The political scientist explained the reason for the growing interest of students from the Baltic States in universities in the Russian Federation.

Citizens of Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine continue to choose Russian universities primarily because of their linguistic and cultural proximity. Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia on February 19.

According to the expert, the interest of citizens of Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine in Russian universities is largely due to demographic and cultural factors. These countries are home to a significant number of Russian-speaking residents and ethnic Russians, for whom Russia remains linguistically and socioculturally close.

"In this regard, there is no contradiction here regarding the policy of the state authorities and, in fact, the opinion of ordinary citizens. For them, Russia is both logistically convenient, and linguistic comfort exists, and, in fact, it is understandable that they are close in socio-cultural identity," Denisov said.

The financial factor in this case, according to the political scientist, is not decisive. According to the expert, the cost of studying at leading Russian universities — primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg - is comparable to, and sometimes exceeds, prices at a number of European universities. Therefore, the main motive for admission is not the price, but cultural and linguistic proximity.

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At the same time, the expert noted that there is a steady downward trend in the use of the Russian language in the Baltic States, and the number of Russian-speaking populations is gradually decreasing. In his opinion, this will inevitably lead to a decrease in the flow of applicants to Russian universities in the long term.

He also stressed that Russian education is unlikely to become massively attractive to other social groups in these countries. The competition is made up of the European higher education system, and the information background and political agenda form a negative perception of Russia in these countries, which additionally affects the choice of applicants, Denisov concluded.

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On the same day, it was reported that Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine were the leaders among unfriendly countries in terms of the number of their citizens studying at Russian universities. It was noted that in the 2025/2026 academic year, 615 students from Latvia and 380 from Estonia are studying at Russian universities. The indicators of both countries increased slightly compared to the previous year. Lithuania, on the contrary, showed a decline — from 163 to 153 students.

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