Ukraine’s top security agency has launched a probe into a “clandestine” school in Kyiv following reports that it was teaching children using Soviet-era textbooks and promoting Russian cultural influences.
The institution, linked to the Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was exposed by investigative journalists from the Ukrainian portal Slidstvo.info, in a report published on Tuesday.
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Located in Kyiv, the semi-legal school is accused of using outdated Soviet textbooks for subjects such as history, screening Russian films, and teaching Russian while presenting it in the curriculum as “Slavic language.”
According to the Slidstvo.info investigation, more than 60 children attend what is formally described as a “family club,” covering grades one through nine.
These children are officially registered at licensed Ukrainian schools but do not attend them in practice, allowing the underground operation to function five days a week with a structured timetable and extended-day activities.
Ukrainian media have labeled the setup “clandestine,” highlighting the school’s lack of official licensing.
‘Huge threat’
On Wednesday, investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) launched a formal probe into the school. The Office of the Prosecutor General announced the opening of a pre-trial investigation, citing the findings published by Slidstvo.info as the basis for the case.
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Tetiana Berezhna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for humanitarian policy, said conclusions should be withheld until the investigation conducted by the SBU is completed.
“We need to wait for the investigation of the Security Service of Ukraine in order to establish all the relevant facts, understand the circumstances of the case, what happened in that place, who allowed this to happen, in order to make a reasoned decision on the side of the state,” Berezhna said.
She added: “If this happened, then such an impact on Ukrainian children, on the Ukrainian young generation is a huge threat to our state, to the people in our state.
“All such cases that confirm that there is an invasion of our culture and education will need to be eliminated.”
‘Destruction of Ukrainian identity’
Ukraine’s Educational Ombudsman Nadia Leshchyk said the school’s activities may indicate multiple legal violations, including ideological indoctrination of children, the promotion of propaganda and breaches of Ukraine’s national memory and decommunization laws.
“Together with other authorities, we will investigate the circumstances of these potential violations, provide a legal assessment, and take appropriate response measures,” Leshchyk wrote on Facebook.
“The presence of such an illegal school in the capital of Ukraine is a sign of the destruction of Ukrainian identity. Such methods are used by the enemy in temporarily occupied territories,” she added.
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