Translated material
Archive of Russian school propaganda and indoctrination
In recent years, Russian schools have ceased to be exclusively educational institutions and have become an important channel for the dissemination of state ideology. Through “patriotic” actions, propaganda activities, meetings with war participants and paramilitary games, children are daily conveyed loyalty to the state, militaristic values and the “official” picture of the world.
To record these processes not in individual cases, but systematically, the “Not the Norm” project created the Archive of Russian School Propaganda and Indoctrination - the largest open database of what Russian public schools publish on social networks.
School Propaganda ArchiveWhat we managed to collect
The project team found and verified the official pages of more than 87% of Russian schools on the VK social network. We then downloaded posts from these communities from their inception to the present day.
At the time of publication on April 26, 2026, the Archive contains 69,744,551 posts from 30,111 schools. We continue to expand and update it.
Why is this important
School forms not only knowledge, but also ideas about the world, about the norm, about power, about violence, about what is acceptable and unacceptable. When governments turn education into a channel for political influence, it affects millions of children.
The consequences of such policies extend far beyond the school. It influences how the new generation perceives war, human rights, government, freedom, critical thinking and their own role in society. Therefore, it is important not just to criticize individual cases, but to understand the system as a whole - how it is structured and how it works.
School public pages are a mirror of the education system. Through them, school administrations regularly publish reports on school events, official events, educational initiatives, mandatory programs and campaigns from above. Thanks to the Archive, you can see what topics are being promoted in schools, what practices are becoming the norm, and how the government agenda is being introduced into the educational environment.
📌 How did school rhetoric change after the start of a full-scale war?
📌 how and to what extent are militaristic practices introduced into schools?
📌 How do regions differ in the intensity of propaganda?
📌 what topics appear simultaneously throughout the country?
What once looked like disparate news stories is now seen as a unified process.
Who can benefit from the Archive?
This tool can be used by representatives of different fields.
Journalists can use it to find stories, cases, and hypothesis confirmations.
Researchers analyze the dynamics, mass trends and changes in the school environment.
Parents, activists and human rights defenders get the opportunity to see exactly what is happening in specific educational institutions and regions.
This is only a part of the possible areas of working with data.
Already published studies
Archive data has already formed the basis for independent media publications:
“Layout” - “Children’s sewing battalions: how schoolchildren are forced to work for the needs of the army” ;
“Angry Chuvashia” - A study of military propaganda in Chuvashia schools .
Cooperation
If you are a journalist, researcher, or working on a project related to education, advocacy, or children's rights, and you lack analysis tools, fill out the form and tell us about your task and the necessary data. We will try to help you and will be glad to cooperate!