‘State’s POV’: Russia releases history textbook hailing Ukraine invasion

 The Russian education ministry has unveiled new history textbooks that hail Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Ever since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine, authorities have taken considerable control over historical narratives in schools. The education ministry ensures that the war is not portrayed in a bad light and tries to present it as Russia’s historical mission. The Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said, while presenting the book intended for 11th graders, that the content “will convey the aims [of the Ukraine offensive] to schoolchildren”. [caption id=“attachment_12972792” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a page of a new schoolbook for high school students on general world history and Russian history, mentioning the country’s ongoing military action in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea in 2014. AFP[/caption] “The tasks of demilitarisation and denazification, so that schoolchildren are convinced that this is really the case,” he added. The book will be available to schoolchildren from September 1 and was reportedly written in “just under five months.” “After the end of the special military operation [in Ukraine], after our victory, we will further supplement this book,” Kravtsov said. Praising the speedy production of the book, Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said, “No textbook has ever been created in our country in such a short time. “The authors wrote it practically with their own hand,” he added. He said that the new books represent “the state’s point of view.” The book features the history from 1945 to the 21st century. The book features sections on Russian soldiers “saving peace” in 2014 when Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine. It also denounces Western sanctions, describing them as worse than Napoleon, who marched on Russia in 1812.