After a video featuring a pupil from the Kuzbass special school named after E. G. Felde appeared in September on the public page “Incident Kuzbass,” authorities announced an interagency inspection of the institution. The report was first published by the outlet “Veter” and later republished by Novaya Gazeta Europe.
In the recording, a boy aged about 10 to 13 says that on September 7 deputy director for discipline Alexander Schmidt took him to a room without cameras and slapped him across the face with one hand and then the other. According to the child, the frenulum under his upper lip tore and bled; he says the school doctor was told that the boy had bitten his tongue. After the video was published, another deputy director, Olga Bakshina, allegedly threatened him with punishment.
Other pupils then began sharing similar accounts online. One teenager said a staff member took him to a stairwell without cameras, hit him on the back and elbow, and kicked him in the stomach and groin. In a comment from the official account of the Kuzbass Education Ministry, officials said the allegations would be checked on site. After the inspection, Schmidt no longer worked at the school.
Yulia Khinevich, the mother of the injured child, told “Veter” that after Schmidt’s dismissal, physical violence by adults had stopped, but, in her words, the issue of psychological pressure remained unresolved.
Parents of pupils split into two groups. Some asked Governor Ilya Seredyuk to inspect the school, while stressing its important social role. Others defended the staff and said the wave of abuse stories was aimed at replacing the administration. One mother, while not denying harsh methods, said they were a consequence of the teenagers’ own behavior.
The authors place the Kuzbass case in a wider context. According to VTsIOM, every fourth schoolchild in Russia faces bullying from teachers, while research by the project “Travli. NET” says every second pupil has experienced bullying at least once. Sources interviewed by “Veter” also pointed to verbal aggression over appearance and to disputes over limits on phone use in schools.