One more step that is still missing from these allegedly “swift and severe” consequences for a Russian invasion of Ukraine: barring the children of Russian government officials and oligarchs from studying in American universities, and revoking their visas permitting them to live in this country. Back at the end of January, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I can confirm we have developed specific sanctions packages for both Russian elites and their family members if Russia further invades Ukraine.”
But so far, this option remains unused.
There were 4,805 international students from Russia at U.S. higher education institutions in the 2020-2021 school year, a -9.2 percent decline from the previous year. While not every Russian student who studies in the U.S. is the son or daughter of a Russian government official or oligarch, it’s a safe bet that at least a handful are.
Back in 2017, the New York Observer did a roundup of the children of high-ranking Russian officials who study and live here in the United States and European capitals:
Ekaterina Vinokourova, the only daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, spent 17 years in the U.S. and studied political science at Columbia University and economics at London School of Economics.
Alexandra, daughter of Deputy of Russian Parliament Petr Tolstoy, was recently accepted into Yale University, which she thinks is “very cool.”
…The son of Russian MP Alexander Remezkov, after graduating from boarding school in Pennsylvania, continued his education at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y. …Anastasia, daughter of MP Vyacheslav Fetisov, has lived in the U.S. her entire life and does not know how to read or write in Russian. The daughter of Parliamentarian Irina Rodnina lives in Washington D.C.
If Russian government officials are carrying out the orders of Putin, facilitating the invasion of Ukraine, and the oligarchs are nodding along, U.S. colleges and universities shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpet for their kids.