Documents reveal Bauman University’s covert program for GRU recruits, shaping a new generation of cyber warfare specialists
Category: Politics
Last April, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Bauman Moscow State Technical University, a prestigious institution located on the banks of the Yauza River, where some of Russia's brightest scientific minds are educated. During his visit, he toured the campus, spoke to students, and praised Moscow's ambitious plans for space missions to the Moon and Mars, declaring, "You have everything you need to be competitive." What the Kremlin's official report did not mention was a secret department within the university, known as Department 4, or "Special Training." Here, a select group of students are quietly prepared for careers in the GRU — Russia’s military intelligence service, which has been implicated in hacking Western parliaments, poisoning dissidents abroad, and interfering in elections across Europe and the United States.
Until now, the role of Department 4 in training future intelligence operatives has remained largely secret, known only to a select group of insiders. A former senior Russian defense official explained, "Sometimes you are first noticed in school, then you go to Bauman and join the services ... it's part of a recruitment system." The existence of this pathway, from one of Russia's most prestigious institutions directly into its military intelligence apparatus, was revealed through more than 2,000 internal documents obtained by a consortium of journalists from six outlets: The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, the Insider, Delfi, and VSquare.
The documents, which cover several years of activity up to 2025, include course syllabuses, exam records, staff contracts, and the career assignments of individual graduates. These files trace the students' paths from classroom exercises in hacking and disinformation to postings in some of the most notorious cyber units within the GRU. Bauman University, founded in 1830, has a long history of military ties, training engineers and scientists who developed Soviet weapons systems. In a 2013 internal letter to then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the university’s rector noted that it conducts more research and development than any other higher education institution in Russia, with over 40% of this work benefiting the Ministry of Defense.
Department 4 is divided into three specialized streams, with the most prominent being the "Special Reconnaissance Service" (code 093400). The GRU exerts direct control over the recruitment and grading process, sending its own officers to conduct exams, approve candidates, and oversee placements. This blurred line between professor and handler, as well as between teaching and recruitment, paints a picture of a program that is deeply integrated with military operations.
The head of Department 4, Lieutenant Colonel Kirill Stupakov, a signals intelligence officer, signed a three-year contract in 2022 with GRU Unit 45807, one of the agency’s key units. His courses include training in electronic eavesdropping and covert surveillance. PowerPoint slides viewed by the consortium showcase a catalogue of deception techniques, including smoke detectors that double as cameras and devices that can log keystrokes undetected.
Among the core courses is "Defense Against Technical Reconnaissance," where students spend 144 hours learning modern hacking tools, including password attacks and software vulnerabilities. To pass, students must perform practical penetration tests, and one module is entirely devoted to developing computer viruses. They are also instructed on the structure and organization of U.S. and British military intelligence agencies and how Western intelligence has been utilized in the war in Ukraine.
In addition to hacking, the curriculum includes information warfare. Advanced students must complete a seminar on crafting disinformation campaigns, which requires them to create social media videos using manipulation and hidden propaganda techniques. The teaching materials are heavily infused with Kremlin ideology, asserting that the war in Ukraine was "inevitable" and portraying Ukrainian leaders as nationalists and neo-Nazis.
As Western intelligence agencies have increasingly warned about Russian cyber operations, the documents suggest that the Bauman program is integral to Russia's broader strategy of hybrid warfare. In a February report, Dutch intelligence warned that Russia was ramping up hybrid activities across Europe, combining cyber-attacks and sabotage with influence operations targeting infrastructure. On April 15, Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin accused Russia of regularly executing destructive cyber-attacks against EU institutions.
Among the 69 students who graduated from Department 4 in spring 2024 was Daniil Porshin, who maintained near-perfect grades during his six years at Bauman. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the GRU's hacking group, known as "Fifty Bear." Not every student makes the cut; the files indicate that dozens were dismissed or failed to graduate, with some receiving harsh evaluations from senior GRU officers. One assessment noted, "Insufficient knowledge of how to conduct a remote network attack." Nevertheless, many students are deemed fit for GRU service, with 15 from Porshin’s cohort directed to various units.
One such assignment led a student to Unit 74455 in Anapa, a popular resort town on the Black Sea, home to the hacker unit known as Sandworm. Sandworm has been linked to some of the most destructive cyber-attacks in recent years, including targeting Ukraine’s power grid, meddling in Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaign, and the British investigation into the Salisbury nerve agent poisoning.
As the war in Ukraine persists, intelligence experts suggest that Russia is intensifying its hybrid attacks on European allies, aiming to create chaos in the West without crossing the line that could provoke military retaliation. Hacking and cyber-attacks will remain central to this strategy, and the documents indicate that the Bauman program continues unabated. The latest cohort of trainees will not graduate until the end of the 2027 academic year.
These revelations provide an unparalleled insight into the systematic training of Russia’s cyber agents, but insiders caution that this is only part of the picture. Another Russian university, Mirea, plays an even more substantial role in training hackers. A former military official stated, "Bauman is one of several elite universities used to identify gifted students for recruitment into military and intelligence structures." As these programs evolve, the implications for international cybersecurity and geopolitical stability remain dire.