The School Bell That Rings for War

On 1 September, known in Russia as Knowledge Day, thousands of schoolchildren were once again welcomed back with the ringing of the symbolic first bell, marking the beginning of new school year. However, this school bell does not toll for knowledge or peace. Instead, it symbolizes how Russia has transformed schools into factories of transmitting state-sponsored propaganda to younger generations.

In 2024, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed ‘serious concern’ about the interference of the ruling party in the educational process. That included glorification of the participants in the armed conflict in Ukraine [or the so-called ‘Special Military Operation’]; as well as the widespread and systematic state propaganda in schools with the introduction of a new history textbook, a mandatory school subject “Conversation about important things” and a training manual for teachers that convey the government’s position on the Russia-Ukraine war.  The Russian side in its reply declared the Committee’s concerns as being rooted in a neglect of the “cultural peculiarities as well as traditional spiritual and moral values enshrined in the Russian legislation,” and has  since only intensified its authoritarian grip on education. According to the Russian independent journalistic project ‘Agentstvo’ investigation, during the 2024-2025 academic year, approximately 12% of all academic hours (about 1,300 out of 11,000) included pure propaganda elements promoting the government-backed view on the war against Ukraine and increased military training.

In this blog, I explain how Russia is strategically weaponizing the educational system to raise a militarized generation of subjects that accepts and embraces the normalcy of war. It seeks to achieve this goal, inter alia, through military training and involvement of children in the production of combat equipment; obligating teachers to teach state-mandated falsification of history; and forcing cultural assimilation of Ukrainians living in occupied territories.

Putting children’s education in the service of war

In 2023 I already raised concern that abolishing the requirement for parental consent to involve children in labor activities during the learning process may pave the way to engaging children in war-supporting activities. This appeared justified, as since then the NGO ‘CCE Almenda’ which documents Russian crimes against children has verified cases in Russia-occupied Crimea about children’s involvement in preparing parts for drones, other Russian weapons, and sewing clothes for Russian soldiers.

An Insider investigation further revealed that hundreds of thousands of Russian schoolkids are helping to build drones that attack Ukrainians on a regular basis. These programs are operated by a network of government-backed organizations related to the Russian Ministry of Defense that masquerade as educational clubs.  Some of the children’s projects were reportedly adapted for combat use. Children were reportedly forbidden to disclose the intended nature of the projects, while being aware that their inventions can be used in the war against Ukraine.

This militarization of school children is now firmly embedded in the curriculum. Since September 2024, the subject “Fundamentals of Life Safety” has been replaced with “Fundamentals of Security and Defence of the Homeland,” which involves increased military training and teaches how to manufacture and operate drones. In 2025, the UK’s Defence Intelligence further revealed that Russia is actively integrating unmanned aerial systems training into its national education system as part of a broader effort to instil a military ethos within Russian society. It has reportedly trained more than 2,500 teachers, run courses in over 500 schools and equipped 30 colleges with hands-on practice hubs.

Recent footage from the Yelabuga production plant in the Tatarstan region further confirmed the use of minors in producing lethal drones. Teens as young as 14 are invited to study and work at the factory as well as recruited through science camps and competitions to develop and teach drone technology, raising concerns over child labour in military manufacturing. RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has also collected credible testimonies that children were reportedly forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health, in clear violation of ILO standards on child labour.

Involving minors in the production of weapons as well as introducing combat training into the regular curriculum also violates Russia’s obligations under international law. Article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits economic exploitation of children, including by performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. The inclusion of combat drone training into the regular school curriculum and extracurricular activities is also in tension with Article 29 CRC. This mandates education “to be directed to the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; as well as preparation for a responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance… [].. and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin.”

Propaganda as a teaching obligation

Since 2024, according to the Federal Law on Education, all teaching staff is obligated to carry out their activities based on ‘traditional Russian spiritual and moral values’. In addition, any pedagogical activity in Russia must not only provide factual knowledge but also cultivate a sense of patriotism as well as ‘respect for the memory of the Russia’s defenders’ within students. The teacher interviewed by Novaya Gazeta noted that the new amendments are aimed at transforming her subject [literature] into a propaganda tool, just like in the Soviet times. The only difference is that the ideology of communism is substituted with an ideology of “traditional values”, military patriotism and overall militarism. These observations echo the CRC’s concerns regarding the politization and militarization of Russian education. According to OVD-Info, teachers who refuse to promote the government’s militaristic agenda become the subject of harassment and state-sponsored persecutions.

Militarized education as part of historical falsification

The Kremlin has also continued its use of historical education as a tool of indoctrination as well as its falsification of history to justify its war against Ukraine. It is telling, in this regard, that the 2024 Decree establishing ‘Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Historical Education” was the first one to be signed by Putin after re-election as president. The Decree reiterates that government-prescribed understanding of the ‘past and present of Russia’ is one of the foundations of the ‘all-Russian civil identity’. It also highlights the importance of ‘countering attempts to belittle the feat of the people in defending the Fatherland.’ This appears to target both the memory of the Second World War, whose exclusively heroic and positive framing is protected by criminal and administrative law sanctions, as well as criticism against the current Russian war against Ukraine, which can also lead to both criminal or administrative sanctions. For example, stating that the Soviet army committed war crimes during the Second World War can be labelled as ‘rehabilitation of Nazism.’ Similarly, citing Russia’s responsibility for the Bucha massacre during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine can lead to 8-years of imprisonment for ‘spreading false information about the Russian Army’.

Putin also declared 2025 the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, linking it to the 80-year anniversary of the victory over Nazism in the Second World War. However, the purpose of the celebration also includes “recognizing the feat of the participants in the special military operation” [the war against Ukraine]. This narrative was also reinforced in the thematic lesson dedicated to the ‘Defenders of the Fatherland’ during the ‘Conversation about the Important Things’ which are mandatory for all educational institutions (covering both pre-school and school education since 2025) in Russia and the territories it currently controls. The teachers were mandated to organize the viewing and discussion of a video interview with a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and a participant in the current war against Ukraine who is officially referred to as the modern ‘Hero of the Russian Federation.’ This drew convenient parallels between the two events, in light of Russia’s purported ‘denazification’ of Ukraine.

On 23 January 2025, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Russia’s ‘systematic falsification of history’ and the use of ‘distorted historical arguments’ to manipulate public opinion in Russia in favour of its war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Parliament has also highlighted that those historical lies are used as a wider strategy of destroying Ukraine’s cultural and historical identity, which is widely implemented in schools on Russia-occupied territories.

Forced Cultural Assimilation

Notably, the execution of these policies is not limited to Russia but extends to the occupied parts of Ukraine, which are incorporated into Russia as federal subjects in clear violation of international law. Russia has thereby arbitrarily extended the application of all its legislation, meaning that all measures concerning militarization and indoctrination now apply equally to the occupied regions. Additional legislation seeks to effect cultural assimilation within the occupied territories.  The “State Cultural Policy Strategy until 2030” approved in 2024 explicitly states that integration of the “new federal subjects of the Russian Federation” [meaning Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions] into the Russian cultural and humanitarian space as one of the key priorities for the following years. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission qualifies these actions as a potential violation of the occupying state’s obligations to respect the customs and traditions of the protected persons and cites an especially negative impact on children. The 2024 Strategy on Countering Extremism in Russia directly mentions Ukraine as the source of major and global extremist threat, practically equating identifying yourself as Ukrainian with being an ‘extremist’ and a threat to Russia’s security.

Russian cultural assimilation carries an inherent militarization component, aimed at raising a generation of Ukrainians who not only identify as Russians but are also compelled to see defending Russia’s interests on the battlefield as their ‘civic duty’. Radio Liberty project “Donbass.Realities” reported that senior schoolchildren in local schools are actively involved in the militarized organization Yunarmia or ‘Young Army’ which functions as a de facto training ground for future Russian soldiers and promotes voluntary enlistment. In 2025, Russian sources cited that a former “Yunarmia” member from Russia-occupied Donetsk, who signed a contract with Russian Armed Forces on his 18th Birthday, was killed in battle. The deadly consequences of Russian militarization also manifest in the memorial plaques placed on schools in occupied cities glorifying soldiers killed in the current war against Ukraine. In this way, Russian education policy, developed and directed at the federal level, becomes an effective tool for producing a new generation of Ukrainians loyal to Russia and ready to kill and die for it.

Conclusion

In 2024, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Russia put an end to the politicization and militarization of schools and ensure that its educational policy remains in line with article 29 of the CRC. It was also to cease rewriting school curricula and textbooks to reflect the political and military agenda of the Government. Russia has ignored those recommendations and instead only intensified its efforts to prepare a new generation of Russian citizens for a perpetual war against the external enemy. As listed in the 2024 Counter-Extremist Strategy, today’s primary threat is Ukraine. However, the narrative extends further, identifying a wide range of so-called “unfriendly nations” – including EU and NATO member states –  as endangering Russia’s traditional “spiritual and moral values”.  Young Russians as well as their Ukrainian peers on occupied territories are accordingly being prepared for an existential battle to defend those values. As long as Russian classrooms are continuosly militarized, any lasting peace will remain wishful thinking.

This article was produced as a part of research project 2024/53/N/HS5/00119 supported by the Polish National Science Center. All views expressed are of Author only.