Weaponizing science in Ukraine

Papers in scientific journals are increasingly citing universities based inside occupied Ukrainian territories as being affiliated with Russia, a new analysis has found. In 2022, 16 of the 156 studies (10.4%) published by researchers based at institutions in Donetsk, a region in southeast Ukraine, and indexed by the database Scopus listed the city as being in the Russian Federation. In 2023, 115 of 177 studies (65%) published and indexed the same way listed the city as being in the federation, according to the analysis, which was published on arXiv in October without peer review. Similarly, in 2022, just 1 of the 38 academic papers (3%) published by researchers in Lugansk, Ukraine, located the region in Russia; last year, 23 of 46 papers (50%) located the city there, the analysis says. Russia-backed separatists have controlled Donetsk and Lugansk—collectively known as Donbas—since 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin formally annexed them in 2022.