By Galina Korol | 2025-05-19

KYIV -- Teaching and state loyalty now go hand in hand in Russia's education system. But not everyone is going along quietly. As the Kremlin deepens its reach into the classroom, some teachers and parents are pushing back, often at personal risk.

The shift began years ago but accelerated sharply with the war in Ukraine. Since September 2022, all Russian schools have been required to begin each week with a class called Important Conversations.

Every Monday morning, it follows the national anthem and flag-raising ceremony and is framed as a patriotic discussion on civic values. In practice, critics say, it delivers a tightly controlled narrative designed to foster loyalty and suppress dissent. To underscore its importance, President Vladimir Putin has personally led some of the sessions.

'Indoctrination with propaganda'

Since 2022, the Kremlin has pursued a deliberate policy of indoctrinating schoolchildren, Oleg Kozlovsky, a Russia researcher for Amnesty International, told Kontur.

The policy at minimum is meant to secure support for government decisions, and at most, to cultivate "future soldiers," he said.

The program also serves "to identify potential dissidents among both pupils and teachers," who are later "either straightened out or punished," he said.

"Putin intends to be around for a long time, that's why he needs a younger generation to be raised in the spirit of patriotism, fear or at least conformity to what's going on," Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told The New York Times.

According to critics, the broader aim is to ensure that the Kremlin's version of events is the only one children hear, regardless of accuracy.

While today's political climate may not amount to a formal ideology, the state promotes a single sanctioned viewpoint that it expects to be disseminated uniformly throughout all levels of society, Olga Kurnosova, a Russian opposition politician and political exile, told Kontur.

'Children are supposed to ... be happy about it'

The Important Conversations class has become inescapable in every school, said Kurnosova.

It is a constant for children in grades 1 to 11.

While the topics discussed can be broad and sometimes unrelated to the war in Ukraine, the real concern lies in the content being delivered.

"The question is what they say in these classes," Kurnosova emphasized. "Naturally, that depends greatly on the school principal."

Kozlovsky, who has reviewed lesson materials, described a clear pattern of state-driven propaganda. "We regularly see blatantly political messages that the state is directing at pupils and is forcing teachers to beat into their heads," he said.

One lesson on Crimea presents the 2014 annexation as a historic homecoming, with no mention of Ukraine or international law. "It talks about returning Crimea to this 'native embrace' without mentioning where it came from.

The word 'Ukraine' is never mentioned," Kozlovsky said. The goal is to normalize the annexation.

"The children are supposed to view this [annexation] as a holiday and be happy about it," he explained.

Shielding children from propaganda

While most Russians seem to accept the Important Conversations classes as inevitable, much like the war itself, some parents are quietly resisting.

Irina, a 39-year-old from a Moscow suburb, told the Times her 11-year-old son avoids the classes thanks to a scheduling loophole: she enrolled him in extra math lessons.

A 43-year-old single mother, Vera, pulled her 16-year-old daughter from school entirely after the principal made attendance at the weekly sessions mandatory.

"I want to protect my child: I want her to grow up in an atmosphere of peace and acceptance, not in the atmosphere of double-think and militarization," she told the Times.

Mila, a 40-year-old mother raising two daughters on her own, expressed concern. Her real name has been concealed to ensure her protection.

"I want my kids to learn different sides of history and that the world is full of wonderful literature, not just, say, [19th-century Russian poet Alexander] Pushkin," she told Kontur. Her daughters are three and five years old; their father, a Ukrainian, returned to his homeland after the war began.

Though her older daughter has attended day care for only two months, Mila worries about what lies ahead. "What I'm most afraid of right now is how the other kids and the adults will react if they find out that my girls are half-Ukrainian. There are kids whose parents are fighting in the war there [on Russia's side]," she said.

Jailed for his daughter's drawing

Amnesty International is aware of Russians who quietly resist state propaganda. But when such cases become public, they often lead to "serious persecution," Kozlovsky said.

One such case involved Aleksey Moskalyov, a single father, and his daughter Masha, who drew a picture showing missiles flying toward a woman and child.

The drawing included two flags: a Ukrainian one labeled "Glory to Ukraine" and a Russian flag with the words "Say no to war."

"The school administration called the police, and the girl and her father were arrested. The authorities interrogated them, using violence against the father," Kozlovsky said. "Ultimately, because they couldn't imprison the girl, they imprisoned her father."

Police arrested Moskalyov in April 2022. He was released from prison last October.

A sham schedule for officials

Some schools find unique ways to resist.

One in Moscow keeps two schedules -- one for officials to see and the actual schedule, which omits propaganda classes, a 47-year-old teacher told the Times. Parents support the workaround.

Some educators quietly encourage families to find ways around the system. "Many teachers [tacitly] advise parents to either choose a school carefully or even to switch their kids to homeschooling," Kurnosova said.

Kozlovsky pointed to the contradictions these pupils face: "Take history as an example. You learn one thing, but at school you have to give another answer. It’s your job to know what to say and whom to say it to."

"This is the reality of life in a country like Russia," he added, where even children must weigh their words. Those resisting, he said, are trying to preserve critical thinking in a system that no longer encourages it.