Russia: History lessons become a tool for propaganda

2 May 2022: Asia News reported that there has been a proliferation of government projects promoting school education, especially the teaching of history, which is being used to generate patriotism and demonstrate “the moral and cultural superiority of the Russians”.

10 April 2022: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported: “Moscow’s war against neighboring Ukraine is increasingly finding its way into Russian schools, as schoolchildren and preschoolers have been recruited to publicly demonstrate support for the invasion. … The Latin letter Z, which has become the Kremlin’s unofficial symbol of support for the war … has appeared on school doors and windows. Photographs of letters written by students to Russian soldiers in Ukraine dotted social media.”

World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers comments: “The fact that pro-war activities in schools and social media give every appearance of being carefully coordinated, shows how far the Russian government is prepared to go. It is implementing Soviet methods of controlling society and spreading propaganda. It is clear that by using schools to influence pupils the regime is going for a long-term approach. The war in Ukraine might therefore be just a first step in a series of developments affecting Russia and its neighboring countries.”

Rolf Zeegers adds: “The dissemination of government propaganda in schools will of course also affect Christians. It will be as good as impossible for Christian parents to keep their children away from this influence. Expressing any form of opposition to this could have serious consequences.”