Western researchers also avoid contact with their Russian colleagues because they fear the influence of the Kremlin. However, more than 8,000 Russian scientists and science journalists have signed an open letter condemning the war. Your colleagues in the West are convinced that researchers in Russia are being monitored for any anti-war attitudes.
“The mere fact that one email address is from the United States and another from Russia could draw attention,” says one researcher who wishes to remain anonymous to protect his colleagues in Russia. “We’re on the brink – something could go horribly wrong if we’re not careful.”
“I honestly don’t want to end up in a Russian prison”(paleontologist, anonymous)
The situation is also catastrophic for Russian scientists. One of the hardest-hit areas is the study of ancient DNA (aDNA), says Albert Protopopov, a paleontologist at the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia. Laboratories in North America and Western Europe have the expertise. In recent years, Russian researchers have often left the genetic analyzes to their colleagues abroad. After all, this led to the discovery of the Denisovans. Palaeogeneticists in Germany were involved. They extracted aDNA from a tiny piece of finger bone given to them by Russian archaeologists.
A good decade later it is clear: Almost all known Denisovan fossils come from the same cave in Siberia. But during the pandemic and now during the war, new samples are difficult to obtain. Research has therefore “stalled,” says Katerina Douka from the University of Vienna. “The discoveries from the Denisova Cave have cast a spell over the world,” explains the archaeologist. “It breaks my heart to watch it all fall apart in just a few months.”
Although Russian scientists began expanding their own laboratories for genetic analysis years ago, due to the sanctions they are currently unable to obtain all the materials they need from abroad.
How the economic situation is affecting research
Potapova experienced the economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union. From this experience she is certain that the current situation will affect the funding of Russian paleontology and other research for years to come. “It’s going to be devastating for science,” she says, adding that her Russian colleagues “are lucky if they keep getting paid.”