The new history textbook adopted in Russian schools on Friday teaches that Ukraine has neo-Nazi authorities, that Russia is the victim of a Western economic blockade and that the invasion was a matter of survival.
This is the inclusion in the school curriculum of the war triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which Moscow labels as a “special military operation.”
One of the authors, former culture minister and presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, said it would be “an aberration” not to include in the manual the military campaign that began just over 18 months ago.
For this, the space devoted to other materials was reduced, which provoked criticism from specialists, who believe that the manual does not use historical sources and only repeats the propaganda of the Kremlin (presidency).
Students in the last two years of secondary education (16-18 years old), who started classes today, will have to learn the chapter entitled “Today’s Russia. Special military operation”, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
The manual includes a map of Russia with the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia, which were annexed a year ago, although the Russian military does not fully control them.
The Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea was already annexed in 2014.
The authors accuse the West of promoting “Russophobia” and the outbreak of revolutions in the post-Soviet space in order to bring about the disintegration of the Russian Federation and control over the country’s resources.
The “main ram” of this policy would be Ukraine, where since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an entire generation has been trained to hate Russia and support “neo-Nazi ideas,” according to the local press.
“Ukraine is an ultra-nationalist state” where dissent is persecuted and “everything Russian” is considered hostile, the textbook authors claim.
It is also mentioned that the invasion of Ukraine united the Russians and created a real cult of the heroes of the conflict.
It is also taught that Ukraine uses civilians as “human shields” and that the Russian military has been instructed never to fire on populated areas.
“Draw your own conclusions about Ukraine’s new military tactics,” the authors suggest to students.
For Amnesty International (AI), the new history textbook is “a blatant and unlawful attempt to indoctrinate schools in Russia and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.”
“The book hides the truth,” denounced Anna Wright, AI researcher for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, quoted in a statement from the organization.
Wright said the manual also “distorts the facts about serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed by Russian forces against the Ukrainian people.”
With regard to AI, Russia, as the occupying power of Ukrainian territories, is obliged to comply with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Moscow must “respect, protect and realize the right to education and not violate it by indoctrinating students with propaganda,” he said.
“The indoctrination of children is a cynical attempt to eradicate Ukrainian culture, heritage and identity, and a violation of their right to education,” said Wright.
Source: DN
