‪Drawing on Russian archival documents, the article analyzes Soviet reactions to the opposition politics of students from Somalia, Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria in training in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. Initially, the authorities tolerated the radical politics of Somali students, who had reached the Soviet Union with Soviet assistance and bypassing the government of Somalia. In 1962, however, the Soviet Union repatriated several Guinean oppositionist students to prevent its relations with Sékou Touré’s regime from deteriorating. After the coup against Ghana’s socialist-minded President Kwame Nkrumah in February 1966, ideological imperatives gave way to a more pragmatic approach and the authorities took a neutral position between Nkrumah’s supporters and opponents. During the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), Moscow backed the federal government against secessionist Biafra, but remained neutral in the conflict between Biafra’s supporters and the rest of Nigerian students. The evolution of the Soviet position from indulging leftist oppositionists towards neutrality reflected a growing pragmatism in the Soviet African policy following the ouster of Nikita Khrushchev in October 1964.‪