34.42% Oppose Putin’s Mandatory War-Centric Course in Schools

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing Russian children for lifetimes at war by creating a Youth Army that will fight against the grand existential war that is just beginning in Ukraine. At schools from the Pacific to the Black Sea, children don uniforms and participate in marching parades, dig trenches, throw grenades, and shoot with real ammunition. On this basis, Real Research conducted a survey to gauge society’s reaction.

Highlights:

• 30.74% strongly oppose the new mandatory school course introduced by Putin.
• 23.92% consider Russian children being trained for war a serious problem.
• 39.12% believe Russian children being trained for war is highly inappropriate.

Defense of the Motherland:

In schools across Russia, service in the armed forces is being glorified, “voluntary companies” of teenagers are being formed, and the national curriculum is being changed to emphasize “defense of the motherland.” Real Research asked the survey takers if they were aware of this. A majority of 49.17% were well aware, while 31.06% were vaguely aware and 19.77% were not aware. 

In August 2023, President Putin introduced a new mandatory urse in schools named “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland” so that Russia’s children could prepare for war. When asked what the participants’ stances were on this, the responses were as follows:

• Strongly Oppose – 30.74%
• Oppose – 34.42%
• Neutral – 26.11%
• Support – 5.31%
• Strongly Support – 3.42%

Russia’s children prepare for war:

An extensive survey by CNN of local and social media in Russia found that Russia’s children prepare for war; children as young as seven or eight are receiving basic military training. Poll takers were asked if they found this problematic. The groups with various opinions were “not at all a problem” (23.82%), “minor problem” (34.98%), “moderate problem” (17.28%), and “serious problem” (23.92%).

CNN reported that children in Russia are being taught basic military training, such as how to dig trenches, throw grenades, and shoot with real ammunition. Participants were asked how appropriate they thought that Russia’s children prepare for war. A majority agreed that this was absolutely inappropriate (39.12%), followed by people who thought this was inappropriate (38.65%). A smaller group considered it appropriate (17.57%), followed by absolutely appropriate (4.66%).

Is this appropriate?

The public was asked to what extent they agreed with President Putin’s framing of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “special mission.” The responses were as such:

• Strongly disagree – 33.74%
• Disagree – 34.04%
• Agree – 26.52%
• Strongly agree – 5.70%

The crowd was also asked how much of an effect they believe the militarization of schools will have on Russia’s children’s education. While 18.49% thought there was no effect, 32.16% replied that there were minor effects. 23.26% felt there were moderate effects and 26.09% responded that there were major effects.

Finally, people were asked how likely they thought the militarization of schools would impact children’s future perspectives. To this end, the responses were: very likely (40.18%), somewhat likely (34.47%), somewhat unlikely (19.45%), and very unlikely (5.90%).