T-Invariant recently reported that the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow has launched a new master's program and a brief professional development course aimed at training students to navigate Western sanctions on Russia. According to Lipsits, professor at HSE, the program marks a 'serious expansion as people are expected to learn how to work around sanctions.^1
Russian officials have called on universities to align with the needs of the war effort in areas such as cyber-offensive capabilities so it comes as no surprise that academics are also working on sanctions.
Igor Lipits, one of the founders of HSE and a former professor, noted in an interview with T-Invariant that the program lacks prominent HSE staff. In the interview he says that 'many professors left because the program is designed to circumvent sanctions and the authors of the program are opportunists'.[^2]
Calling the authors 'opportunists' downplays their backgrounds which are worthy of profiling for those who want to understand how Russia teaches companies to evade sanctions. Fortunately for investigators, HSE advertises the experts behind the program.
Vasily Kashin
SANCTIONED
Vasily Borisovich Kashin (born 18 September 1973, Moscow) is of particular interest. Canadian authorities placed him on a sanctions list in 2023 under the Special Economic Measures Act targeting close collaborators of the Russian regime and agents of disinformation.[^2][^3]. Notably, HSE, RIAC, and MIGMO are also on the Canadian sanctions list which targets individuals and organisations involved in propaganda, disinformation and the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia. Kashin is involved in all three institutions; he's a Chief Research Fellow at MIGMO and member of both the Valdai Discussion Club and RIAC.
Piecing together Kashin's work history tells us his career is primarily in the service of Russian state institutions. His background is in academia, state media, and government agencies.
- Member of the Valdai Discussion Club.
- Member of RIAC.
- Chief Research Fellow at the Center for Comprehensive Sinology and Regional Projects at MIGMO (2018 - Present).
- Deputy head of RIA Novosti representative office in Beijin (2010-2011). RIA Novosti used to be one of the largest state news agencies in Russia before it was disbanded in 2013.
- Research fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (since 2009).
- Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (since 2001)
- Government Agencies (before Russian Academy of Sciences, exact dates unknown).
- PhD in Political Science
That Kashin used to work for state agencies is mentioned in a bio on Forbes, but what agencies he worked for is unclear for now.[^4]
Dmitry KIKU, Дмитрий Кику
Dmitry Kiku is a career diplomat who served in Berlin and Baku. In his capacity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kiku has worked on sanctions related issues at the UN Security Conucil. He joined the Panel of Experts on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2014 and UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres reappointed Kiku to the panel in 2017. Kiku earned his BA degree in Economics at Moscow University of Cooperation and holds a PhD in Political Sciecne from Russian Diplomatic Academy.
Twitter: https://x.com/kikusan76 , @Kikusan76. (Dmitry has other social media but these profiles are omitted from the report due to ethical considerations.)
Maria Roskoshnaya, Мария Роскошная
Maria Roskoshnaya started her career at the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control of Russia (FSTEC), a military agency under the Russian Ministry of Defence. FSTEC licences the export of weapons and dual-use technology and the agency is responsible for military information security. In its capacity, FSTEC liases wit the FSB and maintains Russia's Data Security Threats Database and the national vulnerability database. Roskoshnaya worked at FSTEC for almost 4 years before joining Rusatom as Head of Export Control Department. She is now the Head of Export Control at Yandex.
- Head of Export Control and Foreign Economic Activity Support Department, Yandex LLC
Linkedin: - Yandex, Export Control Lead, Dec 2022 to Present
- Rusatom, Director of Rosatom’s export control center, Feb 2023 to Aug 2023
- Rusatom, Head of Export Control Department, Director of Rosatom’s Export Control Center, 2018-2023
- Federal Service for technical Export Controls (FSTEC of the Russian Federation), 3 years 11 months.
Roskoshnaya's work history illustrates the shared expertise that exists between military agencies, tech companies and state companies in Russia. Her expertise could enable companies looking to circumvent European Union export controls on circuits, communication items, components and other high priority items required for the war effort.^5
Ivan Timofeev Иван Тимофеев
Ivan Timofeev is the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council. He is an Associate Professor at MGIMO University and a leading expert on anti-Russian sanctions. Like Kashin and so many other academics, Timofeev is a member of RIAC and the Valdai Discussion Club.[^6]His profile on the Valdai Discussion Club's website gives us a pretty clear picture of his career:[^7]
- Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; since (2015-Present)
- Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council; Associate Professor at MGIMO MFA of Russia (2023-Present). He previously held the position of Director of Programmes and was responsible research and relations with government agencies and the media.
- Head of Analytical Monitoring Centre at MGIMO University (2009–2011). He has been Associate Professor at MGIMO University since 2006.
Timofeev also runs a telegram channel called "Sanctions Work" with some 12500 followers. The channel functions like a newsletter. It updates users on regulatory developments, the latest sanctioned companies, global affairs, and promotes professional development courses.
One course promoted on the channel is the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry's course starting October 14 20205: "Export Controls of the US, EU and China: Risks and Compliance Strategies for Foreign Trade Participants".[^8] Timofeev is one of the program's instructors and the program is partnered with the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), Consulting Group Window to China, and Law Firm BGP Litigation.
The two partner organisations contribute speakers. BGP's speaker is Maria Udobova who is an advisor to the Compliance and Sanctions Law Practice at BGP Litigatio and Albert Trofimov is an advisor to China Window and an Associate Professor at St Petersburg State University.
Inna Yanikeyeva Инна Яникеева
Inna Yanikeyeva has a career in the Russian civil service and she is advertised as an expert on US, Australian, Canadian, and British sanctions. According to RIAC and HSE, she holds a PhD in Political Science from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is proficient in English, Spanish, and Italian. Inna is a Research Fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) at HSE and her experience in the civil service is as an Advisor to the State Civilian Service of the Russian Federation (3rd class), and she worked in the Department for Control over External Restrictions at the Ministry of Finance until 2024.[^9]
[^2]: Global Affairs Canada, https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2014-58/page-4.html#h-810988
[^3]: Vasily Kashin was added to the Canadian Special Economic Measures Act in 2024 according to Open Sanctions.
[^4]: Forbes, https://www.forbes.ru/person/50188-kashin-vasilii
[^6]: https://russiancouncil.ru/en/ivan-timofeev/,
[^7]: https://valdaiclub.com/about/experts/3111/
[^8]: The Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry's course is advetised in a post on the sanctions work telegram channel.
[^9] Inna Yanikova's cv is online at https://www.hse.ru/org/persons/46756941/