Russia: Children monitored and indoctrinated in Russian classrooms

Children across Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine are being indoctrinated by propaganda-filled textbooks and lectures set out in a centrally controlled curriculum. At the same time, teachers are being instructed to monitor their students online and report dissenting views to the authorities.

Amnesty International’s new report, “Only Official Sources”: Indoctrination in the Russian Educational System, shows how the authorities are weaponising education to justify Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while suppressing free expression, independent thinking and access to information. This approach violates international human rights standards by denying children the ability to think independently and form their own views.

Since 2023, the Russian Ministry of Education has introduced a single mandatory set of history textbooks and teaching materials which portray Russia akin to a “besieged fortress,” deny or diminish Ukrainian identity and statehood, and present all Soviet and Russian military interventions as necessary or legitimate.

Russia’s attempts to groom an obedient, unquestioning student population are reinforced through coercion, monitoring and profiling. Schools are encouraged to identify students and staff whose views, online activity or associations are seen as disloyal or potentially ‘destructive’ – vague labels that include peaceful opposition and civil society groups. Among them are the late Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, the youth protest movement Vesna and the non-existent “International LGBT movement” – an invented legal construct used to criminalise LGBTI activism, – which have all been criminalised solely for speaking up for human rights.

Even lawful behaviour, such as discussing the war in Ukraine’s negative impact on living standards, can be treated as a red flag. This can result in students being labelled “at risk” – with their views being recorded and referred to school administrations, police or security services.

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“While using schools for political propaganda is not unique to Russia, the intensity and scale of the Kremlin’s efforts to put indoctrination at the centre of the education system are systemic.

“Russian authorities have shown no limit to the lengths they will go to impose their deeply politicised, ideological narrative on the next generation, and to ensure those who do not comply are detected and disciplined. This violates children’s rights to privacy, freedom of expression and association.

“A child’s mind is not the state’s property. Nonetheless, the Russian authorities appear to be treating classrooms as soil to be inspected for the first shoots of civic dissent, so that they can be uprooted before they grow.”

Amnesty is calling on:

1. The Russian authorities to ensure that the school curriculum does not stifle free expression, contain disinformation or undermine respect for human rights. Students and teachers must be given access to a broad range of sources and be able to freely discuss events without fear of reprisal. Authorities must repeal laws and regulations that punish peaceful expression, immediately stop unlawful monitoring and profiling of children and educators, and provide effective remedies and reparation to those affected.
2. The international community to raise these issues with Russian authorities whenever possible, support independent civil society’s work to combat propaganda in education and help those facing persecution, including by providing them visas where necessary.