Russian students will be reading a coursebook that praises Valdimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on their national curriculum when they return to school next month – as the Kremlin seeks to control the historial narrative around its war provided to young people.
The Kremlin is said to have ordered the rapid writing of the coursebooks, which will be aimed at 17-year-olds, with Ukraine’s Western allies seeking to make Moscow a global pariah over the invasion of its neighbour.
Education minister Sergei Kravtsov unveiled the book at a press conference on Monday and said the material aimed to “convey the aims [of the Ukraine offensive] to schoolchildren”.
Trotting out the usual claims that Moscow repeatedly uses to try and justify its actions, namely the false claim that Kyiv’s government is full of “Nazis,” Mr Kravtsov said: “The tasks of demilitarisation and denazification, so that schoolchildren are convinced that this is really the case.
He added that the book has been written in just under five months.
The language used by Mr Kravtsov is similar to that spoken by Vladimir Putin to justify the invasion of February 2022. Mr Putin sees having the support of young people as crucial in the years ahead and is seeking any means to bolster deomestic support for his war.
Mr Kravtsov added that the book will cover Russian history from 1945 to the present day and will be in all schools by 1 September, when the term begins.
Sergei Kravtsov— (AFP via Getty Images)
The book also praises Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, a move condemned by the international community. The book porrays the move as “saving peace” – despite it settomg the stage for the current invasion.
Indeed, the cover of the book is of the Crimean Bridge that is linking Russia with the Crimea which has been attacked several times since the invasion began. Mr Putin sees the bridge as the crown jewel of his infrastructure projects.
The book also denounces Western sanctions imposed since Moscow’s invasion began, describing them as worse than Napoleon, who marched on Russia in 1812.
The Russian equivalent of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) has also been modified since the invasion. Under Mr Kravtsov’s regime, students are now privy to lessons on “what is important” which are designed to instil a sense of patriotism.
This also plays into a wider cracdown on dissent around the invasion, with a number of critics of the war having been handed lengthy prison sentences.
It follows a girl being taken away from her father after she drew a picture in support of Ukraine at school. That broaded into a case against the father.
