Today, Explained - Russia’s back-to-school plan for Ukraine

Episode Date: August 15, 2022

Russia is paying teachers big bucks to teach a pro-Kremlin curriculum in Ukraine. It’s part of a campaign to formally annex occupied Ukraine into the Russian Federation. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and Victoria Dominguez, engineered by Paul Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russia started its war in Ukraine with the goal of seizing the capital, Kyiv. That didn't work. Russia couldn't pull it together militarily. Now the war's main front is in Ukraine's south, in the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Russia wants to annex these areas and is fighting a two-pronged war there. One prong is spooking the international community. Zaporizhzhia has a nuclear power plant and someone is shelling it. The United States continues to closely monitor reports

regarding the situation at the Zaporizhia facility, noting considerable concern regarding the risk of a nuclear incident that would endanger the people of Ukraine, neighboring states,

and the international community. Ukraine blames Russia. Russia blames Ukraine. The other prong is subtler, and it crossed our radar a few weeks ago when we learned that Russia is recruiting teachers to go work in southern Ukraine. Why would they be doing that?

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It's Today Explained. I'm Noelle King. Leila Latipova is a reporter with the Moscow Times. It's an independent English language newspaper. Leila, when did you first notice that Russia was recruiting teachers to go to Ukraine and teach there? So we started catching wind of that about a month ago. We did see, you know, some reports that teachers or students at specialized institutions that train future teachers in Russia at universities, they have received messages inviting them to go and work in Russia's occupied, or how Russia calls it, in the liberated territories. It's a very kind of hush-hush affair. Most such postings, they are advertised through private channels. So usually in like teachers' chat groups on WhatsApp, for example, or other closed social media groups. There have been some teachers who noted that they have seen official directives from Russia's Ministry of Education that advertise such positions too.

There is, of course, like no way to verify that. Journalists have not seen those documents, but it is quite possible given the strategy that Russia is using in the conflict. Why would Russia be doing this? What's the point of recruiting Russian teachers to go to Ukraine? That's what colonizers do. That's what empires do. And since the very early days of the war, we have seen, you know, Western Ukrainian observers alike saying that it is a colonial war. And it is, you know. So for Russia, of course, it's a way to push their narrative, push that propaganda and establish themselves in the occupied territories. What was Russia using to induce people to want to go to Ukraine and teach? Huge salaries by Russian standards.

Yeah, so from what we were able to decode, you know, teachers are usually offered salaries that are about up to 13 times what they might have been paid in Russia. Russia's statistics agency, for example, they put an average teacher's salary at around like $700 a month. But, for example, in Dagestan, that's the republic in North Caucasus, it has some of the lowest salaries and teachers there get paid usually $300 a month. So in Ukraine, for those people who go to the occupied territories, the occupation authorities or the Russian government that represents them in this case, they promise a monthly salary of about $4,000. So you can imagine that's completely unimaginable reaches for those teachers.

And important note of that is, in fact, from what we know, Dagestan, that I've mentioned, actually provided the highest number of recruited teachers at about 57 to 60 people. Tell me a little bit more about this propaganda-driven education. How might my classroom learning change if I was a 7th or 8th grade student who got a Russian teacher versus a Ukrainian teacher? With the secrecy of it all, we don't know, what changes of the curriculum will be implemented. We do know, and what Russian Ministry of Education said before that, they are planning to implement, quote, high quality Russian standards, you know. So what that might mean is, you know, we have an example of Donbass, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, the two separatist regions where the war initially broke out in 2014. Pro-Russian protesters took over Donetsk's regional parliament building, declared Donetsk independent, and called a referendum for May the 11th.

So a Ukrainian expert on education policy and memory who I was speaking to, you know, they really believe that it probably will be kind of the same agenda that Russia will be following as they did since 2014 in the so-called Donbass region. In Donbass, they kind of completely removed all mentions of Ukraine and started focusing on local history, kind of, you know, removing this whole idea that they were once part of Ukraine. It started, you know, very heavily reliant on these narratives of belonging to the so-called Russian world. You know, there is this concept of Ruski Mir, that's what Russia calls it, that, you know, there is this big Russian-Slavic brotherhood that Russia is protecting.

You went to school in Russia. What were your history classes like? I went to school in the early 2000s. So for lack of a better word, there was still some freedom in my education. And I know gradually, especially in the past 10 years, Russia started overemphasizing the role of key emperors and empresses like Catherine the Great and Peter the Great. And in Russia, President Putin is doing some chest pumping over his invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday, he compared himself to Peter the Great, Russian emperor who defeated Sweden in the 18th century. Just pushing that, you know, strong empire narrative. And then, of course, in Russian curriculum,

even when I was at school, there has always been a disproportionate emphasis on Russia's role in World War II, or Russia calls it the Great Patriotic War. And, you know, it's very interesting because, for example, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, you know, and Russia's invasion of Poland and the attack on its eastern neighbors, you know, prior to 1941 was never discussed. So it's a very skewed narrative. But I think the most fascinating part of Russian schooling

that I went through is military education classes. You learn how to load and unload a K-47, how to put on a gas mask, and that's part of your education. And, you know, you have these competitive games in like basic military training that all students participate in. A summer holiday playing war. These Kalashnikov machine guns may not be loaded with real bullets but at Razvid Bat Camp, the boys are learning how to handle them. The kids here are aged between 10 and 16.

In fact, since the invasion began, Russian senators kind of started talking that this should be introduced in every single school in the country. For now, it's kind of selective region by region, but Russia is really pushing for it to be a uniform thing. We've spoken to so many Ukrainians since the war started who say, we are very proud, we are not giving up, we are not going to allow ourselves to be brainwashed. What makes Russia think this is going to work? The Ukrainian experts I spoke with reminded me that, you know, Russia used that in Ukraine in 39 and 40. And then after the World War II, after the Nazi occupation ended in Western Ukraine, Russia will then, you know, Soviet Union and Russia as its imperial core

sent Russian teachers to Western Ukrainian areas for exactly the same purpose as it's doing today. As, you know, an analyst, I do think that Russia is a bit miscalculating with the strategy. It's very difficult to understand why, you know, it's choosing to rely so heavily on propaganda and at the same time forsaking, you know, for example, providing basic services to people, which would seem like an easier, right, way to appease the population. That's what we know from other conflicts. And unfortunately, a lot of militant groups, that's how they successfully, you know, appease populations is by first providing basic services.

But Russia is really heavily relying on propaganda. You know, Russia is an empire. Within Russia's borders, there are multiple ethnic republics. And Russia did successfully, you know, rewrite histories of those places and has been teaching children in those places kind of very Russia-loving version of what happened to their nations. So Russia does have experience with it, but it took years to do that. You know, I honestly do not see how Ukrainian adults, Ukrainian kids, you know,

who lived in an independent, thriving democratic state for years, right now are going to, you know, turn to people who destroyed their homes and, you know, just swallow that propaganda and believe it. I just do not see that happening. Is it only teachers, Leila, or is Russia trying to import Russians to do other types of jobs in Ukraine? I have seen particularly bricklayers, roof mechanics, painters, and welders. So, you know, alongside teachers, there will be workers coming. So in kind of, you know, the Russian version of Craigslist, which is called Avito, there also have been different postings to come and partake in what they call the reconstruction of Donbass. So this campaign has been far more, you know, publicized than the teachers' one. Advertisements are out in the open.

I, in fact, tried to contact several of those listings. And what interested me in particular is that these advertisements, they promise these big salaries, meals, free transportation, etc. But there is no mention of safety at all. No mention of what will happen to you, you know, when Ukraine starts counteroffensive. When I would speak to advertisers, they would, you know, hang up on me, stop talking to me when I, the second I've mentioned, what about safety?

And, you know, I mean, it's same thing with teachers. And we have seen the Teachers Alliance, that's a Russian watchdog, which is linked to now jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, they have kind of warned Russian teachers who listen to them that you understand that you might come back, quote, in a body bag, you know, once Ukraine starts overtaking their territory. There is also a campaign to recruit volunteers. And right now, you know, Russia's state channels, they cite that at least 700 people have partaken

in volunteer missions in occupied territories. So there are multiple volunteer groups. They're all linked in one way or another to the state and usually the ruling United Russia Party. So from what we've heard, you know, volunteers, they go there, some work with kids. There have been some medic volunteers going to occupied areas. Some, you know, usually young students who go, they say that they hand out humanitarian aid and some say that they help, you know, with certain policing activities, as they call them. So usually, you know, it's literal screenings of Ukrainian population.

And, you know, even on a higher level, Russia has appointed a lot of Russian officials to top positions in occupied territories. They're also bringing their own. So it's a whole effort at russification. Coming up after the break, sending teachers and bricklayers is just Russia's first move to russify occupied Ukraine. Support for Today Explained comes from Aura. Aura believes that sharing pictures is a great way to keep up with family, and Aura says it's never been easier thanks to their digital picture frames. They were named the number one digital photo frame by Wirecutter. Aura frames make it easy to share unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame.

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with our new favorite and recently played games tabs? And to top it all off, quick and secure withdrawals. Get more everything with FanDuel Sportsbook and Casino. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600. Visit connectsontario.ca. Today Explained, we're back with Pyotr Sauer. He's Russia affairs correspondent for The Guardian. Pyotr, beyond importing bricklayers and teachers and politicians into occupied Ukraine, how is the Kremlin trying to rucify these areas? Russia has started to hand out Russian passports, for example, in occupied areas.

And I've been talking to people in Kherson and in Parisia who tell me that without a Russian passport, you can't start a business or you can't get certain benefits. So they're really putting pressure on locals, giving them no choice really but to take a Russian passport. We've seen billboards all around those areas, massive billboards which say, you know, we are Russia, this will always be Russia, we'll never leave you. So a real intense propaganda machine is going on. The currency has been changed. The ruble has been introduced. Russian products are now sold in stores.

All Ukrainian products are gone. So I think if you're living there, they're really trying to make it feel like you're living in Russia and not in your motherland in Ukraine. And notably, none of these things that you just told us about involve killing people. Many people have died during this invasion. But these are non-lethal tactics. What is Russia trying to do by using tactics that don't kill people, but instead try to force them to be Russian? Russia is really laying the ground for an annexation, for a referendum, for a vote that is expected to happen sometime in September, probably. They need some sort of voter turnout. So they're really trying to create conditions

for a referendum. And what do you imagine the question of that referendum will be when it's put to voters? They'll be asked what? Probably something very sort of simple. Do you want to be part of Russia or not? Wow. But I think we have to be hugely skeptical of this referendum and how it will go from every point of international law. This is completely illegal, of course. And any election in Russia, we have to be very skeptical about. Also, domestic elections, presidential elections. We've seen how Russia is good at managing elections and faking them. There's a spokesman at the White House, John Kirby, and he made this statement that we noticed. He said Russia's following an annexation playbook, suggesting that Russia has done this

before. Where recently? Well, eight years ago, Russia did this, of course, in Crimea. Some of the things we see are very similar. The first step for Russia after the troops entered was to appoint local officials that were willing to switch sides, which we've seen in these occupied areas happening as well. Ukraine considers some traitors for that. Then we've seen that Russia was very quick to shut down all access to Ukrainian and Western information. It's hard to tell because I'm from Donetsk. There are only Russian programs on the television there. Now I came to see my son in Kiev and there are only Ukrainian programs.

How can I compare them? How can I say who to believe? You can't get access to Ukrainian television anymore. So Russia has banned Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Similar things happened in Kherson. So they're making sure that the people that have stayed can only get access to Russian information. In Mariupol, the city that was destroyed, we've even seen these bizarre images of big vans with TV screens

driving around the destroyed city. Mediants are being given medical assistance. Medical institutions. What they're doing is cutting off Ukrainians from Ukrainian news, Western news. driving around the destroyed city. What they're doing is cutting off Ukrainians from Ukrainian news, Western news, and European websites while bombarding them with Russian state media. So, you know, I think for Russia it's very important to cut off the Ukrainians out of any independent information. And then what we've seen also is the handout of passports similar to Crimea. So if I want to come back here, I'm going to need a Russian visa.

Yes, you should do it. Crimea is not Ukraine. Crimea will be Russia Federation. As part of the playbook also is Russia's use of resources in these areas that they've already been doing. They've been shipping tons and tons of grain out of Kherson and Zaporizhia to Turkey and to Syria, sort of appropriating these lands as if they're already Russian. And the final step is they've set up election committees, which are supposed to organize these referendums. Why would Russia want to rush and hold a referendum? Why not spend more time trying to bring people around? Well, so Ukraine has been actually quite open about the fact that they really want to win back the South.

Ukraine's strongest statements have indicated that it wants to take back everything that Russia has occupied. And we have no other choice but to go further, to liberate all our territory. of the world, huge agricultural area. So without them, Ukraine will have a very hard time to be an economically striving independent country. So for Ukraine, it was always a priority to win back these areas. And with all the Western weapons they've been receiving, most notably the HIMARS, Ukrainian officials are becoming more confident and they've been more vocal about launching an operation into Southern Ukraine, into occupied Ukraine. And we're seeing the first steps of this. For example, the attack on the Crimean airbase.

This morning, a brazen attack on a Russian airbase in Crimea. These verified videos circulating online shows two massive explosions. And Beechko is running for cover as a cloud of smoke pours into the sky in the distance. So you have these territories. They are occupied. They haven't yet had the referendum. Tell me what the resistance to that looks like. It's tough to get real accurate information out of Kherson and Zaporizhia.

It's important to say that because people are scared to talk to journalists. Journalists themselves, Western journalists can't travel there. So we're hearing bits and pieces and I've been talking to people from there. We know there is a resistance movement going on. For obvious reasons, those people don't want to identify themselves. But we've seen attacks on pro-Russian officials, car bombings of pro-Russian officials. Pro-Russian officials have gotten so scared that when they're shown on Russian national television,

their faces are blown out. And the faces of their family members are blown out because russia knows that there are some targets for ukraine so there is a resistance uh there's also a lot of uh you know small acts of resistance teachers that don't want to teach in the russian curriculum and are quitting a lot of ukrainians simply have left those cities a lot of men have left those cities a lot of people have stayed behind are older people who can't leave. So, you know, that's one of the reasons why the economy is not really going anywhere, because there's just a huge brain drain. How is the Ukrainian government in Kiev talking about this attempt at rucification?

If a seventh grade teacher from Russia or a bricklayer from Russia shows up in occupied territory, are they treated as an enemy if the Ukrainians catch them? How is it working? We haven't had a precedent, but obviously if those teachers come to those areas

and teach in their schools, they will be considered enemies. The more complicated question is what to do with Ukrainians living there and working there. You know, do you punish a Ukrainian teacher who has the choice either to teach or have no income? At the moment, Ukrainian officials have said that if Ukrainian teachers will teach the Russian curriculum, they will be considered traitors. Oh, wow. But at the same time, they're relaxing some of the rules before basically anyone who continued to work in those areas could fall under treason law. Now they've eased that up a little bit.

And now they only consider treason those who specifically work with the Russian government. So they're relaxing laws a bit because they realize that people also have to survive and eat something and have some income. And if Ukraine doesn't manage to win back those lands, if Russia does successfully annex them, what are the implications of that? What is the significance of that? Well, I think Russia will further become a pariah state. There will really be a no return back from sanctions. That will mean that Russia annexed the biggest territory of land since the Second World War through force. The West will not be able to negotiate a relief of sanctions, for example, as long as Russia occupies these lands. You know, these are millions of people under Russian occupation.

So it will be like Crimea, but, you know, tenfold and push Russia further away from any peace negotiations. And Zelensky has said himself, the Ukrainian president, that if Russia does this, you know, there will be no peace talks at all. The stakes are very high. Today's show was produced by Halima Shah and edited by Matthew Collette. It was fact-checked by Tori Dominguez and Laura Bullard, and it was engineered by Paul Mouncey. I'm Noelle King. It's Today Explained.