The training could be mandatory as early as September 2023, according to the UK MoD.
After several military setbacks, the Russian army is looking for new recruits. While a Kremlin offensive is feared early next spring, compulsory military training is to be offered to all Russian schoolchildren next September, according to the British Defense Ministry’s Daily Update published on Twitter.
When the initiative was announced by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education last December, few details were known at the time. According to the British, the course, which would be called “Life Safety Basics”, should include “training with assault rifles and hand grenades of the AK series, drills and salutes and the use of personal protective equipment”.
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This is not the first time that Russia’s wards have had to be trained in the art of war and the carrying of arms. The same education was compulsory in Russian schools before the fall of the USSR. Up until the constitutional crisis of 1993, which after ten days of bloody clashes led to the replacement of the Soviet constitution of 1978, it had even played extra time.
As Ukrainians ramp up their demands for arms supplies to westerners, Russia hopes to educate future Russian citizens. A month after the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, the UK MoD believes this initiative highlights “the increasingly militarized atmosphere” in the Kremlin. Also the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education had announced the same program of “Basics of Military Education” for students.