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Russian MP Calls English Lessons “Creeping Subordination to the West”
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A Russian lawmaker has described foreign-language education in schools as a threat to national sovereignty, arguing that widespread English instruction exposes children to Western cultural and geopolitical influence, The Moscow Times reported on November 6.
State Duma Defense Committee member Alexey Zhuravlev made the remarks during a talk show on Russia’s NTV television channel.
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The Kremlin explicitly tied the Russian language to its broader soft-power strategy abroad. Russia’s National Security Strategy through 2030 identifies expanding the international role of Russian as a foreign-policy objective, while state funding for promoting the language overseas rose from about €5 million ($5.5 million) in 2024 to €18 million ($20 million) in 2025.
“The question is that this is a creeping subordination to the West, where this kind of soft power is instilled in you. Like, ‘here you go, look, English,’” Zhuravlev stated.
He added that Russian speakers are treated as inferior while knowledge of English is presented as a marker of status.
Zhuravlev also claimed that before sanctions were imposed, he traveled extensively across Europe and deliberately refused to speak English.
“I spoke Russian with everyone, and everyone understood me,” he stated, according to The Moscow Times.
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The remarks come after the Russian government reduced the number of foreign-language lessons in schools. Fifth-grade students now receive two hours of foreign-language instruction per week instead of three, with the same rule due to apply to sixth- and seventh-grade students from the 2027–2028 school year.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, lawmakers have repeatedly called for English-language education to be reduced or removed from schools in favor of labor classes, physical education, and basic military training, The Moscow Times reported.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin previously described English as a “dead language.”
Russia has increasingly tied language education to broader ideological instruction in schools and universities. In June, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education made Russian language compulsory for all university students alongside history, philosophy, and “Foundations of Russian Statehood,” a course intended to promote patriotism, civic responsibility, and the concept of Russia as a distinct “state-civilization.”
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