"SVOshniks", priests and "United Russia"

School holidays in Russian schools have long turned into platforms for militaristic, religious and political propaganda. This last call was no exception. The participation of military personnel, clergy and United Russia deputies has practically become a mandatory part of the ceremonial events.

🪖 One of the main “guests” of the holidays were participants in the war against Ukraine. They gave parting speeches at schools, presented schoolchildren with “My Dad is a Hero” medals and participated in “Autograph of a SVO participant” events. In the Krasnodar Territory, after the line, a “veteran of the Northern Military District” from the “Night Wolves” gave a separate “lesson of courage” for ninth-graders about “duty and defense of the Motherland.”

In many schools, the last bells were accompanied by memorial rituals. Graduates laid flowers at memorials , memorial plaques and slabs of fallen SVO participants. In some schools, the last bell, together with the graduates, was given by “not ordinary first-graders” - the children and grandchildren of fallen war veterans.

The theme of war was also heard in schoolchildren's awards. Students were presented with letters of gratitude for “supporting fighters in the Northern Military District zone” and were praised for helping the families of war participants.

“The kids, along with the adults, chopped wood almost every weekend to provide solid fuel for the heroes’ relatives and friends,” the head of the Partizansky Municipal District.

In the Republic of Tyva, the family of a deceased “SVO participant” awarded school students with cash envelopes as an act of “hope for the future” and “respect for child labor.”

In the Rostov region, parents and teachers took part in the campaign “Help the North Military District Soldiers Instead of Bouquets” and gave up flowers in order to buy equipment for the front line of the “Storm” assault squad. The holiday itself was held in a militaristic style:

“The school was turned into a secret training base for special agents, and graduation day became the final stage of their training.”

⛪️ Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church also became an integral part of the latest calls. The priests addressed the children with “pastoral instructions” and spoke about “citizenship,” “patriotism,” “service to the Motherland,” and “moral purity.”

In the Altai Republic, the rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit with. Maima wished the graduates success in passing their exams and praised them for producing “more than 700 anti-drone protection products” in the temple’s workshops.

👔 Deputies and officials of United Russia appeared almost as often on the lines. Party representatives congratulated the graduates, presented gifts and certificates , and made speeches about “serving their small homeland.”

“United Russia is always there - both on holidays and on weekdays. Especially when it comes to our children and their future,” United Russia Verkhneuralsk District .

In the Rostov region, the head of the city of Novoshakhtinsk “became part of the school tradition” and, instead of a first-grader , “personally gave that long-awaited last bell” with eleventh-graders.