Education in Russia has never been limited to instruction. It has always performed an ideological and upbringing function as well. School curricula, textbook content, “patriotic education,” and military training are shaped by state priorities set by the Kremlin. Their purpose is to form a generation loyal to Russian government policy and hostile toward Europe and Western democratic values.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Education, about a hundred state schools operate at Russian embassies and other missions abroad. The real network is far larger. In 2026, the Association of Russian Schools Abroad united more than 700 educational institutions in 95 countries. A substantial part of this network is in Europe, where Russia has a dense diplomatic presence and large Russian-speaking communities that include not only Russian citizens but also people from other former Soviet states. Structurally, these schools answer to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, and their curricula follow programs officially approved by the Ministry of Education.
On 4 September 2026, Danish channel TV 2, citing an investigation by Politiken, reported that at the school attached to the Russian embassy in Copenhagen, senior pupils in the course “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Fatherland” (OBZR) study the characteristics and use of assault rifles, machine guns, handheld anti-tank grenade launchers, sniper rifles, and hand grenades. The materials also mention drill, military commands, and a presentation of the Russian army through Kremlin narratives about fighting “neo-Nazism.”
The Copenhagen school is not limited to diplomats’ children. TV 2, citing the school itself, reported that free places are reserved for children of Russian diplomatic staff posted to Denmark, but spare places can also go to children of other Russian citizens and even of other nationalities. The reach of the Russian education system therefore extends beyond the diplomatic community to children who live permanently in Denmark.
Similar elements of military training have been found in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year The Times reported that at the school attached to the Russian embassy in London, senior pupils are taught the basics of operating combat drones. The Russian OBZR syllabus also covers fortifications, first aid, protection against radiological, biological, and chemical threats, handling weapons, and drill. The Times established that some pupils were British citizens. That matters for assessing ideological risk: these are not only children of Russian officials on temporary postings, but young people who live in Britain and are part of British society, while studying from programs and textbooks in which the Kremlin promotes its own account of the war, history, and relations with the West. The paper also reported that textbooks present the aggression against Ukraine through the Kremlin’s framing of a confrontation between Russia and the West.
On 4 September 2026, Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat reported that the school at the Russian embassy in Helsinki actively involves children in military-patriotic education: serving Russian officers are invited, military songs are taught, and pupils are dressed in military uniform. This is the Russian model of military-patriotic upbringing transplanted outside Russia. The cases in Helsinki, Copenhagen, and London are not isolated. Public documents from Russian schools abroad show that they are structurally integrated into Russia’s state system and operate to the same educational standards.
The official website of the Russian school in Berlin publishes a Russian Foreign Ministry order establishing the school as a specialized educational unit of the embassy under the ambassador’s overall authority. It also publishes curricula for grades 1–11 for the 2026 school year. The school follows Russian educational standards, administers Russian state exams, and is part of Russia’s state education system operating on German territory.
This matters even more as Russia further militarizes its domestic school program. In summer 2026 the Ministry of Education announced that from 1 September OBZR would change: instead of a modular structure, two compulsory courses would be introduced — “Life Safety” and “Basic Military Training.” The latter covers the basics of military service, regulations, discipline, drill, civil defense, and protective equipment. Military training thus becomes a separate compulsory element of the Russian school curriculum and can be applied in Russian schools abroad as well.
Independent research confirms that this model is used to produce political loyalty. Yle reported on work by Finnish scholar Jonna Alava on Russian military-patriotic education. After the full-scale war against Ukraine, she found, the system became an instrument of state control: pupils are drawn into compulsory patriotic classes, military games, meetings with veterans, weapons training, and Yunarmiya activity. The aim is not only support for the Kremlin regime but also a reduced capacity among young people to critically assess state propaganda and official narratives.
That is one of the main risks for Europe. A child may live for years in Britain, Denmark, Germany, or Finland while studying in an environment that justifies Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, presents the Russian army in a positive light, and depicts the West as a threat to Russia. Years of militarized upbringing, a Kremlin worldview, and socialization inside a Russian information space create conditions for ideological radicalization, recruitment into pro-Russian structures, and use in information or other hybrid operations. Over the long term, the system lets the Kremlin keep part of Russian-speaking communities politically and informationally tied to Moscow and build, inside European countries, an environment through which Russian narratives, disinformation, and Russian interests can be advanced.
