Russia Designates Tufts University an “Undesirable Organization”

Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Photo credit: Tufts Now

On March 31, 2026, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation declared Tufts University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy “undesirable organizations” imposing punishments ranging from fines to prison sentences on Russian citizens that are affiliated with the university or otherwise cooperate or interact with it. According to The Tufts Daily, the reason the office of the prosecutor general provided for the designation is the support that the university has provided for Ukraine and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as its exercise of “anti-Russian propaganda.” While Tufts and the Fletcher School do not have a presence in Russia and so would not be impacted by the designation, this decision is a significant impediment to the academic freedom of Russian students that are currently, or would prospectively be, attending these institutions and Russian scholars that would be cooperating with them. It is currently unclear if current Tufts students that are citizens of Russia will be forced to abandon their studies or risk legal sanctions if and when they return to Russia.

The undesirable organizations law was promulgated in 2015, giving state prosecutors powers to prohibit the activities of organizations that are deemed to be “a threat to the foundation of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the defense capability of the country or the security of the state”. Tufts is not the first American higher education institution to be designated as such. Previously, institutions such as Bard College, Yale University, George Washington University and the University of California, Berkeley were designated as “undesirable organizations” in the past few years. Most recently, on April 10, 2026, Stanford University was also added to the list. According to The Moscow Times, Stanford is, at least, the 19^th European or American university to be declared “undesirable”. Central European University was added to the list in 2023 for allegedly "discrediting” the Russian political leadership over war in Ukraine, which the Russian government classifies as a “special military operation”.

However, not only foreign universities have been classified as “undesirable”. In March 2023, Free University in Moscow, established by Russian scholars fired from their universities for political reasons, was added to the list of undesirable organizations, forcing it to shut down. The US Institute of International Education, the nonprofit organization that administers the Fulbright Program, in 2024 and The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2026 were similarly declared “undesirable organizations,” preventing the participation of Russian students in exchange programs as well as from foreign students from doing academic exchanges in Russia.

The Russian government aggressively uses similar legislation to restrict academic freedom. The other main example is that of the “foreign agents” law, passed in 2012, which allows the Russian Ministry of Justice to declare certain individuals as “foreign agents,” banning them from teaching at public educational institutions. Academics are frequently targeted under this law, which practically prevents them from having any public presence. One such academic is Boris Kagarlitsky, professor of sociology and anti-war critic, who was declared a “foreign agent” in May 2022, and subsequently arrested in July 2023 on terrorism charges. He was convicted in 2024 and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence.

Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) condemns the designation of Tufts University, a member of the New University in Exile Consortium, as an “undesirable organization” by the Russian government. In addition to unduly punishing Tufts University, this decision also restricts academic freedom for Russian scholars and students, whose opportunities for education and academic exchange are being limited. We call on the Russian government to reverse this decision, alongside similar designations of other organizations overseeing educational, research and academic exchange activities. We invite the global community to join our call.