Justification of the war in Ukraine, techniques of the Soviet army… what is contained in the new school textbook published in Russia ?

Since Monday, January 27, 2025, a new school textbook telling the story of the war in Ukraine is available in Russia. Find out what it contains.

Since February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin and his men have been conducting a “special military operation” on Ukrainian soil. What was supposed to be a formality for the Kremlin master turned out to be much longer and more complex. However, information management within the country is essential: Russian propaganda is instilled from a very young age.

A “necessary” war

A new school textbook has been available in Russia since Monday. It is called “Military History of Russia”, consists of three volumes and is intended for all children aged 15 and over, says Reuters.

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In these pages, we find Russia's justification for going to war with Volodymyr Zelensky's country. This ongoing battle would be “existential”, “necessary”, and “inevitable” “against a decadent West that is trying to weaken and dismember Russia”, the news agency emphasizes.

According to what is written in a chapter titled “Professionalism, Indomitability and Courage: Russian Troops in the Special Military Operation”, Russia has been “forced” to send its troops to Ukraine in 2022. Russian soldiers are glorified, carrying out heroic acts and sometimes resorting to “techniques used by the Soviet army during World War II”.

Assistant to the master of the Kremlin, Vladimir Medinsky edited the book. “The most important task was to explain to the younger generation, to schoolchildren, the forced nature of the special military operation conducted by the Russian Federation,”, Ivan Basik, a military historian affiliated with the Russian military, said at a TASS (Russian News Agency) press conference.

From the side of Ukraine and its allies, the war waged by Russia is “brutal” and is aimed only at “gaining territory”. For the Ukrainian leadership, the school book is considered propaganda.