Press Release, 11.05.2022

Photo by wikimapia.org

An inspection conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of St.Petersburg and the district administration after an appeal by Boris Vishnevsky, MP of the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg and Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, established that violations of the law on information had taken place in School No. 321. The inspectors found that fourth grade pupils (children about 9 – 10 years of age) were shown a video with scenes of violence from Nikita Mikhalkov’s Besogon TV programme about “Nazism in Ukraine” during the “Feeling of the Motherland” lesson. Previously, the administration of the educational institution claimed that 18+ content had been cut from the film to be shown to pupils in the classroom.

“Even many of the adults are unable to properly understand what is happening now during the “special operation”, so what about the children, who cannot yet distinguish truth from lies, and are accustomed to trust adults and unconditionally take their word for it. It is categorically unacceptable to show them anything that incites enmity and hatred towards other peoples. Not only is this illegal, it is ethically unacceptable,” Vishnevsky wrote in his appeal.

According to Boris Vishnevsky, the demonstration of such a film to schoolchildren directly violated the federal law “On Education” and the rights guaranteed by the Russian Constitution.

“Contrary to the assertion of the school authorities that the scenes of violence were allegedly cut out, it turned out that they were there. I hope that this will not happen again either in School No 321 or other schools, and that children will no longer be “fed” with state propaganda, and moreover the misanthropic one,” Boris Vishnevsky commented on the situation.

It should be noted that on 29 April, the Children’s Ombudsperson Anna Mityanina, in response to Vishnevsky’s appeal, said that, based on the results of the check, the teacher conducting the lesson and the deputy director allowing it to be held had been reprimanded.

According to one of the parents, Valery Shaposhnikov, his daughter returned from school “in tears”, the cruel scenes from the film upset and frightened her and other children very much. After that, Valery Shaposhnikov turned to Boris Vishnevsky with a request to intervene in the situation when cruel videos of state propaganda were demonstrated to schoolchildren.

BORIS VISHNEVSKY

is Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party, member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee and Bureau, and an MP of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg