Russia Intensifies Russification: Ukrainian Language Erased from School Curricula in Occupied Territories

A ceremony marking the start of a new school year at a high school in Russian-controlled Donetsk

A new directive from Russia's Ministry of Education is set to remove the Ukrainian language from the curriculum in primary and secondary schools across Russian-occupied territories, effective September 1. This move marks a significant escalation in Moscow's campaign to erase Ukrainian identity, starkly contradicting its initial justifications for the full-scale invasion.

Since the Donbas war began in 2014, and especially leading up to the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly claimed that Moscow's aggression was necessary to "protect" the Russian language and its speakers from the Kyiv government. However, Ukrainian officials and activists now report that Russia's true aim in the occupied southern and eastern regions of Ukraine is the systematic elimination of the Ukrainian language, as part of a broader strategy of Russification and the suppression of Ukrainian identity. President Putin himself has openly denied Ukraine's right to full sovereignty, asserting that the country should, at best, be a subservient part of Russia, and has falsely claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are "one people."

Official Decree and Its Scope

The recently published 200-page order from the Russian Ministry of Education formally excludes the Ukrainian language from the federal general education program (FOOP). As highlighted by "Kommersant" on June 22, this decision will remove Ukrainian from the "native language" teaching block at all educational levels in the occupied territories, which constitute approximately one-fifth of Ukraine's total area. The directive vaguely cites "changes in the geopolitical situation in the world" as the reason for this drastic curriculum alteration.

Ukrainian officials and human rights advocates, however, dismiss this explanation, arguing that the steps are not a reflection of geopolitical shifts but rather a forceful imposition designed to solidify Moscow's control over Crimea and the four key regions — Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk — which Putin baselessly claimed as Russian seven months into the full-scale war.

"No Place for Anything Ukrainian"

The implications of this policy are profound. Stanislav Fedorchuk, chairman of the Ukrainian People's Council of Donetsk and Luhansk, emphasized the occupiers' understanding of cultural identity. "The occupiers understand very well that cultural identity is very important, and a person who knows the Ukrainian language can become part of the Ukrainian world, the Ukrainian community in the future," Fedorchuk stated. He added that Russia's ultimate goal is "to sever the connection with language as a means of communication and remove it from the educational process."

This systematic removal of Ukrainian language education is not entirely new. It has largely been implemented in Crimea and in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that have been under Russian control since 2014-2015. Olya, an 18-year-old student who attended school in Russian-controlled Donbas, recounted to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) how Ukrainian language and literature subjects were gradually reduced and then completely halted by 2020. Fedorchuk further noted that schools in occupied areas are being used "to recruit children into various paramilitary and semi-military structures, with the aim that these children will fight for the Russian Federation in the future," concluding that "Within this process, there is no place for the Ukrainian language, and generally, for anything Ukrainian."

For the 2023-2024 academic year, the Russian Ministry of Education reported that Ukrainian as a native language was mandatory only in the Russian-occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In annexed Crimea and the Russian-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukrainian language classes were offered only upon parental request. The new directive will eliminate even these limited options.

Persecution and Pressure

While technically the exclusion from the curriculum does not explicitly forbid individual schools from holding Ukrainian language classes, such lessons would have to occur outside the main schedule. Fedorchuk warned that these extracurricular activities could draw "unwanted attention" from authorities for school administration, students, and their parents, suggesting that this technicality is merely a way for Russia to "evade responsibility."

In reality, efforts to teach or learn Ukrainian, whether in person or remotely, carry significant risks of persecution. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in June 2024 that "Russian officials and their local proxies have punished or threatened parents with fines, deprivation of parental rights, and imprisonment if they do not enroll their children in 'Russian' schools or if their children pursue distant learning under the Ukrainian curriculum." Despite these threats, the "Almenda" Civil Education Center, a Ukrainian group documenting children's rights violations, estimates that approximately 44,000 (about 7%) of the 600,000 school-aged children in occupied Ukrainian territories are still receiving distance education from Ukrainian-managed schools.

Pressure extends beyond language. Occupying authorities have reportedly used "violence, detention, ill-treatment, and torture to force Ukrainian teachers to cooperate with them or to compel students to provide documents and other school information." Oleg Okhredko, an analyst with Almenda, revealed that a survey conducted by Russian authorities in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions at the start of the full-scale invasion showed that roughly half of parents desired their children to learn Ukrainian. Despite this, Ukrainian books were subsequently removed from schools and libraries, sometimes burned, and replaced with Russian ones. Okhredko also detailed instances in Berdiansk and the Zaporizhzhia region where Russian forces detained teachers in basements for days, attempting to coerce cooperation, before deporting some of them.

The upcoming exclusion of the Ukrainian language from school curricula in occupied territories is a critical step in Russia's broader campaign to culturally subjugate Ukraine. It highlights a deliberate effort to erase Ukrainian identity, history, and language, replacing them with a Russian narrative. As September 1 approaches, the impact on Ukrainian children and the future of their national identity in these regions remains a grave concern for international human rights organizations and Ukrainian authorities alike.