On 4 March 2022, the Russian Union of Rectors signed an address in support of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The letter was signed by heads (rectors) of 304 higher education institutions in Russia. It was highly publicized inside Russia, but internationally it only led to further isolation of Russian educational institutions.

The National Research State University of Nizhny Novgorod named after N.I. Lobachevsky, UNN, also known as Lobachevsky University, is a public research university in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and one of the biggest classical universities of the country. The university is ranked 1,455th in the world in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities 2022-2023.