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Thursday, April 9, 2026
VOLUME XCIII, ISSUE 9
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Russian designation of Tufts as ‘undesirable’ leaves students, faculty uncertain about travel, rationale
Tensions flare between Medford Mayor and City Council over lawsuits
Julian Glickman
Evan Vezmar
Executive News Editor
Tufts University and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy have been effectively banned by the Russian government due to allegations of “anti-Russian propaganda,” open solidarity with Ukraine and support for the LGBTQ+ community, according to a Tuesday statement from the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation. The university and its graduate school for international affairs were designated as ‘undesirable organizations,’ invoking a 2015 law signed by President Vladimir Putin. The Russian undesirable organizations law allows the government to target foreign groups considered “a threat to the foundation of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the
defense capability of the country or the security of the state.” In a Friday community message, the university said the designation would prevent Tufts and Fletcher from “having any activities or presence in Russia” and discouraged all travel to the country. “We understand that this news may be deeply concerning to some of you. Under the Russian government’s ‘undesirable organizations’ statute, individuals affiliated with an organization that has received this designation may face criminal penalties,” the email read. The Russian government framed the decision, in part, around Tufts’ support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion launched in 2022, which Putin and his government have described as a ‘special military operation.’
According to a WGBH translation of the statement, both Tufts and Fletcher have become “instruments of anti-Russian propaganda” which “undermine public trust in [Russia’s] leadership, law enforcement agencies, and the Russian Armed Forces, and … create conditions conducive to the development of protest sentiments and the radicalization of society.” Additionally, the statement alleges that these institutions push a pro-LGBTQ+ agenda “[i]n order to destroy traditional family and moral values of Russians.” The LGBTQ+ movement was designated as a terrorist organization in Russia in 2023. The statement added that the university and similarly-banned institutions undermined Russian society and its military. see RUSSIA, page 3
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The flag of the Russian Federation is pictured in the Hall of Flags, located in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. 3 NEWS
Rat poison kills local wildlife
Deputy News Editor
At their Feb. 24 meeting, the Medford City Council unanimously passed a resolution to request a comprehensive litigation report from Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn and her administration of all lawsuits the city has been served since 2019. With the city facing one of its most high-profile legal challenges in the form of a federal lawsuit over the ValuesAligned Local Investments Ordinance, the resolution has caused a clash between councilors and the mayor. Sponsored by Council President Zac Bears and Councilors Justin Tseng and George Scarpelli, the resolution notes that the City Council does not receive regular updates about Medford’s litigation. The resolution’s wording argues that the lack of litigation information prevents the council from performing its duties as an authority over where funds are allocated. “It’s my responsibility as City Council president and the responsibility of the City Council to understand what’s going on with the legal and contract liability and exposure from the administration so that we can fix it, preserve the trust of residents and ensure that we aren’t losing out on much-needed revenue for city services,” Bears told the Daily. The resolution also raises concerns about a spike in unfair labor practice charges filed against the city between 2020 and 2024, which increased by 573% compared to the period between 2011 and 2019. The resolution asks the mayor’s office to present a comprehensive report of all lawsuits and
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other legal actions, along with the financial costs of each process, by the end of April. As resolutions are non-binding proposals, Lungo-Koehn is not required to follow the council’s request and she has not yet moved to create the report. However, Bears did not rule out the possibility of more restrictive legal action, such as an ordinance, to acquire the report from the mayor’s office. While Lungo-Koehn did not comment on the specific language of the resolution, she expressed that the mayor’s office had been transparent with litigation history during her tenure. She also primarily attributed the increased number of unfair labor practices to Scarpelli and Steve South, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 25 and the union’s former representative to the city. She accused South of filing over 50 labor grievances in her first term. South did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily. The mayor argued that new conversations with unions have also led to more labor practice lawsuits. “We’ve never had a professional, experienced HR director until the last three years,” Lungo-Koehn said. “It’s been something that our unions are not used to and gradually they are getting used to it. … With that comes grievances.” Council Vice President Emily Lazzaro claimed that Medford’s lack of a city solicitor in recent years has hindered transparent conversations between the City Council and the mayor’s office, in particular because the city structure grants most departmental oversight to the mayor.
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