In January and February 2026, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe, attacks by teenagers on schools and colleges in Russia were occurring almost every week. On February 3 and 4 alone, three such incidents were recorded, and in the month after the winter holidays 11 people were killed and the same number were injured.
Psychologist Yury Lapshin, who previously headed the psychological service of a Moscow school, says such attacks are usually the outcome of long-term distress that adults fail to notice. In his view, this often involves bullying, a prolonged conflict, or accumulated humiliation.
“Coming to school with a knife is not just about hurt feelings; it is often the result of unfreedom,” Lapshin says.
He connects the rise in these cases to changes that began after 2012: more reporting requirements, greater standardization of school life, and heavier workloads for teachers. In his assessment, formal wage increases were paired with intensified labor, leaving teachers and school psychologists with less and less time for real contact with children.
Lapshin argues that school psychologists should not work only with officially defined “risk groups.” When their work is tightly regulated, they are less able to spot a crisis in teenagers who do not formally belong to problem categories. In his opinion, this reduces the chance of identifying a dangerous condition in time.
The expert also says attacks are less common in schools with a strong academic environment or a pronounced creative component. He attributes this to the fact that such settings give children more room for agency, self-expression, and safer ways to respond to conflict.
As a response, he proposes not suppressing discussion of such incidents but addressing them openly with students, creating anonymous channels for help, and expanding trust inside schools. Otherwise, he warns, inspections, fear of punishment, and further bureaucratization will only deepen adult burnout and increase the risk of new tragedies.