It has been one week since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Kremlin is trying to highlight its versions of military operations in Ukraine.
To promote Kremlin’s version, the officials have warned and asked the media and schools to use ‘special military operation’ to describe the Russian assault on Ukraine instead of ‘invasion’ or ‘war’.
As a result of its aggression in Ukraine, Moscow faces an anti-war movement in the home. So far, nearly 7000 people have been arrested since the beginning of the invasion on 24 February.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet censor Board, has issued a statement warning media not to refer to the ongoing military campaign in Ukraine as an “invasion”, “attack”, or “declaration of war”. If a media website does so, the offending media website will be blocked.
Special Classes in Schools
Schools across Russia have hosted special social studies classes on war since Tuesday. In these classes, the teachers are expected to tell the official government’s position on history and what the Kremlin deems the ‘special operation’ to school children between 7th and 11th standards.
The lessons are given according to manuals distributed through the school system in Russia. These manuals contain the approved version of the events.
MediaZona, an independent Russian media outlet, published the contents of one such manual. The contents read that the nation of Ukraine did not exist until the 20th century. In 2014, Ukraine suffered a bloody coup that installed an American puppet regime.
It further read that the People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine rioted against it. They were subjected to “genocide” for eight years, and now Russia is preventing this by a ‘special peacekeeping operation’ in the region.
The manual also mentioned NATO and how The united states have always ignored Russian security concerns as another reason for operation in Ukraine. It has discussed the danger of developing nuclear weapons in Ukraine under the anti-Russia regime.
A school teacher informed that they have no other option except to follow the curriculum and provide the evidence that they are doing so.
Letters to the parents
Other than this, parents have received letters from schools to keep an eye on their child’s consumption of social media like tik-tok that encourage the use of hashtags like “no to war” and can change their focus to “unsafe” protest.
They will be exposed to other wrong things like “suicide flash mobs, detailed instructions on gender-reassignment, and promotion of same sex relationships.”
In recent years, promoting military and patriotic education to the youth has been a priority in Russia.
A uniformed “Youth Army” was formed in 2015. Hundreds of thousands of children were taught using weapons and were filled with patriotic values.
Edited By: Kiran Maharana
Published By: Shramana Sengupta
