Teaching children to love Russia should begin at an early age, Russian officials say, as authorities prepare to roll out state-backed patriotic lessons known as “Kind Games” in preschool classrooms across the country.
Russia’s Education Ministry began piloting the preschool lessons last year across 19 Russian regions and in parts of occupied Ukraine.
In some preschools that tested the program, children were photographed dressed in military uniforms, carrying toy weapons, and wrapped in bandages to simulate battlefield wounds.
As part of the lessons, children aged 3 to 5 will be shown a map of Russia including occupied Ukrainian regions and taught the importance of “protecting our motherland,” according to the exiled news outlet Agentstvo.
Russia’s Deputy Education Minister Olga Koludarova said “Kind Games” would be introduced in all preschool classrooms across the country starting on Sept. 1.
Back to “Pioneers” and “Komsomol”
Russian State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveyev has also proposed restoring the Soviet-era names “Octobrists,” “Pioneers,” and “Komsomol,” reviving terminology closely associated with communist youth movements.
Matveyev made the remarks during a Russian parliamentary discussion on Thursday, suggesting that the historic labels, once used for children’s and youth organizations in the USSR, could be reintroduced in modern Russia.
The terms refer to a tiered system of Soviet youth groups: “Little Octobrists” for younger children, “Young Pioneers” for school-age youth, and “Komsomol” for older teenagers and young adults. In the Soviet Union, these organizations played a central role in ideological education in schools.
Like many totalitarian regimes, the Soviet Union sought to shape the minds of children at an early and formative stage. These youth groups acted as a conveyor belt for grooming young people into loyal Communist Party members. Membership was often essential for those seeking access to higher education, desirable jobs, or careers in government.
Matveyev’s proposal follows years of Kremlin efforts to brainwash Russian youth as the country wages its fifth year of full-scale aggression against neighboring Ukraine.