Putin Takes His Propaganda to School

 A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, a teacher in Russia by the name of Andrei Shestakov among other teachers received a complication of files and videos to teach to their students aged 14 to 18. These files included videos of Putin, links, and lessons on the war effort and why Russia is fighting the war in Ukraine. Some of the reasons for the invasion of Ukraine according to Russia include: the West is waging information warfare to try and turn public opinion against Russian rulers, the West is destroying the traditional family and trying to impose their views on Russia causing a cultural war, and since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been conducting anti-Russian policy. Shestakov refused to teach the false information to his students, instead he told his students the truth about the history of Ukraine and how he disagreed with the invasion of Ukraine. The files that were circulated to teachers across Russia were stamped with the official emblem of the Russian ministry of education, showing that teachers all over the region were receiving this information and being tasked with the decision to teach this information or to tell their students the truth. Schools in Russia have uploaded pictures of students supporting the soldiers in Ukraine to the school social media accountants, furthering Putin's propaganda. 

Putin has no bounds or limitations, and his latest attack on his own people and Ukraine fully emphasizes my point. Using the education system to feed lies to the youth and other members of the Russian society goes against the fundamentals of democracy or any well functioning government. This effort also shows how far propaganda efforts can extend. Putin's decision to target children shows how evil he truly is and that he has no regard for other humans, this is even before we get into the moral and ethical violations of the Ukraine invasion. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-teacher-rejected-kremlin-propaganda-then-paid-price-2022-04-18/