The Times described the curriculum at the Russian Embassy School in Notting Hill. Unlike in other educational facilities in the UK this one paints the West as an enemy, holds fundraising events to support Russian aggression on Ukraine and even teaches pupils how to handle Kalashnikov rifles.
The school was founded back in 1954 as an educational facility for the children of Soviet diplomats that served in London. Now the school also accepts children that do not hold Russian passports.
“Those who attend also include the children of known and suspected Russian spies. Colonel Maxim Elovik, who served as defence attaché at the embassy from 2012, was expelled in May after he was identified as an “undeclared” military intelligence officer. His two daughters, who now live in Russia, were pupils at the school,” The Times writes in an article.
As the school year began the pupils had to listen to a speech by Alexander Gusarov, who according to Ukrainian open-source intelligence agency Molfar is believed to be an operative of the Russian foreign intelligence, or SVR.
The Times warns that the current curriculum at the school is subject to Russian state standards which present a highly propagandised and militarised vision of history and present events, especially after the 2022 invasion on Ukraine.
For example, a textbook used at the school, written by a presidential aidee of Vladimir Putin, says Ukraine is a “puppet state” of the West whose aim is to “destabilise Russia”.
“Lesson plans for the 2023-24 academic year seen by The Times showed that older pupils last year were given hour-long weekly classes in battlefield manoeuvres, military signals, and first aid for combat situations as part of the “life safety” course that is mandated in schools across Russia,” the newspapers warns.
Russia operates some 80 embassy schools around the world. Last year, Poland decided to shut such a facility operating in Warsaw and expropriate the building for the country’s own educational needs.
Source: The Times
Photo: @MaimunkaNews, X
Tomasz Modrzejewski
