Russian schools welcome children back with soldiers and war propaganda
On 1 September, people with criminal records and controversial pasts were among the guests of honour at school assemblies across Russia. They offered pupils advice and words of encouragement, took part in the government-backed ‘Conversations about Important Things’ lessons and sent video greetings to children from the front.
Before the start of the new academic year, Russia’s Ministry of Education urged schools to invite veterans and participants in the ‘special military operation’ — the Kremlin’s term for its war in Ukraine — to their 1 September celebrations. The ministry says Russian servicemen have ‘unique educational potential’, arguing that their knowledge, experience and personal qualities can play an important role in patriotic education, promoting a ‘culture of safety’ and preparing children and young people to ‘defend the Fatherland’.
In Severomorsk, in the Murmansk region, a war veteran, Yegor S.’ attended the ceremonial assembly at a full-day school, according to the regional branch of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation. He told pupils they should ‘always be proud of their country’.
At School No. 14 in nearby Monchegorsk, the guest of honour was veteran from the war against Ukraine, Pavel Ryabkov. He urged pupils ‘to be worthy citizens of Russia, to preserve historical memory and to strive for knowledge’.
According to the Ukrainian website Myrotvorets, Ryabkov served in the Russian army under contract as a driver and tyre-repair specialist. He was captured near Kharkiv on the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, 24 February 2022. He remained a prisoner of war until April, when he was returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange. There is no publicly available information indicating whether he subsequently returned to the front.
Ryabkov has previously appeared at school events linked to the promotion of the war. In March, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation’s VK page published photographs from a school exhibition titled ‘Faces of Heroes’, which featured portraits of Russian participants in the invasion of Ukraine. Ryabkov attended the exhibition and, according to the foundation, spoke to pupils about his ‘memories and experience’.
In the settlement of Oktyabrsky, in Arkhangelsk region’s Ustyansky district, another war veteran was given the honour of ringing the first school bell. The school’s VK page did not identify the guest by name, but a group photograph showed a man in military uniform wearing a medal.
Facial-recognition software was used to identify the serviceman as Nikolai Kozlov, a native of Arkhangelsk region. According to leaked databases, Kozlov was convicted of rape in 2001.
Kozlov was photographed standing beside Sergei Magetov, the prosecutor of Ustyansky district, who also attended the school celebration. Photographs posted on social media suggest Kozlov is a regular presence at school events focused on patriotism and the defence of the homeland.
At School No. 36 in Arkhangelsk, no veterans or serving participants appeared in person. Instead, they sent pupils video messages from the front. The school’s VK page posted five videos featuring armed men wearing balaclavas.
In one, a man with a rifle urged pupils to study Russian and world history so that they could understand ‘why wars begin and why they end, and why ancient Rus was called Kievan Rus’.
‘The greater your store of knowledge, the easier it is to go through life with it,’ he concluded.
One of the most widely circulated videos from 1 September showed Aleksander Klaus, a war participant, speaking at the school assembly at Lyceum No. 11 in Krasnoyarsk.
‘As one politician said, if you want the whole world to speak Russian, study how the Kalashnikov assault rifle works,’ Klaus told the pupils.
The politician Klaus was referring to was almost certainly Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the late leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). In a speech cited by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Zhirinovsky said: ‘There is no need to force children to learn English. Let them study the Kalashnikov instead. Then soon the whole world will speak Russian.’
According to the investigative outlet Agency, Klaus was given a suspended sentence of two years and eight months in 2021 for extorting money from the director of a transport authority, where he worked as a paramedic on a rotational basis.
Klaus demanded 550,000 roubles in return for not releasing photographs from a ‘barbecue’ to the media which, he claimed, could have embarrassed the official. In court, Klaus effectively admitted his guilt and said he had been suffering from depression. He had previously been fined or otherwise sanctioned for minor disorderly conduct.
In Karelia, meanwhile, an officer discharged from the military after being wounded took part in another nationwide school initiative. Nikolai Nazimok personally accompanied the daughter of Yevgeny Parshukov, a soldier who was killed in the war, to her first day of school.
The Karelian Committee of Families of Fatherland Defenders hailed such gestures as an example of effective mentorship, arguing that they ‘help a child overcome shyness and make the occasion truly ceremonial’.
