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After a rich past, Russian science experienced a significant crisis in the 1990s that resulted in diminishing resources and a decrease in research activities. Nonetheless, a bibliometric study has shown that there are signs of renewal, mainly at research sites located in the provinces. This article examines this new dynamic and the relations with the old Soviet model. It shows that this heritage plays multiple roles in the new organization of research and conditions the way activities are deployed throughout the territory, serving as a driver of or impediment to research practices. This heritage is also used as a value in recent debates on science. Finally, it persists as a political organizational model. The current particularity of the Russian system as compared to the Western model seems to be rooted in the complex relations that existed under the Soviet model.