Press Release, 28.11.2023

Photo: Chairman of the local “Combat Brotherhood” Alexei Ivanov at a lesson in a junior class, in Gymnasium No. 4 / Photo by the Young Army Movement on VKontakte 

Anna Cherepanova, a deputy of the City Duma of Veliky Novgorod from Yabloko and Chair of the regional branch of the party, appealed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novgorod with a request to conduct an inspection of military education lessons in schools, as well as to the Mayor Alexander Rozbaum with a demand to stop training classes with arms for schoolchildren of primary school. Schools in Veliky Novgorod regularly hold fire training classes (shooting a Makarov pistol, assembling and disassembling a Kalashnikov assault rifle). They are conducted by the Youth Army Movement employee and Chairman of the local Combat Brotherhood Alexei Ivanov. The last such lesson took place at Gymnasium No. 4 on 23 November: pupils of class 4 “B” shoot a Makarov pistol.

Anna Cherepanova notes that basic military training lessons have been introduced into the school curriculum for high school students. It is unclear on what basis children of primary and secondary school age are taught to shoot a pistol and disassemble a machine gun.

“Has anyone figured out how this kind of activity can affect the psyche of young children and their attitude towards weapons? What will a child who has learned to shoot do when resolving interpersonal conflicts at school? Are we going to face some new school shooting at the local level? Does teacher Ivanov have the appropriate permission to conduct classes at school? I had several questions at once. I am certain that parents should ask them to the director (of gymnasium No. 4) Yelena Matveyeva and the school teachers. Moreover, Yelena Matveyeva is now a public figure – Deputy Chairman of the Duma of Veliky Novgorod,” Anna Cherepanova comments.

The Yabloko party has repeatedly stated that militarisation of schools transforms the minds of schoolchildren, implanting in them the idea that success in the world of the 21st century is ensured by military force, rather than by modern science and technology, a powerful economy and the quality of human capital. Education focused on preparing children for war and destruction, rather than for life and creation, becomes a source of fear and anxiety, and reduces motivation for both learning and life. A significant part of children worry today about their mobilised fathers and older brothers, about their worried mothers and grandmothers, and about the future of their families. Militarisation of the school will dramatically intensify and exacerbate these anxieties. And “sacralisation of death” – public statements about how to truly and correctly give one’s life for the sake of the state – deprives children of an understanding of the intrinsic value of life and will inevitably cause a rise in the cases of depression, suicide and aggression.

Anna Cherepanova believes that the main thing in this situation is the fact that the political regime has taken up the “education” of children. Through “lessons about the important things” and militarisation of schools, a certain system of values are imposed on the younger generation, based on love for the state and its leader, the exclusivity of Russia and its deep contradictions with the West, creates the image of an enemy from which one must defend. In theory, such narratives should raise citizens loyal to the dictatorship in the future, Cherepanova says.

Anna CHEREPANOVA

is a member of the Federal Bureau of Yabloko,

Chair of the Novgorod regional branch of the party.

Deputy of the Novgorod Duma