Universities are thirsty for big dollar research initiatives because it helps them boost their international rankings. On top of that, Deans have an inordinate amount of say in the direction their departments go, and with budget models that often incentivize departments to enroll more students and churn out more papers, the money speaks louder than the strategic plan the administrators laid out with no teeth. Administrators get to make the line go up, and Deans get the big ticket items for their departments.

Until there’s a specific government policy prohibiting research activity with certain actors, this behavior will continue.

I understand what you're saying, but I have to respectfully disagree.

Ukraine 2014 was/is much different than a NATO state. At that time, there was no Western/NATO commitment to their defense, the US was still deeply involved in Afghanistan, and Ukraine's military was incredibly disorganized. Speaking personally, I never thought a full-on invasion in 2014 or 2022 was ever out of the question, as there remained the possibility that Russia could achieve its objectives quickly and (relatively) easily.

Comparing Ukraine 2014 to Lithuania 2022, or any NATO state for that matter. is completely different. We're talking about a Russian military hemorrhaging men and material against a smaller neighbor with a patchwork of NATO equipment. I feel very confident in saying that there's zero chance Russia will invade Lithuania because there's zero chance Russia can even pull together the BTG's necessary to hold a public bathroom in a separate theater, let alone mount an invasion. You're also looking at a fully-integrated NATO military that will without question invite a full NATO response. Russia would need a force of at least 150,000 to seriously threaten any of their neighbors, and they simply don't have that force to spare.

Now, are there caveats that could change this calculus? Sure - if you're talking about a 10 or 20 year time horizon, I can't say there's zero chance anymore. I also would expect Russia to employ non-traditional methods to try and fuck around. But, if we're thinking about the next 2-3 years, I feel very confident in saying the chances of a Russian invasion into a NATO state is zero.

Zero chance Russia tries to invade a NATO state. They can't even maintain their front in Ukraine, let alone open a second one. The Russian army will take a decade at least to fully re-arm and re-organize, assuming the war ended tomorrow.