Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, has edited a new history textbook that will be used in occupied parts of Ukraine from this September. The publication, titled History of Donbas and Novorossiya, is being presented as an objective version of the past despite criticism that it serves Kremlin propaganda.
According to the ZMINA Human Rights Center, Medvedev served as editor of the book. Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov, quoted by tsn.ua, said the textbook will be introduced in all occupied territories of Ukraine, including Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia, and will also be used in Russia.
The textbook becomes mandatory on 1 September. Ukrainian pupils in grades 5-7 living under occupation will therefore have to use History of Donbas and Novorossiya in the coming school year.
Kremlin defends the textbook
Former Russian culture minister Vladimir Medinsky has publicly defended the publication, saying its content is not political manipulation but a faithful description of reality.
– This is not propaganda, but a description of a real society – said Vladimir Medinsky, former Russian culture minister.
Falsified history and Russian maps
tsn.ua reports that students will be taught a distorted version of the history of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, and will be led to justify Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
Russia’s education ministry maintains that the textbook was written in an objective way and contains true information, unlike what it claims is found in Ukrainian history books. The official Russian concept treats the occupied territories as part of Russian history and uses the term Novorossiya. Maps in the textbook are said to show occupied Ukrainian lands as part of the Russian Federation.
Separately, tsn.ua cites data from Save Ukraine, according to which Russia has abducted about 1.6 million Ukrainian children since 2014 in occupied Crimea, the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region.
Source: Polsat News, Photo: Polsat News
