Since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, many international companies have left Russia, while sanctions from major world economies are intensifying.

Meanwhile, changes are taking place in Russian universities that are making it difficult for the country's students to pursue higher education elsewhere.

According to Business Insider, the Telegraph reports, experts estimate that it is impossible, just a few months after the war, to measure the impact of the war on Russian youth.

But they also said that the generation that grew up under the presidency of President Vladimir Putin - which began in 2012 - is now experiencing a very different Russia from where it grew up.

Freely called the "Putin Generation", this group of young people grew up knowing only one president in their formative years and is between 17 and 25 years old, according to the Wilson Center.

They grew up eating McDonald's, watching the latest Hollywood movies, and posting on Instagram - all of which, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February, are no longer available in Russia.

In this regard, two Business Insider experts have spoken to show how much harder it will be for Russian youth at work and at school.

International companies are leaving en masse, limiting professional opportunities

As in many countries, the value of a good education in Russia is that it opens the door not only to domestic employers, but also to international companies that provide opportunities for employees to enter and exit the European labor market freely.

These windows are closing fast.

"Many multinational corporations had promised good sustainable careers, where they could be promoted on their own merits into a kind of traditional Western capitalist model," said Andrew Lohsen, an associate in the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic Studies. International.

"These opportunities are running out as these companies leave Russia and some of the industries that have promised high wages have begun to be hampered by sanctions."

Lohsen cited oil and gas and IT as some sectors where multinational companies are leaving in large numbers, leaving a future of uncertainty for those seeking to enter these large industries.

Earlier this month, U.S. tech giants IBM and Microsoft laid off hundreds of employees in Russia as companies continued to pull out of the market.

Such departures are not just about the job market.

According to Malik, they will also limit training and professional networks for Russian professionals, reports Telegrafi.

In response, many Russian tech workers are leaving, BI's Belle Lin, Masha Borak and Kylie Robison reported in April.

While many left for fear of being recruited to take part in the war, some said they were driven by the impact of sanctions on their jobs.

In April, the World Bank said the Russian economy is expected to shrink by 11.2% in 2022, marking its worst economic contraction in three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russian universities and education will extinguish the open debate

Experts contacted by Business Insider also expressed concern about the future of Russia's academic system, as the country seeks to exit the Bologna Process, in which European governments harmonize educational standards and qualifications.

"What this means is that Russians who are thinking of getting a higher education in Europe - especially a professional or doctoral degree - will find it much harder now to try to get into European universities," Lohsen told Insider.

Russia is planning to return to the Soviet standard, which makes it very difficult for any kind of European University to verify their academic credentials, he added.

Europe's academic community is particularly concerned about the freedom of open debate in Russia, as 700 rectors and university presidents from Russian universities signed a letter nine days after the invasion, endorsing the Kremlin version of events - namely that Moscow aims for a "demilitarization and the denationalization ”of Ukraine, the Times Higher Education magazine reported, citing the letter, which has since been removed.

"What we are seeing is the politicization of the education system and that goes from top to bottom," Lohsen said.

"There is a really sharp turn in Russian education towards embracing the state narrative and excluding any doubt or alternatives and punishing those who go outside the state line."

Malik said he had attended conferences with Russian and international institutions in the past where there were dynamic exchanges of ideas.

He thinks that this would be extremely difficult now, especially after Russia passed a law in March that would imprison for up to 15 years those who deliberately spread "false" news about the army, the Telegraph reports.

A political upheaval is unlikely to happen even if the Russians are unhappy

While the situation looks bleak, Moscow has stepped up propaganda in recent years to promote a top-down structure with the state, the military and the church at the core of Russian society, Lohsen said.

Aside from a mass media environment that is largely state-controlled or Kremlin-linked, such messages could distract the population from impending economic hardship, he thinks.

Some young Russians who are dissatisfied with Putin's rule fled the country after the war broke out.

But there are practical daily things to consider for Russians who want to start over from abroad - such as long-term visas, employment and financial resources - which are now more difficult to achieve. because of sanctions as a result of the war - Malik and Lohsen told BI.

Within Russia, support for the war remains.

In late May, an independent Russian pollster called the Levada Center conducted a survey of 1,634 Russian people and found that 60% of Russians aged 18 to 24 supported the war.

There are few indications that anything will change politically - even if there are "nuances" of disagreement, Malik said.

"A revolution is more likely to happen in a democracy than in an autocracy - because in a democracy, you can just have a choice."

"After all, economic conditions in the former Soviet Union were worse than they are now in Russia - but nothing has changed for decades," he added.

"For dissatisfaction to translate into policy change - let alone regime change into an autocracy - is a very big thing," he said.

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