War and occupation of Ukraine: Russia starts rewriting history textbook

Friday, 23 December 2022, 13:15

The Russian Ministry of Education plans to rewrite history textbooks for schools in early 2023.

Source: Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, citing Sergei Kravtsov, the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation

Details: According to Kravtsov, work on the textbook will be overseen by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to the president and chairman of the Russian Military History Society.

Quote from Kravtsov: "I know that Vladimir Rostislavovich [Medinsky] is actively communicating with the current authors and an agreement has been reached on the creation of a single textbook on general history and a single textbook on the history of Russia. I think we will have some first drafts of the textbook by late January or early February."

Details: According to Kravtsov, the Russian history books will cover the so-called "special military operation" (as the war in Ukraine is called in Russia), the so-called "accession to Russia" of the Donetsk and Luhansk "people’s republics", the occupation of part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts in 2022, and the sanctions imposed on Russia after its attack on Ukraine.

Kravtsov noted that the work on the new textbook will take about a year, and the copyright will belong to the state.

The textbooks will be the same for all schools, but there will be different versions for basic and advanced levels. The minister added that the textbooks will be based on existing books, but will cover "all modern events".

Background:

The Russian Education Ministry has approved a school curriculum that includes a course about the war in Ukraine, as well as training on how to use Kalashnikov assault rifles and throw hand grenades.
In April, the media reported that employees at Prosveshcheniye (Enlightenment), one of the oldest Russian educational publishers, had been forced to delete all mentions of Ukraine or Kyiv from their textbooks.

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