The official language of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, the Russian language is spoken by 265,000,000 people worldwide. Russian has been designated one of fifteen critical languages by the United States government, recognized as one of those considered crucial for national security and economic prosperity despite being spoken by too few Americans.

Knowledge of Russian opens doors to more opportunities and a greater variety of career paths. Students with advanced Russian skills go on to work for the federal government, NGOs, and business, among other employment sectors. They may also choose to pursue higher degrees. In the pursuit of these goals, the IU Russian Flagship Program provides a way to boost Russian language skills to the professional level.