Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I runga i te taunakitanga a Ryleev, i noho a Nikitenko ki te whare o, he Decembrist a muri ake nei, nana nei i tuku ki a ia te tiaki i te whakaakoranga o tana teina. I te tau 1825, i uru a Nikitenko ki te Whare Wananga o Imperial Saint-Petersburg. I mawhiti tata ia i te whakawakanga mo te hono atu ki te
Decembrists, engari i taea ki te whakaoti i te akoranga, me te puta ki te tohu o te kaitono i te Tari o History ko Philosophy. I whakawhiwhia a Nikitenko ki tetahi akoranga i te Whare Wananga o Dorpat, engari i whakakahoretia e ia, kaore i pai ki te mahi ki te kirimana tohungatanga 14 tau i muri mai me te whare wananga.