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Putin Uses Orcas “Tearing Bears Apart” to Explain Russia’s War Against Ukraine to Children
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin drew a parallel between Russia’s war against Ukraine and the behavior of animals in the wild, telling educators that children should learn about predators and food chains to understand “what kind of world we live in” and why Russia is waging its war.
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Putin made the remarks during a meeting with students and teachers at Moscow State Pedagogical University on August 29.
The exchange began after Putin spoke with Dmitry Balanchukov, a Chinese-language teacher from Russia’s Belgorod region who had traveled to the North Pole. Putin asked whether he had seen polar bears before turning the conversation to orcas.
“There are orcas living nearby. They eat these bears like small fish. Yes, they simply attack in a pack—boom! —and tear them apart. It’s all very interesting. That’s the food chain,” Putin said.
He then connected the example directly to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Children should also be told about this so that they understand what kind of world we live in and why we are conducting the special military operation ,” Putin said.
During the same discussion, Putin also referred to Jack London and described practices among some northern Indigenous communities in which, according to his account, elderly people who could no longer travel with the group were left behind for wolves.
“Yes, it all looks rather harsh, but that is their life,” Putin said.
Putin’s claim that orcas prey on polar bears is not supported by documented observations of the animals’ diets. While both species occupy parts of the Arctic ecosystem and their ranges can overlap, there are no confirmed cases of orcas hunting and eating polar bears.
Russia continues its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022. Moscow officially describes the invasion as a “special military operation,” while Russian authorities have increasingly incorporated narratives supporting the war into schools and other educational institutions.
Putin’s comments also follow remarks by Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy, who called for strikes on Ukrainian cities aimed at demoralizing civilians. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the comments amounted to public calls for war crimes and argued they warranted scrutiny by the International Criminal Court.
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