"Ukraine Collaborated with Nazis"... Instilling 'Putin's Thoughts' and Patriotism in Russian Children

Students of Suvorov School attending the concert commemorating the 8th anniversary of the Crimean Peninsula annexation held in Kazan, Russia on the 18th (local time). / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] It has been revealed that Russian schools are conducting education supporting the invasion of Ukraine targeting students.

On the 20th (local time), the U.S. Washington Post (WP) reported that special patriotic education justifying the invasion of Ukraine is being conducted in schools across Russia.

According to the report, Sergei Kravtsov, Russia's Minister of Education, announced on the 3rd that more than 5 million children across Russia watched a class called 'Guardians of Peace.' The 'Guardians of Peace' class is one of the government-produced teaching materials broadcast online at schools or provided to teachers in slideshow format for mandatory lessons.

WP obtained and reviewed the lecture content and found that it contained President Putin's revisionist theory justifying the invasion of Ukraine.

The lecture included statements such as "Ukraine has never truly existed as a country and was once a small land called Malorossiya (Little Russia)," and "the current Ukraine was created by the Soviet Union, and regions like Crimea accidentally became part of Ukraine when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991."

It also pointed out that some Ukrainians collaborated with the Nazis during World War II to reflect President Putin's claim vilifying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a Nazi.

WP criticized, "The classroom is another front where President Putin enforces patriotism."

A political propaganda video showing Russian youths wearing tops with the 'Z' symbol while holding the national flag. / Photo by Twitter Capture

Meanwhile, teaching materials from Russian schools obtained by the UK-based private foundation 'Dossier Center,' which tracks the criminal activities of the Russian leadership, only present one-sided claims from the Russian military.

News about the Russian military's attack on residential areas in Kharkiv (Kharkov) is labeled as fake news, and it is propagated that "high-precision Russian weapons only target military facilities and do not attack civilians." It also forces students to believe only official sources such as the Russian Ministry of Defense, President Putin, and state media.

WP reported that students were also mobilized for the 'Spring of Crimea' event commemorating the 8th anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea on the 18th. Igor Kostin, a parent living in Krasnodar near the Black Sea in southern Russia, told WP in an interview that his daughter was only told by the school to "dress warmly and neatly" for the event on the 18th, and "the children were not told what event they were participating in."

He said that at the event, dozens of students marched holding the Russian flag and danced to war songs wearing clothes with the St. George's ribbon, a symbol of patriotism in Russia, with the letter 'Z' engraved on it. The 'Z' is a mark of the Russian military and is also used as a symbol of gunfire or support for the war directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In fact, thousands of posts have been uploaded on Russian social networking services (SNS) showing proof photos of patriotic classes being held or students posing with 'Z' or 'V' gestures.

A teacher at Kizlyar Vocational Education College in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, posted on Instagram showing students watching a video, saying, "There was a public online class held across Russia. About 1,000 students watched a video about the guardians of the world. We are proud of our military and support President Putin."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.