NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP
Military training in middle and high schools will begin in September 2023. Illustrative photo taken at Patriot park in Moscow, July 24, 2022. (Photo by Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)
RUSSIA – Young Russians will soon be trained in military techniques basic. According to a note published this Sunday, January 29 by the British Ministry of Defence, military education courses will appear in the school curriculum for middle and high school students in Russia. A return to what had been established in 1967 in The soviet unionbefore being canceled 26 years later, in 1993.
first called “Military preparation for combat”, this formation had been discussed for several months in the Kremlin. Proposed last October by the Russian Ministry of Defense, it was then confirmed in November by the Minister of Education, Sergey Kravtsov. Those “last weeks” the Russian government, however, provided “ more deployment details » of this program, according to the note from the British Ministry of Defence.
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Now called “basics of personal safety”, the school module should include training in the handling of assault rifles and the operation of grenades. Drills and military salutes should also be performed by the students, who will also brush up on the basics of using personal protective equipment.
When the project was approved by the Ministry of Education last November, Minister Sergey Kravtsov indicated that this training will begin in September 2023. Classes will take place in classes from fifth to ninth grade, the equivalent of college in France, but also during the 10th and 11th years (our high school), according to the ministry.
Prepare students for “a confrontation with the enemy”
“It will be about sports, team building skills and encouraging patriotism”, Olga Kazakova, the chairwoman of the State Duma’s education committee, told the Russian press in November. Beyond patriotism, Sergei Mironov, the leader of the parliamentary faction that had proposed this measure, “Fair Russia”considers that this course has become relevant with regard to the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of men to go and fight in Ukraine.
“Even many volunteers do not have the necessary experience to participate in combat operations. The introduction of such a subject in schools will make it possible to systematically prepare citizens for a possible confrontation with the enemy”he told the daily Izvestia.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, which bases itself on Russian statements dating from December, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education is also planning a “basic military training” for university students. An initiative which, coupled with that of middle and high school students, reflects a general atmosphere that is increasingly “militarized” in Russia. In the country, the future is definitely not placed under the sign of peace.
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