The russian education system is highly likely becoming increasingly politicized, militarized and ideologically driven, in accordance with the russian state's broader objectives. This continues a trend which has notably increased since russia's illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Russian Verstka media outlet reports the growing prevalence of texts in support of the war, anti-West work, Soviet literature, and patriotic/pro-russian military texts in schools. Verstka also highlights examples of russian authorities ordering references to Ukraine to be removed from textbooks.
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The russian state highly likely seeks to use the education system to develop a more militarized, nationalistic society. The 2024 Youth Strategy spoke of the importance of "increasing the prestige of military service and providing support to young military personnel and their families".
The intent is almost certainly to facilitate both deeper support for russia's illegal war against Ukraine, and greater willingness amongst the young to join a military suffering significant casualties. These efforts also seek to indoctrinate russia's young into a rejection of the legally mandated, and internationally recognized basis for Ukraine's nationhood and sovereignty.
It is likely that the politicization and militarization of russian education, coupled with increasing ideological indoctrination of russian children and young people more broadly, will perpetuate aggressive, expansionist russian nationalism in the longer term.
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