In its September 3 intelligence update, the British Defense Ministry says the Russian state has launched a new military training module as the school year begins, part of a broader program called “Foundations of Security and Defence of the Motherland,” aimed at teenagers aged 15 to 18.
This initiative, approved by the government in August 2024, is expected to foster a more militarized and security-focused society. Alongside the new training module, there is also an increase in summer camps for children that involve various military activities, according to the report.
The Ministry wrote:
- As the school year begins across Russia, the Russian state is introducing and funding a new military training module. The module is part of a new program called Foundations of Security and Defence of the Motherland for 15 to 18-year-olds. The course has 11 modules, requiring 68 teaching hours. The course will cover a range of topics, including combined arms combat and small arms familiarization. It is aimed at “forming values, acquiring knowledge and skills that ensure readiness to fulfill the constitutional duty to protect the State.”
- The program seeks to create and will likely result in a more militarized and security-focused society. The new youth strategy, approved by the government in August 2024, aims at raising the prestige of military service, instilling patriotism, and civic duty responsibility, but primarily preparing pre-conscription age teenagers mentally and physically for military service.
- There is additionally an increase in the number of summer camps for children which engage in various military activities. The strategy notes that in the last 30 years, youth values had shifted from collectivism to individualism and from statism to cosmopolitanism. It claims that the ideological expansionism of Russia’s geopolitical competitors had led to the weakening of traditional values and the growth of individualism. The new strategy aims to reverse that process, with the militarization of youth as an integral part of that process.
Related:
- Russia transports Luhansk school students to Siberian military range for “young fighter” course
- Little killers: Russia weaponizes school kids in occupied parts of Ukraine
- Moscow promoting ever more military programs for ever younger school-age groups
- Stolen childhood: Russian propaganda and militarization of Crimean youth
