Alexey accepted the outcome without much frustration. He plans to find a job to cover his tuition, which currently costs 55,000 RUB (approximately 610 $) per year.
During his conversation with our journalist, Alexey learned for the first time that he might be eligible for tuition discounts as a war participant’s child. The Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education had recommended that universities support the families of war participants by reducing tuition fees, offering installment payment plans, prioritizing dormitory placements, and providing financial aid. However, each university decides independently whether to implement these recommendations.
Maria, a student at Buryat State University, successfully secured admission this year under the special quota for children of war participants, as her father fought in Ukraine. However, despite the Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s recommendations, she was denied free accommodation in a university dormitory.
Meanwhile, Natalia, a student at the East Siberian State Institute of Culture, who was admitted through the general competition, noted that at her university, children of war participants are not required to pay for dormitory housing.
Groza and Baikal People attempted to speak with other university applicants from this year about their views on the benefits for war participants and their children. However, most refused to comment.
Tracking how many students were admitted under the war participants' quota in any given university is nearly impossible. It is also unclear how the number of places available for the general competition has changed.
In January 2023, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science stated that the number of spots allocated for other quotas and benefits in universities would not decrease, since “applicants under the special and separate quotas do not participate in the general competition.” Officials reported that more than 600,000 state-funded places had been allocated in 2023, including for universities in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
However, the specific budget allocation for this separate quota remains undisclosed. Deputy Minister of Education Dmitry Afanasyev noted that universities could review applications individually and, if necessary, provide quota places at their own expense.
Timur Tukhvatullin, a lawyer with the student rights advocacy project Molnia, suggests that spots allocated for war participants and their children may be taken from the general state-funded slots. Since most universities had already been reducing the number of state-funded places annually before the war, tracking changes after the introduction of these new quotas and benefits is difficult, he explains.
Tukhvatullin points out that universities have little incentive to introduce this new quota. Authorities have promised to allocate additional funding from the state budget to cover these benefits, but it remains uncertain whether this funding will actually be provided. Many of the support measures for universities are voluntary, with officials recommending that institutions cover some of the costs associated with the quota themselves.
Groza and Baikal People contacted the admissions offices of ten universities, including Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Buryat State University, Higher School of Economics, and Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. As of publication, none of the universities had responded to journalists' inquiries.
Alena, from the settlement of Chunsky in the Irkutsk region, applied to study law at Baikal State University this year. She was unable to secure a state-funded spot and will be studying on a paid basis. According to her, only 18 out of 32 available state-funded places were open for general competition. However, according to the university’s website, four students were admitted to the law program under the separate quota — without taking entrance exams.
At Baikal State University, applicants who qualified under the war participants' quota were admitted to some programs with lower scores or without exams at all. The Law, Economics, and Advertising and Public Relations programs all admitted quota applicants without entrance exams.
Alena believes the separate quota is necessary to support the children of those fighting in Ukraine. “I don’t feel a strong sense of injustice. Their parents are at war — can’t they at least study for free?” she says.
Natalia, a first-year student at the East Siberian State Institute of Culture, holds a different view. Unlike Alena, she secured a state-funded place. However, she is angered by the quota for war participants and their children.
“This is unfair on the part of the government: no matter how hard it is for these children, everyone should be equal. Despite coming from a large family, I don’t receive such benefits. I don’t get nearly as much financial support as they do,” she explains.
Natalia also highlights the lower academic standards for students admitted under the quota. According to her, a student at East Siberian State Institute of Culture was admitted with the bare minimum entrance score simply because his father was at war.
“There were plenty of other applicants with much higher scores who didn’t get in because they took him instead,” Natalia says indignantly.
According to official data from the university’s website, East Siberian State Institute of Culture admitted quota students into six programs. Half of these programs accepted applicants with lower scores than those admitted through the general competition. For example, in the Choreography program, the minimum score for general applicants was 235, whereas a quota applicant was admitted with just 206 points.
Additionally, quota applicants are allowed to take extra entrance exams at the university, potentially improving their final scores. General applicants, however, are not given this opportunity. Natalia, who did not score well on her history exam, believes an extra exam could have helped her.
“I spoke to the entrance exam organizers when I was applying for a philology program at Buryat State University. On July 4, there was an opportunity to retake the history exam — but only for children of war participants. I could have improved or worsened my score there, but I wasn’t allowed to take it because it was only for children whose parents are at war,” Natalia says.
According to Buryat State University’s website, applicants under the special quota can “take general entrance exams regardless of whether they participated in the Unified State Exam.”
At Buryat State University, students were admitted without entrance exams to the Land Management and Cadasters program and the Pedagogical Education with Two Specializations program. In the Information Systems and Technologies program, a student was admitted with just 48 points on the entrance exam — 3.5 times lower than the general competition’s minimum requirement of 172 points.