Questions about war in Ukraine added to history exam for 11th graders in Russia

The demo version of the Russian Unified State Exam in History for 2025 includes questions about the war in Ukraine and occupied territories. Specifically, students are expected to know the name of the commander of the Sparta Battalion, a unit of the Russian Armed Forces that has been engaged in the war against Ukraine since 2014.

Source: Russian online news outlet Verstka, citing drafts of new exam variants released by Russia's Federal Institute for Pedagogical Measurement

Details: One of the tasks requires students to match geographical locations with historical events and dates. In particular, 11th graders are expected to identify that "the city of Kherson became part of the Russian Federation during the SVO in the 2020s." ["SVO," or "special military operation," is the term used by Russian propagandists to describe the war against Ukraine – ed.]

In a question requiring students to match historical events with their participants, Vladimir Zhoga, the commander of the Sparta Battalion in the Russian-backed "Donetsk People's Republic" terrorist organisation who was killed in the war in March 2022, is included on the list. Students are expected to link his name with the war against Ukraine.

Questions about the war in Ukraine and annexed territories first appeared in the Russian Unified State History Exam in 2023. One of the questions required students to place in chronological order the signing of "agreements on the acceptance of the DPR, LPR, [Russian-backed ‘Donetsk/Luhansk People's Republic’ terrorist organisations] Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts into Russia", the launch of the world's first nuclear power plant, and Magellan expedition.

Another task requires 11th-graders to relate the 1242 Battle on the Ice, the ongoing war against Ukraine, the 1709 Battle of Poltava and the 1941 Battle of Moscow to the participants in these events.

Background: Beginning with the new school year, the Russians plan to increase the number of so-called "Cossacks" involved in the "education process" in schools in Ukraine's temporarily-occupied territory. [The so-called "Cossacks" are employees of the private security organisation Kazachya Sotnya ("Cossack Company") in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, which consists of "registered Cossacks" of the "Central Cossack Army", and former employees of security and law enforcement agencies – ed.].

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