Category: Университетская жизнь /

Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

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Students from the Institute of Civil Engineering at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, led by ISI Associate Professors Maria Drebezgova and Alena Sheremet, and Assistant Victoria Pedenko, participated in the architectural design session "Molzavod: Starting Point," held in Gatchina. The workshop brought together leading experts in architecture, urban planning, cultural heritage preservation, and economics, practicing architects, and faculty and students from specialized St. Petersburg universities. Over the course of one day, the participants developed conceptual proposals for transforming the site and buildings into a modern cultural and social cluster.

The architectural session was organized by the Gatchina Municipal Administration and the ARCH-EVENT Association of Architects. The event, supported by the Council for Architecture and Urban Development of the Leningrad Region, the St. Petersburg Union of Architects, ALFRESCO and BERKANO, and the Leningrad Region Committee for Urban Development Policy, brought together teams from leading architectural universities in St. Petersburg: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, St. Petersburg Mining University of Empress Catherine II, and the St. Petersburg State Stieglitz Academy of Art and Design.

During the workshop, participants were tasked with conducting a comprehensive analysis of the site, including its historical and cultural context and current conservation regulations, and developing conceptual proposals for the functional content and architectural and spatial transformation of the site. Particular attention was paid to the methodology for working with industrial heritage, developing principles for careful reconstruction, and shaping a sustainable architectural vision.

The team leaders were Irina Barto, head of the Umbra architectural bureau; Tatyana Dmitrieva, head of the Formanorma architectural studio; Arseniy Mamoshin, chief architect of the Mamoshin architectural studio; and Evgeny Novosadyuk, architect and partner of the Studio 44 architectural bureau.

The expert evaluation of the projects was carried out by a council including representatives of government bodies of the Leningrad Region and the Gatchina Municipal District, as well as leading practitioners in the field of urban planning and architecture—members of the urban planning councils of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region and heads of architectural firms.

The team from the Higher School of Design and Architecture of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University's Civil Engineering Institute successfully presented a concept for the development of the plant's territory and received a commendation from Igor Kulakov, Chairman of the Leningrad Region Committee for Urban Development Policy.

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Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

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Ilshat Rakhmatullin, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Bashkortostan to the President of the Russian Federation, paid a friendly visit to the Polytechnic University. He was given a tour of the university's history museum and then met with students from Bashkortostan.

At a meeting with students, Ilshat Rakhmatullin spoke to them about the activities of the Plenipotentiary Representative of Bashkortostan for Youth Affairs. He encouraged the polytechnic students to maintain contact and participate in events organized by the Association of Students and Postgraduates of the Republic of Bashkortostan, BashStudents.

The Ministry of Youth Policy of the Republic of Bashkortostan and its plenipotentiary representative are tasked with maintaining contact with our fellow countrymen studying in various Russian cities, primarily Moscow and St. Petersburg. The primary point of contact is the Association of Students and Postgraduates of the Republic of Bashkortostan and Bashkir clubs, which were first established in 2010, noted Ilshat Rakhmatullin.

For over 15 years, the association has been uniting young people from Bashkortostan studying at universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, and other cities. BashStudents already has 5,000 student members. Eleven Bashkir student clubs have already opened in St. Petersburg. The association promotes the comprehensive development of students in academics, sports, and creative pursuits.

The organization regularly hosts numerous sporting and cultural events, including creative competitions, sports competitions, group outings to concerts and hockey matches, and much more. The largest events include the "Yaktash" youth forum, the "BashPervash" freshman initiation ceremony, the Bashkir regatta, and the Youth Sabantuy.

During the meeting at the Polytechnic University, a Bashkir club was also created, which will be overseen by Maxim Pasholikov, SPbPU Vice-Rector for Information, Youth Policy, and Security. Polytechnic University student Narkyas Baigildina will serve as the club's chairperson.

At the end of the meeting, everyone had the opportunity to ask questions to Ilshat Rakhmatullin, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Bashkortostan to the President of the Russian Federation.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

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On December 7, the State Hermitage Museum celebrated its 261st anniversary. It's no coincidence that the birthdate of the country's premier museum coincides with the feast day of its patron saint, Saint Catherine. Russia's first art museum owes its founding to Empress Catherine the Great. It was she who, in 1764, purchased the painting collection from the German merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, which marked the beginning of the Hermitage's history and glory.

Today, the Hermitage is among the greatest artistic treasures on the planet. Its complex comprises 12 buildings, and its collections contain approximately three million works of art and world cultural monuments. Hermitage centers operate in several Russian cities: "Hermitage-Siberia" in Omsk, "Hermitage-Ural" in Yekaterinburg, "Hermitage-Eurasia" in Orenburg, "Hermitage-Kazan," and "Hermitage-Vyborg."

For many, visiting the Hermitage is a cherished dream. Travelers from around the world come to St. Petersburg to stroll the museum's historic halls, amazed at how much beauty human hands can create when guided by inspiration born of love and light.

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University is fortunate to have such a friend and partner as the State Hermitage Museum. Collaboration with this legendary museum enriches our spirituality, brings us closer to the treasures of world culture, and lends special significance to our work.

Cooperation started in 2016 and received at the end of 2023 a new impetus for developmentFor almost ten years, the university and the museum The Hermitage's engineering and security systems are being modernized, conduct scientific research, exchange expertise, implement public and youth initiatives and programs advanced training, vocational guidance and employment.

The Hermitage Theatre hosted the premiere of Alexey Oliferuk's historical documentary film "The Unfinished Game of Sergei Witte" on November 17, 2025. The film is dedicated to the founder of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, Russian statesman and politician, Minister of Finance, and Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, Sergei Yulyevich Witte.

The relationship between science and art is clear: the work of scientists helps preserve cultural heritage, while works of art stimulate new discoveries. What also brings these fields together is that both scientific breakthroughs and the birth of masterpieces are preceded by inspiration and research.

It was at the junction of these worlds that a joint project of the Hermitage and the Polytechnic University "Formula of Art"This is a series. video films, whose goal is to demonstrate the connection between the achievements of past eras and the present. The project's creators draw unexpected parallels between museum exhibits and the developments of Polytechnic researchers. Viewers have the opportunity to see how museum science systematizes the experience of the past, and how Polytechnic researchers shape the technologies of the future.

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University congratulates the State Hermitage Museum on its birthday and wishes it to continue to amaze, delight, and enlighten people around the world, to discover unrivaled examples of human genius, to remain a source of inspiration for people of all generations, and to continue to give them the joy of seeing the great and immortal masterpieces created by man.

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Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

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While the session is just approaching the doors of the classrooms, Polytechnic University students from the Student Club's PolyDance studio are already taking their dance exams. The LPH Crew, led by choreographer Ksenia Akulova, successfully represented the university at the Northern Champ open contemporary dance championship in Petrozavodsk.

The team had to compete against the strongest dance teams not only from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, but also from Karelia. In a highly competitive environment, our team achieved a convincing victory, taking first place in the Dance Show category.

The new House number, "The Pursuit of Attention," was a triumph, captivating the jury with its energy, coherence, and original choreography.

"When creating the routine, I focused not only on technique but also on conveying unbridled energy. The jury's high praise confirmed that we achieved this goal. Participating in the championship allowed me, as a director, to gain valuable experience from choreographers from other cities, and the team to shine in a competitive environment," shared Ksenia Akulova, head of the PolyDance studio.

"When staging the number, our goal was not only to demonstrate high-quality technique but also to convey the special atmosphere and concept of the number, and I think we succeeded brilliantly!" said third-year GI student Dana Nurgazieva.

2025 was a year rich in awards for the LPH Crew. In April, they took part in the All-Russian dance championship Just Dance Festival in St. Petersburg and took third place in a new category—Best Contemporary Crew Beginners. A few days later, the team took second place in the All-Russian competition and festival.

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Source: Official website of the State –

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On December 8, 1991, at the government residence of Viskuli in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), the heads of the three union republics, Boris Yeltsin (RSFSR), Leonid Kravchuk (Ukrainian SSR) and Stanislav Shushkevich (BSSR), signed the Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

New chapter

The Agreement was signed by the leaders: Gennady Burbulis from Russia, Vyacheslav Kebich from Belarus, and Vitold Fokin from Ukraine. The meeting was held in strict secrecy and under the protection of a special unit.

The document's preamble contained a key provision: the USSR as a subject of international law and a geopolitical entity ceases to exist, and Article 1 of the Agreement stated: The High Contracting Parties shall form a Commonwealth of Independent States. The document declared the parties' desire to develop cooperation in the political, economic, humanitarian, and cultural spheres. Article 14 designated Minsk as the "official seat of the coordinating bodies of the Commonwealth."

Parade of Sovereignties

On December 10, 1991, the Agreement was ratified by the parliaments of Ukraine and Belarus. On December 12, it was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, chaired by Ruslan Khasbulatov, who called on deputies to support the document. On the same day, the Russian parliament denounced the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR.

Only seven of the 246 members of parliament voted against ratification, five abstained, and 34 did not participate in the vote.

However, a number of deputies pointed out that, according to Article 104 of the 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR, such decisions should have been made by the Congress of People's Deputies, and not by the Supreme Soviet, since the matter concerned changing the state structure.

In April 1992, the Fifth Congress of People's Deputies of Russia refused three times to ratify the Agreement and remove references to USSR laws from the Constitution of the RSFSR. This standoff became one of the causes of the conflict between the president and parliament, which culminated in the dissolution of the Congress in October 1993. Only on December 25, 1993, with the adoption of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation, was the legal connection with the USSR finally severed.

Against the will of the people

In September 1998, Ruslan Khasbulatov noted at a State Duma committee meeting: "The document has not been ratified. From a constitutional perspective, this was a matter for the Congress. And what the Supreme Soviet adopted could only be advisory in nature." In 2003, the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs concluded that the Russian Federation was not de jure a founding member of the CIS, since the Agreement had not been ratified by the highest authority of the RSFSR.

On December 21, 1991, in Alma-Ata, eight more republics joined the Agreement, bringing the total to 11 of the 15 former Soviet republics. On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev announced the end of his term as President of the USSR. Thus, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, even though, in a March 1991 all-Union referendum, 76.43% of citizens of nine republics voted to preserve the USSR as a renewed federation. However, the decision to dissolve it was made without their participation by the then political elites.

The disaster of the century

On December 8, 1991, the Belovezh Accords ended the USSR. The country suffered unprecedented territorial losses without any war.

In his address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on April 25, 2005, President Vladimir Putin called the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. For the Russian people, the dissolution of the USSR was a true tragedy, resulting in tens of millions of former citizens and compatriots finding themselves outside Russian territory and nearly triggering the disintegration of Russia itself.

In 2008, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko voiced a similar position, emphasizing that the demise of the USSR led to the collapse of the established bipolar global system. It was expected that the end of the Cold War would allow for a reduction in military spending and the redirection of the freed-up resources toward addressing pressing global issues, including food security, energy, and the environment. Instead, the planet entered an era of intense competition for control of energy resources and an active redistribution of spheres of influence, which continues to this day.

The wild 90s

Moreover, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pointed out the social and demographic failure associated with the collapse of the Union, comparing the decline in the birth rate in the mid-1990s with the situation in 1943–1944, when people died en masse on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.

Indeed, in 1989, the USSR State Statistics Committee calculated that by the end of 2015, the population of the RSFSR would grow from 148.3 million to 165.7 million. Taking into account the slowdown in population growth, by the end of 2021, the Russian population would reach at least 169.4 million, or 171.9 million citizens including Crimea. In reality, the permanent population of Russia as of January 1, 2023, was 146.4 million, excluding Novorossiya, which had returned to its home port. This means that approximately 25 million people were lost to the poverty and wars of the post-Soviet period, not including the victims of the coronavirus epidemic. It took more than three decades to pull the country out of this catastrophe.

Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: December 8, 2025.

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Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

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SPbPU Rector Andrey Rudskoy and Ravenstvo JSC CEO Igor Zubakov signed a cooperation agreement between the university and the company. The ceremony took place during an official visit by Ravenstvo representatives to the university.

In their joint activities, the partners intend to be guided by the provisions of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree No. 145 of the President of the Russian Federation dated February 28, 2024, and their own promising development programs.

Ravenstvo is one of Russia's leading instrument-making companies specializing in naval electronic warfare, naval equipment, and civilian radar. The company was founded in 1952 as a specialized instrument-making plant of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry and focused on the production of radar stations for submarines. Since 2018, it has been part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation.

The company's need for qualified engineers has increased due to the development of new products, including a line of marine navigation radar systems financed by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. Representatives of JSC Ravenstvo contacted Polytechnic University to clarify the university's competencies in mechanics, electronics, marketing, and technical design.

Several meetings were held with the institutes' deputy directors. The first business agreement was signed with the Institute of Mechanics and Technology. The design of the future system is being developed with the Higher School of Design and Architecture of the Civil Engineering Institute.

The signing of the agreement solidified these agreements and defined the vectors of further cooperation.

The areas of common interest between SPbPU and Ravenstvo include radio engineering, electronics, communications, innovative technologies in electromechanics, computing systems and programming, innovative technologies, and industrial safety.

The agreement covers the development of promising areas of cooperation in education, research, and innovation. By pooling their human resources and scientific and technical potential, the parties intend to jointly train engineers for the electronics industry, conduct research and development to ensure technological sovereignty in priority areas of scientific, engineering, and technology development, update and regularly refresh the professional knowledge of employees, as well as the university's and company's partners, develop advanced infrastructure for scientific and educational activities, and create conditions for the development of their networking formats.

"The technological equipment we use to train our students is crucial for us. We can't replace it every two or three years; in this sense, we'll never be able to keep up with you, industrialists. As a result, graduates enter production five years behind what's happening in the real economy. That's why relationships with industrial partners are so important. Especially since we also provide students with a blue-collar job, such as CNC machine operator, and they begin working in industrial settings while still studying," Andrey Rudskoy said during the meeting.

"We've undergone a major renovation at the plant over the past two years, bringing in experienced developers and designers. We've acquired over 140 pieces of cutting-edge equipment, which is exactly what our team is working on. We have a clear understanding of where we're headed and why, and in this regard, we want to collaborate with Polytechnic University. We've already identified a number of areas and are looking forward to learning more about your work," Igor Zubakov emphasized.

In the agreement, the partners defined the areas and forms of cooperation:

Formation of a long-term plan for the needs of engineering personnel and targeted, including targeted, training of highly qualified specialists for JSC Ravenstvo; joint development and implementation of practice-oriented and flexible modular educational programs of higher education, including network ones, ensuring that students acquire professional competencies that meet the current requirements of the labor market; holding joint events aimed at promoting the employment of SPbPU graduates in JSC Ravenstvo; development and implementation of joint educational programs for continuing professional education in the interests of JSC Ravenstvo; implementation of joint research, development, design and survey and technological work on the topics of JSC Ravenstvo and its partners; commercialization of the results of intellectual activity; organization and support of discussion platforms, organization of joint scientific and scientific-practical events, exchange of scientific and scientific-technical information; career guidance activities; involvement of the most talented students and employees in scientific and industrial activities.

Following the signing of the agreement, guests from JSC Ravenstvo held a series of working meetings at the Polytechnic University. Specifically, they visited the Digital Engineering School, a joint laboratory with STC, and the Mechanical Engineering Technologies and Materials complex.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.