Russia orders mandatory military training for secondary school students

Secondary school students in Russia will be required to take military training as part of their curriculum, highlighting the warring nation’s increasingly militarized atmosphere, British military intelligence officials said Sunday.

In recent weeks, the Russian Ministry of Education has rolled out details about the training, which is expected to become mandatory in September, U.K. officials said in an intelligence update on Twitter.

The “Basics of Life Safety” course will include training with AK series assault rifles and hand grenades, military drill and salutes, and the use of personal protective equipment.

In December, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education announced a similar mandatory military training program for university students.

It wasn’t clear whether the military training order for secondary students is linked to Russia’s faltering war in Ukraine, now in its 11th month. Such training was required in Russian schools up to 1993, British military officials said, adding that the latest program is most likely a deliberate “evocation of the Soviet Union.”