September 07, 2023

Protection From Propaganda: a Back-to-School Essential


Protection From Propaganda: a Back-to-School Essential
Empty chemistry classroom in Russia. Acmii54, Wikimedia Commons.

On September 1, children returned to school in Russia, but not everything was the same.

A recent draft of the 2024 state exam for children had no questions about classic authors like Pushkin, Lermontov, or Gogol. Instead, there were prompts about Alexander Fadeyev's "The Young Guard," a factually inaccurate book about anti-fascist resistance in Ukraine during the Nazi German occupation.

How are parents protecting their children from propaganda? Independent Russian outlet Meduza gathered testimonies from mothers and fathers across Russia.

Parents said they are concerned about "Conversations About Important Issues," a mandatory extracurricular activity conducted in all public schools each Monday after the raising of the Russian flag. There, children are taught about the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Multiple parents have opted out of sending their kids to these activities, which is legal, though frowned upon.

Evgenya from Krasnoyarsk said her sixteen-year-old son "became perpetually ill" to avoid "patriotic activities." Alexandra from Petrozavodsk told her nine-year-old, "If you see a man in military uniform, run! If they try to ask you about Putin or the war, answer, 'I don't know anything. I don't understand what you are talking about.'"

Parents are also worried about history lessons and books in schools. Anastasia from Kolomna opted to teach history at home with YouTube videos. Yara from St. Petersburg began homeschooling her eleven-year-old after the start of the last school year. Alexei from Izhevsk told his seventeen-year-old daughter to focus on passing entry exams for university, giving the answers officials want to hear, but not to incorporate these ideas in her head.

Yet hopelessness seems to be widespread. As Daria from Kirov explained, "No matter how hard you try at home, children will absorb what they are told at school."

According to UNICEF, only a third of students in Ukraine can attend classes in person. On the first day of classes, a video of kids singing with their teachers in a bomb shelter in Kryviy Rih went viral. 

You Might Also Like

Leave or Die
  • August 15, 2023

Leave or Die

In which we visit a "typical" Siberian town and dig into the issues and people who live there.
To Stay and Survive
  • August 15, 2023

To Stay and Survive

A filmmaker Elizaveta spent months riding Russia’s rails and discussing the war with fellow travelers.
A Shortage of Drugs
  • August 23, 2023

A Shortage of Drugs

Nearly 200 medications could vanish from the Russian market due to sanctions and isolation.
  • August 15, 2023

"I Am Horrified"

The founder of Russian tech giant Yandex publicly condemns the War on Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

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