Militarization of Russian Education During the Invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

The full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has accelerated the process of ideologization of the Russian education system at all levels. The authorities have introduced a number of solutions into schools and universities aimed at shaping young people in the spirit desired by the Kremlin by instilling in them worldviews consistent with the political line of the Putin regime through propaganda and indoctrination. One of the key components of this new youth policy is the militarization of Russian education and educational activities using a rich set of formal and informal instruments with a paramilitary or openly military tinge. By means of a wide range of “militarized” pedagogical means, the authorities want not only to instill “patriotic” and pro-state attitudes in pupils and students, or to instill in them Kremlin narratives on history and international relations, and support for the aggressive war against Ukraine, but also to provide young people with skills that are valuable from the point of view of the state’s defense and to use them to support the Russian war effort. The author reviews these means, trying to make a synthetic characterization of the process of militarization of the education system. As a result, he distinguishes individual dimensions and levels of the process and identifies its participants.