The existence of this path, from one of Russia’s most prestigious institutions directly into its military intelligence apparatus, is revealed for the first time in more than 2,000 internal documents from Bauman, obtained by a consortium of journalists from six outlets: the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, the Insider, Delfi and VSquare.

The files, covering several years of activity up to 2025, include course syllabuses, exam records, staff contracts and the career assignments of individual graduates, tracing their path from classroom exercises in hacking and disinformation to postings in some of the most notorious cyber-units in the Russian military intelligence apparatus.

As the war in Ukraine continues, intelligence experts suggest that Russia is ramping up its “hybrid” attacks on European allies of Ukraine, attempting a broad campaign of interference and sabotage to cause havoc in the west while remaining deniable and not crossing the threshold that could trigger a military response.

Hacking and cyber-attacks have been a key part of this strategy and the documents suggest the Bauman programme shows no signs of slowing. The latest cohort of trainees will not graduate until the end of the 2027 academic year.