While the propaganda box (a derogatory term for television) keeps telling us that through a victory over the Ukrops (a derogatory slur for Ukrainians) we will restore Russia’s greatness and force others to reckon with us, let’s take a look at what is really happening in the sectors where Russia should actually be demonstrating greatness and striving for global leadership.
These are the kind of "achievements" in higher education that our country now takes pride in.
In the global university ranking in the "natural sciences" category (Physical Sciences), we hold three places in the top 100: 63rd, 63rd, and 74th.
In the overall ranking, only Moscow State University appears, languishing in a shameful backwater at 226–250.
Who has time for education now, when the Banderites (a pejorative reference to Ukrainian nationalists) are advancing? Investment in human capital now means not universities, but the "Seliger" forum, where the country’s leaders regularly appear.
Still, looking at the steady decline in the share of education spending in the federal budget (2013 — 5.1%, 2014 — 4.3%, 2015 — 4.1%, and 2016 — 3.9%), one cannot help thinking that in about fifteen years, when the consequences of such a policy fully come to light, we will only be able to fight the next batch of Ukrops (a derogatory slur for Ukrainians) by throwing pine cones from the trees.
And one more figure for comparison: the 45 billion rubles allocated to improve the competitiveness of the country’s 15 best universities over three years is roughly two and a half times less than what was stolen during the construction of the Adler–Krasnaya Polyana Olympic road.