September 18, 2023

From Trenches to Schools


From Trenches to Schools
Russian soldiers wearing Ratnik infantry combat system. Vitaly V.Kuzmin, Wikipedia Commons

A new program is coming to Russian schools: soldiers back from the front lines in Ukraine will now train students in military and defense.

Sergei Kravtsov, Minister of Education, announced the establishment of a professional retraining program for veterans, in which they will become teachers of "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland."

This program will be taught at the State University of Education in Moscow.

In July, the State Duma amended a law "On Education in the Russian Federation." Changes included the rebranding of the subject "life safety" to "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland." This revamped curriculum not only encompasses emergency response, but also incorporates education on the armed forces. The program includes physical fitness training and basic military drills.

The decision to retrain former war veterans into teachers is not an isolated case of militarism permeating Russian schools. Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, significant changes have occurred within the Russian educational system.

One notable addition is the introduction of a mandatory extracurricular activity called "Conversations About Important Matters." There, children are taught about the "special military operation" in Ukraine, patriotism, and traditional values. In 2022, President Vladimir Putin himself conducted the inaugural lesson, discussing the events surrounding Russia's War on Ukraine, calling the 2014 revolution a military coup, and saying that Russia’s role in the war was to resolve the situation in Donbas.

Furthermore, there has been a proliferation of memorials dedicated to the fallen "heroes" of the war in schools across the nation. A national history textbook has been approved that characterizes modern Ukraine as an "ultra-nationalist state."

Teachers who resist engaging in militaristic propaganda face reprisals, and parents have searched for ways to protect their children from propaganda.

You Might Also Like

Too Free for Russia
  • April 03, 2023

Too Free for Russia

The Russian Prosecutor General's office has declared the Free University "undesirable."
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955