Russia turns schools in occupied Ukraine into propaganda machines, indoctrinating children
Photo: children in occupied territories will study a new Russian propaganda textbook (Getty Images)
Russia is actively turning educational institutions in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into tools of ideological pressure and propaganda. New mandatory subjects are being prepared for students, designed to completely distort history, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
New textbooks and mandatory course
According to the ombudsman, a textbook titled History of Our Region. Donbas and Novorossiya has been approved for students in grades 5–7 in the occupied areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
The main goal of this "educational material" is to impose Russian imperial myths on children and make them believe in Russia’s "historical right" to Ukrainian territories.
Starting September 1, 2026, the course will become mandatory.
"The enemy is acting pragmatically and cynically: if a child hears the same lie from a teacher every day, sees it in a textbook and receives grades for it, over time they may stop perceiving it as a lie," Dmytro Lubinets emphasized.
Stages of erasing identity
According to the human rights commissioner, Russia’s system in the occupied territories operates in three key stages:
- Ideological indoctrination and erasure of memory;
- Militarization of children;
- Turning them into participants in the war against their own homeland.
"The world must see how Russia is waging a war not only for territory, but also for the minds of an entire generation. It is trying to take away their future — the right to know their history, grow up as free people, and live in their own homeland," the ombudsman stressed.
Situation in the occupied territories
It should be recalled that Russian forces have intensified efforts to legitimize their presence in seized Ukrainian territories through administrative and pseudo-election mechanisms.
In particular, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission has already called on Ukrainians in the occupied territories not to participate in the so-called elections. The agency stressed that any attempts by Russia to hold voting are completely illegitimate and that their results will have no legal force.
At the same time, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the abolition of the border zone between the occupied regions of Ukraine, Russian regions and the Crimean Peninsula.
Despite this, available information indicates that Russian security forces are removing border controls with frontline territories only partially.
