politics
Russia is teaching its children to fight the wars of the future
Students returning to Russian schools next week will discover a change to their civics courses that puts military training at the heart of the lessons.
TL;DR
- Russian schools are implementing mandatory military training in civics courses for teenagers aged 13 and up.
- The new curriculum includes instruction on various armaments, emergency field medicine, military discipline, national security doctrine, and survival in conflict zones.
- Half of the weekly 'Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland' course will focus on basic military training.
- The initiative is seen as a move towards militarization of schools to shape future army recruits amid the war in Ukraine.
- Battlefield veterans from the war in Ukraine are being deployed in schools and kindergartens to speak to children.
- Russia has revived and modernized Soviet-era youth military games called 'Zarnitsa' with increased participation and funding.
- State-run 'Avangard' military centers and specialized military camps offer additional training for high school students.
- Funding for 'patriotic education' through the national project 'Youth and Children' has significantly increased.
- In occupied Ukrainian territories, education is being revised to teach that the land was always Russian.
- The overall educational system is being reshuffled to normalize war and prepare young people for military service.