Russia to teach students to fire weapons

Russia intends to reinstate the Soviet-era school curriculum that teaches students how to handle and fire Kalashnikovs. In addition to learning how to use a rifle, the curriculum will also teach students how to administer first aid in the event of chemical and nuclear attacks and how to navigate.

The Russian government intends to begin the training programme by September of the following year, with a minimum of 140 hours per academic year being required for military training. According to the ministry of defense, the training programme will be designed to increase participation in mobilisation and conscription drives while preparing students with military skills as they get closer to the conscription age.

A parent told a local newspaper, “We must educate our children, particularly in the classroom, not for war, but for a peaceful and joyful existence. Those who attended Soviet-era educational institutions are likely to recall having to quickly build and disassemble assault guns. Fortunately, schoolgirls were not permitted to have manicures back then. They put on gas masks and practised shooting.

The reports came to light following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, which is widely regarded as the Kremlin’s “huge loss.”The introduction of this subject in schools is seen as a good job opportunity for veterans of the Ukraine War by the Ministries of Defense and Education as well as political parties allied with the Kremlin, who support the project.

The basic military training course will be implemented in Russia next year, according to Sergey Kravtsov, minister of education. Currently, the module is being drafted, and after January 1 it will begin on a trial basis as a test.In 1993, two years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the idea of a basic military training curriculum was abandoned. Adalbi Shkhagoshev, the United Russia party’s deputy chairman, warned, “If you want peace, get ready for war. It only served as a benefit when we were in military training at school.