<figure id="attachment_236374" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 349px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-236374"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="53bacad4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/5d4b1fc908f78c5428dafe99b018c62f.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-236374" class="wp-caption-text">Children making human characters for &#8220;Z&#8221; at school (from a Russian elementary school&#8217;s social networking site).</figcaption></figure>
 A strange sight.
 Children holding Russian flags in white, red and blue &#8230;&#8230;3 colors. In the rear window is a &#8220;Z&#8221; symbol, the first letter of the Russian word for &#8220;for victory&#8221;. A teacher says, &#8220;Let&#8217;s fight alongside President Putin!&#8221; The children shouted as they called out.
 For the President, for the nation!&#8221;　Ulla~! (Hooray!)&#8221;
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 This is the patriotic education that children receive at a Russian elementary school, as reported by the independent Russian media &#8220;Meduza. Professor Itsuro Nakamura of Tsukuba University, an expert on the situation in Russia, tells us
 The enthusiasm for patriotic education in Russia began to grow around 2002, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula (southern part of Ukraine). It was promoted by then Minister of Culture Vladimir Putin&#8217;s trusted advisor, Vladimir Medinsky. Mr. Mezhinsky&#8217;s motto is faith in &#8220;power. If you have power, you don&#8217;t need intelligence. &#8230;&#8230;
 The emphasis is on patriotic instruction rather than historical education. Veterans are conscripted to teach children how to use guns. What is taught in the classroom is how the former Soviet Union defeated the &#8220;evil&#8221; Nazi Germany in World War II and how heroically the soldiers fought. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bias toward patriotic education has only intensified.&#8221;
<h2>Marching in military uniform</h2>
<figure id="attachment_236380" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1200px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-236380"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cd869432"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/8c00331cf1bc8dcd03559108af8e856c.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-236380" class="wp-caption-text">Even kindergartens have the letter &#8220;Z&#8221; &#8230;&#8230; (from a Russian school&#8217;s social networking site)</figcaption></figure>
 In the background is the poor performance of Russian forces in Ukraine. President Putin initially expected to be able to overrun the capital, Kiev, in two to three days, but the fierce resistance of the Ukrainian military has bogged down the war. In order to turn the public&#8217;s attention away from the current situation and avoid criticism of himself, Russian schools are reportedly focusing exclusively on patriotic education.
 The schools are filled with the letter &#8220;Z,&#8221; which stands for victory. Children wear shirts with the letter &#8220;Z&#8221; on them and sing the patriotic song &#8220;Go Russia. They hold Russian flags to make the human letter &#8220;Z&#8221; and dance in praise of President Putin.
 A video titled &#8220;Guardian of Peace&#8221; is distributed to the children. The content of the video is a girl asking a state TV host a question about the &#8220;Special Military Operation&#8221; (the Russian name for the invasion of Ukraine). She says that the attacks on Ukrainian civilians by the Russian military reported by Western countries are &#8220;fake. It also claims that pro-Russian residents of Ukraine are being unjustly suppressed.
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 According to the Russian newspaper &#8220;Vedomosti,&#8221; &#8220;Guardian of Peace&#8221; is watched by about 5 million children. Membership in the &#8220;Unarmiya&#8221; (young army), which marches in military uniforms, is encouraged, and TV programs are repeatedly broadcast on Ukraine about a dictatorial leader who has seized power and is now at the mercy of the Western powers. According to a survey by the government-affiliated &#8220;All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research,&#8221; President Putin&#8217;s approval rating rose from 67% to 77% after the invasion of Ukraine.
 Professor Nakamura of Tsukuba University, mentioned above, said.
 What is going on in Russian schools is brainwashing people into supporting President Putin. The children are brought up in a state where they stop thinking and are made to become people who are convenient for President Putin. If Ukraine comes under Russian rule, the same kind of education will take place.&#8221;
 Russian education is being increasingly distorted by autocratic leaders. At the same time, the soil in which children&#8217;s free ideas are born is being lost.
<figure id="attachment_236382" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2947px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-236382"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="85c3b1ff"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/aflo_183620168.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-236382" class="wp-caption-text">Citizens respond to President Putin&#8217;s speech by waving Russian flags in three colors (Image: Reuters/Afro)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_236383" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 7526px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-236383"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6ee1ded1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/03/aflo_183609218.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-236383" class="wp-caption-text">The letter &#8220;Z&#8221; was also ubiquitous in Putin&#8217;s speeches (Image: Reuters/Afro)</figcaption></figure>

 Reuters/Afro

 Russia is focusing on patriotic education. Children are made to wear shirts with the letter "Z" for "Russian Victory" and dance in praise of President Vladimir Putin. They even give them shooting lessons. This article introduces the entire horrifying story.

Russian Patriotic Education Brainwashing Children to Support Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

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