September 07, 2023

Protection From Propaganda: a Back-to-School Essential


Protection From Propaganda: a Back-to-School Essential
Empty chemistry classroom in Russia. Acmii54, Wikimedia Commons.

On September 1, children returned to school in Russia, but not everything was the same.

A recent draft of the 2024 state exam for children had no questions about classic authors like Pushkin, Lermontov, or Gogol. Instead, there were prompts about Alexander Fadeyev's "The Young Guard," a factually inaccurate book about anti-fascist resistance in Ukraine during the Nazi German occupation.

How are parents protecting their children from propaganda? Independent Russian outlet Meduza gathered testimonies from mothers and fathers across Russia.

Parents said they are concerned about "Conversations About Important Issues," a mandatory extracurricular activity conducted in all public schools each Monday after the raising of the Russian flag. There, children are taught about the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Multiple parents have opted out of sending their kids to these activities, which is legal, though frowned upon.

Evgenya from Krasnoyarsk said her sixteen-year-old son "became perpetually ill" to avoid "patriotic activities." Alexandra from Petrozavodsk told her nine-year-old, "If you see a man in military uniform, run! If they try to ask you about Putin or the war, answer, 'I don't know anything. I don't understand what you are talking about.'"

Parents are also worried about history lessons and books in schools. Anastasia from Kolomna opted to teach history at home with YouTube videos. Yara from St. Petersburg began homeschooling her eleven-year-old after the start of the last school year. Alexei from Izhevsk told his seventeen-year-old daughter to focus on passing entry exams for university, giving the answers officials want to hear, but not to incorporate these ideas in her head.

Yet hopelessness seems to be widespread. As Daria from Kirov explained, "No matter how hard you try at home, children will absorb what they are told at school."

According to UNICEF, only a third of students in Ukraine can attend classes in person. On the first day of classes, a video of kids singing with their teachers in a bomb shelter in Kryviy Rih went viral. 

You Might Also Like

Leave or Die
  • August 15, 2023

Leave or Die

In which we visit a "typical" Siberian town and dig into the issues and people who live there.
To Stay and Survive
  • August 15, 2023

To Stay and Survive

A filmmaker Elizaveta spent months riding Russia’s rails and discussing the war with fellow travelers.
A Shortage of Drugs
  • August 23, 2023

A Shortage of Drugs

Nearly 200 medications could vanish from the Russian market due to sanctions and isolation.
  • August 15, 2023

"I Am Horrified"

The founder of Russian tech giant Yandex publicly condemns the War on Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955