(MOSCOW) – New standardised Russian school textbooks for social studies and world history present a curriculum shaped by the ideology of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, including claims that Ukrainians have been raised on neo Nazi ideas and that former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev weakened the state through one sided concessions to the West.
The textbooks for grades 9 to 11 have been edited by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, known for his anti Western rhetoric. Russian 10th graders will be taught that the country has developed a unique system of traditional spiritual and moral values over many centuries.
They will be told that in Ukraine several generations have been brought up to hate Russia and raised on neo Nazi ideas.
The curriculum also teaches that Russia has no official ideology but a national idea based on patriotism, conscious love for the motherland and a readiness to sacrifice one’s own interests for the sake of the country’s prosperity.
“Many Russians consider Russia a special and unique civilisation,” the textbook states.
Another key component is the idea of a strong state. “Our history shows that at all times the weakening of the state has led to catastrophic consequences and has always negatively affected the prosperity of the population,” the text reads.
The updated world history textbook for 11th graders, revised in 2025, presents a critical view of Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy. It states that his “new thinking” led to the end of the Cold War by the start of the 1990s, but that this happened at the expense of one way concessions to the global West.
“The Soviet military presence in Europe and other countries was eliminated. Comecon and the Warsaw Pact were abolished. At the same time, NATO and the European Union didn’t just continue to exist. They began expanding their influence. The US and their allies considered themselves the winners of the Cold War,” the textbook reads.
The new academic year in Russia begins on 1st September. The curriculum includes a new subject called the spiritual and moral culture of Russia, which will be studied in grades 5 to 7. Students will discuss traditional values of Russia.
Foreign language study in grades 5 to 7 will be reduced by around a third. The subject known as fundamentals of security and defence of the motherland has been split into two separate lessons: life safety and basic military training.
The educational changes come as Russia’s economy remains under severe pressure. The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda suggested that if Russians stopped smoking and drinking, they would save the economy. The article claimed Russia loses around 5 percent of GDP due to bad habits.
Fuel shortages continue to affect Russian regions due to Ukrainian drone strikes on oil infrastructure. Petrol supplies appear to have improved in Moscow, but significant shortages and queues persist elsewhere.
Russia has begun expanding the geography of its petrol imports. The Condens oil refinery in Atyrau, Kazakhstan will supply around 70 percent of its output to Russia, providing petrol and diesel. Fuel imports from Kazakhstan are considered among the most advantageous for Russia in terms of delivery time and logistics costs.
The fuel crisis has entered the joke pages of Russian newspapers. One advert in Argumenty i Fakty read: “Would like to exchange my 2016 Kia Rio, currently in a queue for petrol, just 10 metres from the pump, for a Mercedes or Lexus, no older than 2023, which is also queuing for petrol and currently no further than 3 kilometres from the same petrol station.”
A poem about the petrol queues said: “My friend is back in business. He’ll expect accumulation. He’s opened a hotel by a petrol station.”
Kommersant reported that demand for electric vehicle charging stations has surged due to fuel shortages, causing a sharp increase in traffic for charging station operators and investor interest in the business.
Three different Putin 2027 calendars are now on sale in Moscow supermarkets.
The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, visited Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He said: “Let us be clear, this war must end.” However, the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted him saying “the conflict must end,” omitting the word war.
Monday 30th August marked four years since the death of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the age of 91. He is buried alongside his wife Raisa at Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery.
Gorbachev’s reforms of perestroika and glasnost are now distant memories, and Russian authorities today view him as a leader who weakened the state and made too many concessions to the West.
In his final interview with the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in 2019, Gorbachev expressed concern about growing tension between Russia and the West. He was committed to ensuring there would never be another world war and believed in the urgent need to make the world safer.
Gorbachev was not universally admired. He is not remembered fondly in Lithuania or Georgia because of violent crackdowns by the Soviet army. He lost control of the reforms he initiated and eventually lost power as the USSR ceased to exist.
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