Schoolchildren at a memorial event for Ayatollah Khamenei, a mandatory history exam, student recruitment into drone forces, advertising the assembly of combat drones for teenagers, and mass screenings of a propaganda film — this is how another week in Russian education unfolded.
📌 Children taken to honor Ayatollah Khamenei
In Astrakhan, members of Yunarmiya were made to take part in a memorial event at the Iranian consulate for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Flowers, candles, and soft toys were laid at his portrait, while walls featured quotes from Putin and texts condemning the United States and Israel. The event was described as “honoring the memory and spiritual legacy” of the Iranian leader.
📌 Mandatory oral history exam
Starting from the 2027–2028 academic year, all ninth-grade students will be required to take a unified oral history exam as a prerequisite for final state exams (OGE). According to Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov, the exam will be held between January and April.
📌 Mass screenings of a propaganda film
School and university students across Russia are being shown the film “Betrayal” by VGTRK propagandist Andrey Medvedev. The Ministry of Education described it as a “socially significant product” with a preventive purpose. The film is based on interviews with people convicted in terrorism, sabotage, and extremism cases and is meant to “warn” teenagers about recruitment by foreign intelligence services.
📌 Teenagers encouraged to assemble combat drones
Alabuga Polytech and the Alabuga Special Economic Zone launched an advertising campaign encouraging underage students to combine their studies with assembling “Shahed” drones. In the videos, 16–17-year-old students talk about working in combat drone production and earning between 150,000 and 350,000 rubles per month.
📌 Recruitment into drone forces through violent imagery
At Voronezh State University of Engineering Technologies, faculty dean Alexey Skrypnikov tried to motivate students to join drone forces by describing alleged atrocities by Ukrainian soldiers. During the meeting, he urged students to imagine “fascists” raping their relatives and shamed the audience for not wanting to go to the front.
