INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
When Russia introduced patriotism classes in primary and secondary schools last September, Tatyana Chervenko decided she was not going to
market Kremlin propaganda to her eighth-grade students in Moscow.The 49-year-old used a few of the classes to teach mathematics instead
and disregarded talking points pushed by the Kremlin about the conflict raging in Ukraine.Chervenko was encouraged by her concern that
authorities were utilizing Soviet-style tools to cultivate patriotism and militarize society-- simply weeks prior to the Kremlin announced
the very first army call-up because World War II.Her act of demonstration did not go unnoticed.The school administration formally
reprimanded her two times, and in October masked males showed up at her work, bundled her into a police car and detained her for a number of
hours.In December, after resisting mounting pressure from her companies, Chervenko was fired
They wish to produce little soldiers
Some little soldiers will go to war, other little soldiers will make ammo and a 3rd group will establish software to support those efforts,
They are playing a long game
Radical transformationPolitical experts and sociologists say that a person year after Russian President Vladimir Putin purchased troops into
Ukraine, the Kremlin is putting society on a war footing and digging in for a years-long conflict.Putin delivered his New Years Eve address
this year surrounded by uniformed workers, and rallied Russians behind the offensive in Ukraine and conflict with the West.Sociologist
Grigory Yudin said the Kremlin was preparing Russians for a significant, existential war and the education system was being leveraged to
We are talking about a radical, complete improvement of education to activate Russian youth for war, Yudin told AFP
Right now education has 2 functions-- propaganda and fundamental military training
The patriotism classes-- dubbed Important Conversations -- integrate World War II revisionism, lessons on Russian worths and the Kremlins
narrative about Moscows soldiers securing compatriots in Ukraine.Schools have also been ordered to play the nationwide anthem and hoist
the flag at the start of each week.The education ministry is expected in September to present courses in high schools and universities on
managing Kalashnikov attack rifles and grenades, in an echo of Soviet times when these were curriculum staples.Across Russia, schoolchildren
are also being motivated to send letters to Russian soldiers in Ukraine and make camouflage nets and candle lights for the trenches.The
governments sweeping campaign to enhance patriotism within society is targeting grownups, too.Billboards hailing Russian soldiers and the
letter Z-- Moscows sign for the assault-- are universal across the country.Putin has actually ordered cinema screenings of documentaries
devoted to the offensive in Ukraine.And military journalists working for state media have actually acquired celeb status
One was chosen to rest on the Kremlins human rights council.Death cultFor years, Putin used World War II as a rallying cry for his political
agenda, giving the Soviet Unions triumph over Nazi Germany a cult-like status.Now, state tv and the Orthodox Church are building on that
army pride and taking it to new heights
There is a glorification of war and aspects of a death cult, Yudin said.In September-- when Putin contacted hundreds of thousands of
reservists-- the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said during a sermon that passing away in Ukraine washes away all
One of the countrys leading propagandists, Vladimir Solovyov, informed Russians to stop fearing death
Life has actually been significantly exaggerated, he stated on state tv in January
Why fear whats unavoidable? For Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, these advancements
point to Russias sneaking return to totalitarianism
The Kremlins reasoning, Kolesnikov told AFP, is that future generations should obediently execute the will of the state
This is no longer simply an authoritarian state, he cautioned
Sociologists say that the Kremlins patriotic push is winning over numerous Russians, regardless of government plans to slash social costs
and designate an approximated third of the spending plan to defense and security this year.Military method of lifePutin fan Nikolai
Karputkin says he backs the special military operation in Ukraine, the Kremlins main name for the dispute
We are at war with the West, with Western values, which they are trying to impose on us, Karputkin told AFP at a military-themed leisure
Petersburg.The 39-year-old-- who brought his family to the park, where kids and their moms and dads can ride fight tanks and deal with
weapons-- stated he was also in favor of fundamental military training in schools
We have to boost patriotism, he said
We need to defend the traditional values and the sovereignty of our motherland
Yudin, the sociologist, stated Russian authorities would promote military and patriotic belief as long as they considered it necessary
The military lifestyle will last as long as Putin and his team are in the Kremlin, said Yudin
If they stay there for 20 years, then Russia will defend 20 years
