Russian Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov presented a new school textbook titled “History of Donbas and Novorossiya” at a session of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. The book is intended for students in grades 5 through 7.
According to Kravtsov, the textbook offers a “unified history” linked to Russia’s general history course and contains what he described as “objective information,” rather than “the lies that were in Ukrainian textbooks.” He did not specify which topics or wording were included in the new publication.
Kravtsov said the textbook will be introduced from September 1 in all schools in the regions of Ukraine annexed and occupied by Russia.
At the same forum, Kravtsov and presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky also presented a new social studies textbook. The manual, prepared under the editorship of Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, is due to be used in all Russian schools starting in the new academic year.
Kravtsov said the previous social studies course had been “somewhat abstract” and “not interesting enough,” while the new version is meant to be more practical. Medinsky added that Medvedev is “personally editing the text by hand.”
“This is not propaganda at all. It is a real account of the real society in which we live, our country and the world,” Vladimir Medinsky said.
The Education Ministry had previously said that from September 1, social studies would be removed from the curriculum for eighth grade, while the subject would remain for grades 9-11. In 2023, the Russian authorities already revised textbooks on world history and Russian history for 10th and 11th grades, with Medinsky also involved in writing them.