Russia adds mandatory military training to school curriculum for teens

Starting the upcoming school year, Russian students will attend a compulsory “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland” class in which half of the weekly schedule is devoted to basic military training. The syllabus covers machine guns, anti-tank weapons, grenades, mine safety, combat first aid, chemical and radiation exposure, stress management, and lessons on the nation’s security doctrine and armed-forces structure.

The directive follows a broader Kremlin push to militarize education, including sending Ukraine-war veterans to schools and expanding youth combat games like “Zarnitsa,” which now involve an estimated 2.5 million participants. State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has called for veterans to be present in every school, echoing Soviet-era practices. Surveys show most schools already host war-related events and invite combatants to speak, feeding directly into Russia’s conscription system that obliges all 18-year-old men to serve. Critics argue the program normalizes warfare and prepares a new generation for the battlefield.