Investigation reveals major Russian university’s role in cybercrime recruitment

Students learn hacking and infiltration techniques before going on to join Russian intelligence

A collection of documents from one of Russia’s most prestigious universities links it directly with recruiting students for criminal groups like Fancy Bear and Sandworm.

A consortium of journalists from The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The Insider, Delfi and VSquare obtained more than 2,000 internal documents from Bauman Moscow state technical university, an institution with deep historic ties to the Russian military.

Bauman trained the engineers and scientists who worked on Soviet weapons including tanks and rockets, and still carries out research for the military today.

One of the documents, a 2013 internal letter addressed to then-defence minister Sergei Shoigu from the university’s rector, said more than 40% of Bauman’s R&D was conducted in the interests of the Ministry of Defence.

The documents reveal the existence of a special department hiding behind regular campus life: the secretive Department 4, also known as “Special Training.”

This is where select students prepare for their future roles in Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

The cache of documents, which cover activity up until 2025, includes course syllabuses, exam records, staff contracts and individual graduates’ career assignments, granting a previously unseen level of scrutiny into the GRU’s recruitment process.

Department 4 appears to be divided into three main teaching tracks, and the GRU exerts direct control over both recruitment and grading. In fact a GRU officer, Lt Col Kirill Stupakov, who served from at least 2022-2025, leads the department.

Another teacher mentioned in the documents is Viktor Netyksho, a major general who previously commanded Unit 26165 – aka Fancy Bear.

Students taught spycraft

Students who are part of Department 4 learn everything they need to operate in the world of cybercrime, from surveillance devices to modern hacking techniques, psychological manipulation and information warfare.

To pass one course, known as “Defence against technical reconnaissance,” students must carry out a practical penetration test. For another, they have to develop their own computer virus.

Students are also bombarded with the Russian political line. They are taught that the war in Ukraine was “inevitable,” that the country is run by “nationalists and neo-Nazis,” and that European countries support the genocide of Russians in the Donbas region.

Although not every student is successful – with dozens dismissed for failing to meet expectations – many go on to join various GRU units. Sixty-nine graduated from Department 4 in 2024 alone.

Insiders say that while Bauman has a comprehensive cyber training programme in place, it is only one cog in the Russian military machine. Another Moscow university, Mirea, is allegedly even more involved.

“Bauman is one of a handful of elite universities used to identify gifted students for recruitment into military and intelligence structures,” said a former defence official.

Computing says:

It would be naive in the extreme to believe that the West isn’t doing the exact same thing, though in that case it will be sold as defensive in nature.

This does, however, highlight the professionalism and scale of cyber’s place in modern warfare. Training students in virus development and psychological manipulation is akin to training prospective soldiers in how to use a gun.