This issue examines the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on Russia’s educational system, with a focus on schoolteachers. It was curated by Project 2022’s own Dina Gusejnova and Dorine Schellens as guest editors for the Russian Analytical Digest.
Drawing on new data from OVD-Info, the issue first documents the persecution of antiwar teachers and the rapid militarisation of school curricula since February 2022 – from mandatory propaganda classes to flag-raising ceremonies and visits by returning combatants. Sociologists working inside Russia reveal how some teachers navigate this authoritarian shift through “doublethink”: maintaining flawless paperwork for inspectors while quietly keeping Medinsky’s textbooks in the basement. Finally, Asya Shteyn traces the failure of Russia’s liberal education reforms of the 1990s and sets out what a post-authoritarian education system would require.
