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Independent media outlets and publications in Russia are either shut down, blocked or labeled “foreign agents”. Journalists are threatened with prison time if they write the truth, and many have chosen to leave the country. Even in these dire times, independent journalists continue to write or produce online shows about the war in Ukraine. In the articles selected this week by Veridica, journalists are calling on their peers who sided with the Putin regime to tell the truth. They describe how war is being presented in schools across Russia and argue that information justifying the Russian aggression in Ukraine was introduced in school curricula a few years back.
“Stop the killing, stop the hatred, stop the bloodshed, it’s too much for us and our children to bear.”
NOVAYA GAZETA has published the desperate appeal launched by Natalya Sindeyeva, the director of TV Rain, a television station that was closed when the war started. The message was addressed to journalists Tina Kandelaki, Margarita Simonyan and Maria Zakharova, who support the Kremlin’s actions and showed up to support Putin at the concert celebrating the annexation of Crimea.
“Children are being killed in Ukraine. Infants, toddlers, pre-school and school children. Little boys and girls. Killed by bombs, dying in shelters, dying while trying to hide and save themselves.
In Ukraine, mothers bury their children in small coffins. It’s an image I can’t seem to shake off, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on living with that in mind. As mothers ourselves, what should we tell them? How are we supposed to look them in the eye?
Yes, we are on different sides of the barricade, but today the barricades separate life and death. You stepped onto that stage to “support Russia”. But is that truly what you want? Don’t answer to me, but I beg you, answer to yourselves. Do you want them to die? What if they were your children?
Margo, in your speech at Luzhniki Stadium, you said: “Russia, defend your children!” Yes, Margo, I agree. Russia, defend your children! Don’t send your boys to war, spare my son, spare Tina’s son and Margo’s as well”. […]
Margo, Tina, Masha, I implore you, as a mother – stop. Maria Ovsyannikova spent all these years spreading propaganda, but a time came when the price of her service became life itself. She found the courage and walked in front of the camera with that poster on Pervy Kanal during a live broadcast. It’s the action of a kindhearted person. […]
Stop the killing, stop the hatred, stop the bloodshed, it’s too much to bear for us and our children, and even our grandchildren. We have a life ahead of us, a difficult life, but one worth living. There’s no life after death, and things might be working out for us, because we’re not Ukrainian children. We are lucky, you are lucky. I beg you, as women, as mothers. Margo, Tina, Masha, preserve your humanity and stand up for life. Life is so much harder than death, but it is also brighter and can be wonderful.”
“Children can feel their future being taken away.”
The Insider has published the stories of Russian school teachers.
“On February 28, Russian school teachers were handed out instructions regarding the school curriculum covering the war in Ukraine. It explains the need for the “special operation” against “the fascist state” and provides answers to possible questions from pupils. In school chatrooms, teachers are specifically forbidden from talking to children about the war. Some schools are more permissive, but only for those teachers who are supportive of Putin. The Insider talked to the teachers about the pressure they face at school, about deontology ethics and about children’s reactions to everything that’s happening.
Natalia (who chooses to conceal her real name), an English teacher from Moscow: “[…] Many children learn at home what’s really happening in Ukraine. A boy told me he wants a Ukrainian-language textbook because he cares about this people, and the only thing he can do is learn the language. Another kid asked how something like that was possible, saying that history is filled with examples of terrible wars, so why start another. I teach seven graders, and the children asked to me to tell them how I feel about the war. I told them I cannot speak about it. They are confused – why can’t I tell them what I think? They believe that, as long as people keep quiet, this war will continue. Some children have lost heart. They ask why they should keep coming to school, study foreign languages or world literature if they’re going to live in a fully isolated country. They are already feeling the consequences of this war the hard way. They are blocked on online gaming sites. They feel something is happening right now that can deprive them of the future they want for themselves”.
[…]
Cristina, a biology teacher from Moscow: “[…] During our staff meetings, we naturally talk about current affairs. Many children say teachers occasionally let slide their personal opinions during class. As part of our educational process, we should not tolerate such attitudes. Children’s emotional health is still fragile, they don’t have informed opinions yet, which is why they assimilate any information they are being fed. […] I know teachers openly express their political views. Some support the actions of the Russian army, while others are critical of them. Some read out to the children the instructions they are given, other choose to ignore them. I believe teachers should keep their political views private.
[…]
Right now, children are active users on social media, and the flow of information on Instagram and TikTok is more powerful than any memo sent by the powers that be. We should not forget their families, where these developments are debated. Many of my pupils are self-conscious citizens. They can draw logical conclusions from everything that’s happening. They are capable of critical thinking, and I hope that, if we fail, at least they will be able to make Russia a happier place […]”
Let it be war!
Agents reports what Russian authorities are telling children about the invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia’s leadership has long prepared its citizens for the military aggression. While the adult population was influenced with the help of televised propaganda, children were indoctrinated in schools. In the last 10 years, the authorities have revised history textbooks – contrary to academic tradition. Right now, textbooks focus increasingly on the achievements of incumbent president, Vladimir Putin, on criticism targeting the enemies of Russia and on attacks against “nationalists” in Ukraine. Conversely, textbooks provide little information about repression and the authorities’ wrongdoings.
At the end of February, Russia and Ukraine started negotiations, and the structure of the Russian delegation might seem odd at first sight. Whereas the Ukrainian delegation comprises the defense minister and the leader of the ruling party, the Russian delegation is led by Vladimir Medinsky, the Kremlin’s top cultural adviser. To a certain degree, this is uncanny, since Medinsky himself is indirectly responsible for the war in neighboring Ukraine. Medinsky authored one of the five history textbooks that are used to teach children about the situation in Ukraine, using all the arguments of official rhetoric to justify the war. The textbooks also deal with other chapters of Russian history, in a light that favors the Kremlin”.
From Stalinism to Putinism
[…] The publication identified 18 excerpts where Putin and his policies are praised directly in the textbook written by Torkunov and brought out by Prosveschenie.
A whole chapter is devoted to the new missile systems and nuclear warheads. What is particularly striking is the end remark: “All these types of state-of-the-art military technology have undone the efforts of the USA and NATO to tip the military and strategic balance in their favor”. According to state-endorsed propaganda, the authors claim the USA tends to become the leader of a unipolar world, overstepping the boundaries of the UN under the banner of “democratization”, in order to solve international problems with force” […]
And the USA is not the only enemy painted by history textbooks.
“Ukrainian nationalists”
Referring to the period prior to the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the authors of history textbooks employ the terminology familiar to everyone following the official news about the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Therefore, at the end of the 1930s, the Red Army “liberated” Ukraine from the Polish yoke.
Describing the events in Ukraine in recent years, the authors use the term “nationalist” on a mandatory basis to refer to authorities in Russia’s neighboring country. Additionally, children are reminded Crimea historically belongs to Russia, which is a novelty. Older textbooks made no mention of Khrushchev’s transfer of Crimea to Russia. Now, this chapter is being presented in full detail. The authors also minutely explain why the recapturing of Crimea was paramount. First of all, Ukraine was not investing anything in the peninsula, and relations between Kyiv and Crimea were tense. Secondly, the majority of the inhabitants of Crimea “remained part of the Russian world in cultural, linguistic and psychological terms”. “Crimea’s reunification with Russia” takes up a few pages in every history textbook. The authors start with “the 2014 coup” and the swearing-in of “militants of nationalist groups that seek EU and NATO membership”. The authors claim the new regime disgruntled the people of Crimea, and the population of Donetsk and Luhansk, who started staging protests that Ukrainian authorities tried to quell with force.
When war broke out in Ukraine, teachers from a number of schools were ordered to attend a videoconference hosted by Margarita Simonyan [the editor-in-chief of Russia Today], who taught teachers how to use politically correct language when talking to children about the war. To name just an example, when someone refers to the “special operation” using the term “war”, this is the work of CIA, which is actually behind misleading information. So now, this is how this important piece of information will be taught to school children.”
