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“Country of Victors”: Russian Schools Devote Dozens of Hours to Military Propaganda
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![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
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Russian schools will devote 32 classroom hours in the upcoming academic year to the state-run program “Razgovory o vazhnom” (“Talks About Important Things”), according to a curriculum released by the Ministry of Education’s Institute for the Study of Childhood, Family and Education on August 26. The program includes a series of lessons centered on war, military heroism, and national identity.
A key component is the December lesson “Russia – the Country of Victors,” prepared for the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland. Students will be taught about “heroes of Russia from ancient times to the present” and told that courage and military traditions are “an integral part of Russian identity and cultural code.”
On February 23, Defender of the Fatherland Day, the lesson “A Hero from the Neighboring Yard” will focus on local examples of wartime valor. The program specifies that children should learn that in every region of the country “outstanding, courageous, and hardworking heroes live.”
For Victory Day on May 9, the curriculum features “Songs of War,” dedicated to military music and its role in shaping “a sense of belonging to the nation’s history” and preserving memory of the Second World War.
Additional sessions include “Conscience Within Us” and “Values That Unite Us,” where traditional values are framed as part of the nation’s wartime resilience.
Overall, the curriculum reflects a continued emphasis on instilling wartime narratives, presenting Russia as a “country of victors” whose collective memory and identity are tied closely to military sacrifice and tradition.
Earlier, it was reported that Russia has doubled its 2025 funding for Yunarmiya, a youth movement promoting military training and ideological indoctrination among teenagers—including kindergartners—with a total allocation of US $12.3 million to support military training and patriotic education.
