From September 1, a textbook with a section on the war in Ukraine will appear in Russia

A new history textbook with a section on the Russian military invasion of Ukraine may appear in Russian schools from September 1, 2023. This was announced by the head of the Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov.

According to the official, the textbook for senior classes is being developed, and it will probably go to schools next academic year. Kravtsov noted that the section on the goals and objectives of the “special military operation” – that’s how the Russian authorities call the aggression against Ukraine – is already prescribed in the school history course. The minister asserts that the causes of war, according to the position of the Russian authorities, will be explained in more detail in the new textbook.

In December, Kravtsov announced that the working group on the development of a new textbook would be headed by presidential aide and former minister of culture Vladimir Medinsky.

Andrey Turchak, Secretary of the General Council of “United Russia” and a member of the Federation Council, previously stated that Russia would publish a “proper history textbook” in which there would be chapters on the war in Ukraine. Turchak did not explain what exactly the chapters on the war will be about, he only mentioned some “feats” of the Russian military. Representatives of the Russian Military Historical Society stated that in the new textbook “students will be presented with the heroic exploits of our ancestors starting from Ancient Rus and up to a special military operation.”

In December 2022, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said that the emergence of new school textbooks on history and social studies is “a matter of national importance.” Later, he argued that Russian youth had come under a “barrage of information attacks” and that they needed to be supported in the form of “reliable knowledge”.

A full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. The Russian authorities call the aggression against Ukraine a “special military operation”. The authorities of Ukraine and international observers have repeatedly declared mass war crimes committed by the Russian military in Buch, Irpen, Izyume, Kherson and in the Kharkiv region. The Russian side denies these charges. In addition, Russian shelling of critical infrastructure in Ukraine, as a result of which civilians suffer, are considered war crimes. In the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the shelling of civilian objects was explained by the fact that they “help kill Russians.”