Russian kindergarteners, schoolchildren, and students are increasingly being taken on excursions to civil registry offices (ZAGS). During these visits, teenagers are assigned roles of “bride” and “groom,” and mock wedding ceremonies are staged. As noted by Verstka, since the beginning of 2026, schools, colleges, universities, and registry offices themselves have reported such events more than a hundred times.
Educational institutions cite various reasons for these visits: career guidance, “Family Studies” lessons, or the celebration of different occasions. Posts often emphasize that these excursions are meant to promote “family values” and familiarize students with the “importance of family and love.”
“The children visited the reception area, the registration hall, and the archive. Staff explained that a strong family is the foundation of a strong state,” — Kindergarten No. 34 “Raduga”.
During some visits, registry office staff stage “weddings” — children exchange rings and sign a “marriage certificate.” In the village of Turinskaya Sloboda in the Sverdlovsk region, a school even published a video of such a “wedding.” In the Saratov region, two tenth-grade students were similarly “married”.
“The students were able to try on the role of newlyweds in practice… which allowed them to feel the importance and solemnity of the moment,” — School No. 12, Engels.
In recent years, reproductive propaganda targeting children and teenagers has intensified significantly. School communities on VK have turned into platforms for demographic messaging: they regularly promote the “benefits of large families,” discuss benefits for pregnant women, and encourage rejecting abortion and abstaining from sex before marriage. We examined this trend in detail in a joint study.
