EditRomanian and Moldovan students coordinated from Russia promote Stalinist propaganda online
“Scientific Communism” operates with a cult-like atmosphere, enforcing strict control over members’ lives
A group of Romanian and Moldovan students, operating under the banner of “Scientific Communism,” has been orchestrating a network of social media channels that aggressively defend communist dictators like Joseph Stalin and Kim Jong-un while attacking Romania’s “petit-bourgeois” left, including feminist, pro-LGBT, and pro-Palestinian activists, EUalive’s partner PressOne.ro has revealed.
This group, based primarily in Iași, Romania, forms the local branch of an international Marxist-Leninist network called “Workers’ Paradigm,” which traces its origins to Russia.
Led by figures like Șahban Mammaev, a Russian student with ties to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – a party openly supportive of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and his Moldovan protégé Pavel Buranov/Filipenco, the network actively recruits young students to build a future communist party aimed at seizing power.
The group’s internal dynamics, however, resemble a cult, with leaders enforcing strict ideological conformity and punishing dissent through public shaming and insults.
The “Scientific Communism” collective, which doubles as a Marxist study circle, is driven by a mission to “purify Marxist science” from what they see as ideological distortions, particularly those promoted by Western-influenced leftist movements.
Their social media content – spanning Instagram, Telegram, and YouTube – features provocative titles like “Intersectionalism: An Anti-Communist Theory,” “Communism Is Not Leftist,” and “The Uncomfortable Truth About the Woke Movement.” These posts dismiss issues like minority rights, climate change, women’s rights, and the Gaza conflict as “petit-bourgeois” distractions that undermine the “true” communist cause.
Instead, the group emphasizes rigorous theoretical training to prepare cadres for a future “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Their rhetoric, led by figures like “Andrei Ursu” (a pseudonym for Răzvan-Andrei C., a medical student in Iași), portrays Romania’s broader leftist scene – groups like the SENS party, Socialist Action Group (GAS), and Workers’ Youth Bloc (BTM) – as collaborators with “transnational capital” and “social-imperialist” forces aligned with the European Union.
The group’s ties to Russia are unmistakable. “Workers’ Paradigm” was founded by Șahban Mammaev in Dagestan, a Russian federal republic, where he received a million-ruble grant from the Russian state in 2023 for a “student startup.”
Mammaev, who edits the movement’s online publication “Marxist Science,” has been photographed with leaders of the Communist Party of Dagestan, a regional branch of the Russian Communist Party, which supports Kremlin narratives like the “denazification” of Ukraine.
Pavel Buranov, a Moldovan programmer now based in Dagestan, serves as a key link between the Russian leadership and the Romanian branch. His involvement with the Communist Party of Dagestan and Moldova’s pro-Russian Civic Congress party, which promotes anti-NATO and anti-Western stances, underscores the group’s alignment with Kremlin interests.
This connection raises concerns about the group’s role in amplifying Russian propaganda in Romania and Moldova, particularly through their tacit support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine and their minimization of atrocities committed by communist regimes.
Internally, “Scientific Communism” operates with a cult-like atmosphere, enforcing strict control over members’ lives. Leaders like Răzvan-Andrei C., Ilie N. (a Moldovan-born engineering student), and Iulian O. (a 23-year-old programmer) demand daily schedules from members, dictating how they spend their time, from studying Marxist texts to avoiding “bourgeois” Western music like rap or pop.
Members are pressured to listen to folk, classical, or “revolutionary” music, with one member instructed to try North Korean songs to curb “individualist” tendencies. Those who deviate – whether by questioning Marxist orthodoxy or relaxing too much – are publicly shamed as “lazy” or worse. Women who challenge the group’s rigid interpretations face misogynistic insults like “university sluts” or “political prostitutes.”
In one disturbing case, a female sociology graduate from Cluj was expelled from the group’s Discord server after questioning their attacks on other leftists. Her subsequent messages about the emotional toll of the group’s bullying were mocked, with leaders dismissing her as “psychotic” and unstable.
The group’s recruitment targets impressionable students, particularly those in technical fields, whom they view as less tainted by the “individualist” tendencies of humanities education.
New members, labelled “supporters,” undergo a rigorous indoctrination process, summarizing Marxist texts and presenting them in online seminars to prove their ideological commitment. This hierarchy – divided into supporters, candidates, and full members – creates a competitive environment where dissent is stifled, and personal sacrifices, like sleeping only five hours a night, are glorified as proof of revolutionary zeal.
The leaders’ obsession with control extends to policing members’ leisure activities and even their emotional responses, arguing that only through the collective can a “true communist personality” emerge.
Despite their claim of ideological neutrality, rejecting support for any “imperialist” state, including Russia and China, the group’s rhetoric often mirrors Kremlin talking points, particularly in downplaying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a mere clash between a “fascist” Ukraine and an “imperialist” Russia.
Their defence of Stalin’s purges and North Korea’s regime, coupled with their dismissal of the Holodomor and other communist-era crimes, reveals a selective reading of history that aligns with Russian propaganda. This stance, combined with their harassment of Romania’s broader leftist community, suggests a deliberate effort to sow division and promote a hardline Marxist-Leninist agenda under the guise of intellectual purity.
PressOne’s investigation, which involved infiltrating the group’s Telegram and Discord channels, exposed these dynamics but faced resistance from the leaders, who objected to the use of private conversations and threatened legal action, citing privacy concerns.
Read the full investigation in Romanian here.
Caption: In 2024, Pavel Buranov (left, circled in red) and Mammaev (bottom center, circled in red) participate in a patriotic work session in Dagestan, along with several members of the Communist Party. Photo source: Telegram channel of the Communist Party of Dagestan
Updated: August 8, 2025 - 06:50
