> Children are being given military instruction in how to assemble Kalashnikovs and throw grenades at a school in west London run by the Russian foreign ministry. The Russian Embassy School in Notting Hill operates a curriculum teaching pupils that the West is seeking to destroy Russia and holds fundraising events for President Putin’s war effort in Ukraine.
> The school was founded in 1954, a year after the death of Joseph Stalin, to educate the children of Soviet diplomats working in Britain. It continues to serve the same purpose — however, the school also accepts children whose parents are not Russian officials, including children who hold British citizenship. Those who attend also include the children of known and suspected Russian spies. Colonel Maxim Elovik, who served as defence attaché at the embassy from 2012, was expelled in May after he was identified as an “undeclared” military intelligence officer. His two daughters, who now live in Russia, were pupils at the school.
> On Monday pupils were welcomed back for the start of the academic year with an assembly led by Alexander Gusarov, the deputy ambassador, after which they hoisted the Russian tricolour flag in the playground and sang the national anthem. Gusarov, 42, whose children are believed to attend the school, is accused by the Ukrainian open-source intelligence agency Molfar of operating under diplomatic cover as a spy for the Russian foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR.
> Situated in a white Victorian townhouse, the school is less than half a mile away from the Russian embassy. A portrait of Putin hangs in the entrance hallway, as well as on the walls of several of the classrooms. There are about 60 pupils aged between seven and 18 who attend five days a week, for three terms a year. A further 40 or so attend evening classes. Of those, about three quarters are the children of staff working at the Russian embassy or the trade mission, according to one former pupil who left the school recently and who asked not to be named.
> The remainder are nearly all the children of Russian parents living in Britain, though many were born in this country and hold either British citizenship or dual nationality. A small number are the children of officials at the embassy of Belarus, a close ally to Russia. The only requirement for entry is to have a knowledge of Russian. Children whose parents are not diplomatic officials pay fees of less than £1,000 per year.
> Teaching follows the Russian state curriculum, a course that has become increasingly propagandised and militaristic since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. History lessons are taught using the latest state-prescribed textbook, which was hastily revised last year to present the war in Ukraine as part of Russia’s historical mission. The book, written by Vladimir Medinsky, a presidential aide, characterises Ukraine as a puppet of the West, whose “main goal”, it states, is to “destabilise the situation inside Russia”.
> Lesson plans for the 2023-24 academic year seen by The Times showed that older pupils last year were given hour-long weekly classes in battlefield manoeuvres, military signals, and first aid for combat situations as part of the “life safety” course that is mandated in schools across Russia. In another class entitled “combat properties of the Kalashnikov assault rifle”, pupils were to be instructed in “techniques and rules” for firing the weapon, as well as how to assemble and lubricate it, according to the internal school document, which was signed off by Alexander Pogrelov, the headmaster.
> The former pupil, who left the school prior to 2022, said that as part of PE lessons pupils were taught best practice for lobbing hand grenades by throwing tennis balls around the playground. Pictures published by the school show that during the sports day this year, children took part in competitive bandaging and crossbow shooting. On Victory Day, Russia’s equivalent of VE Day, they dressed up in Red Army uniforms.
> The school in London is one of the oldest of 80 Russian embassy schools around the world, all of which teach the state curriculum and are overseen by the foreign ministry. As a branch of the embassy, they are subject to diplomatic exemptions and therefore do not come under the oversight of the Department for Education or the schools inspectorate.
> Last year, however, the Polish government took the unprecedented step of shutting down the embassy school in Warsaw and reclaiming the property for the use of its own state education system. Moscow described the move as an “invasion”. In an interview with The Times in July, Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian world heavyweight boxing champion, highlighted the fact that there were 24 Russian schools operating in Britain and claimed that they were a means by which “Britain [was] being used by Putin’s cronies”.
> The majority of these schools are registered with Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, and are not believed to have any links with the Russian state.
“Russian exiles who were chased from Russia and sought political asylum — that’s one thing,” Usyk said. “But when it comes to people very close to Russia’s top management who can easily live here, spend their money, send their kids to schools and universities and keep supporting the regime, that’s something that has to be taken care of.” The Foreign Office and the Department for Education declined to comment.
!ping UK
Acentooate on
So like the southern half of the US does during homeschooling, but with AR′s.
RTSBasebuilder on
Wannabe roadmen and chavs – “How do I get in?”
You know, those who don’t want to do cadets.
-Emilinko1985- on
These kinds of schools need to be shut down.
The_James91 on
I mean in all fairness my London school taught me how to assemble an SA-80.
I had a Ukrainian friend who spent his summers at some barbaric sounding fight camp. I often wonder how he’s doing and can only assume that he’s surrounded by the heads of orcs at home.
5 Comments
> Children are being given military instruction in how to assemble Kalashnikovs and throw grenades at a school in west London run by the Russian foreign ministry. The Russian Embassy School in Notting Hill operates a curriculum teaching pupils that the West is seeking to destroy Russia and holds fundraising events for President Putin’s war effort in Ukraine.
> The school was founded in 1954, a year after the death of Joseph Stalin, to educate the children of Soviet diplomats working in Britain. It continues to serve the same purpose — however, the school also accepts children whose parents are not Russian officials, including children who hold British citizenship. Those who attend also include the children of known and suspected Russian spies. Colonel Maxim Elovik, who served as defence attaché at the embassy from 2012, was expelled in May after he was identified as an “undeclared” military intelligence officer. His two daughters, who now live in Russia, were pupils at the school.
> On Monday pupils were welcomed back for the start of the academic year with an assembly led by Alexander Gusarov, the deputy ambassador, after which they hoisted the Russian tricolour flag in the playground and sang the national anthem. Gusarov, 42, whose children are believed to attend the school, is accused by the Ukrainian open-source intelligence agency Molfar of operating under diplomatic cover as a spy for the Russian foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR.
> Situated in a white Victorian townhouse, the school is less than half a mile away from the Russian embassy. A portrait of Putin hangs in the entrance hallway, as well as on the walls of several of the classrooms. There are about 60 pupils aged between seven and 18 who attend five days a week, for three terms a year. A further 40 or so attend evening classes. Of those, about three quarters are the children of staff working at the Russian embassy or the trade mission, according to one former pupil who left the school recently and who asked not to be named.
> The remainder are nearly all the children of Russian parents living in Britain, though many were born in this country and hold either British citizenship or dual nationality. A small number are the children of officials at the embassy of Belarus, a close ally to Russia. The only requirement for entry is to have a knowledge of Russian. Children whose parents are not diplomatic officials pay fees of less than £1,000 per year.
> Teaching follows the Russian state curriculum, a course that has become increasingly propagandised and militaristic since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. History lessons are taught using the latest state-prescribed textbook, which was hastily revised last year to present the war in Ukraine as part of Russia’s historical mission. The book, written by Vladimir Medinsky, a presidential aide, characterises Ukraine as a puppet of the West, whose “main goal”, it states, is to “destabilise the situation inside Russia”.
> Lesson plans for the 2023-24 academic year seen by The Times showed that older pupils last year were given hour-long weekly classes in battlefield manoeuvres, military signals, and first aid for combat situations as part of the “life safety” course that is mandated in schools across Russia. In another class entitled “combat properties of the Kalashnikov assault rifle”, pupils were to be instructed in “techniques and rules” for firing the weapon, as well as how to assemble and lubricate it, according to the internal school document, which was signed off by Alexander Pogrelov, the headmaster.
> The former pupil, who left the school prior to 2022, said that as part of PE lessons pupils were taught best practice for lobbing hand grenades by throwing tennis balls around the playground. Pictures published by the school show that during the sports day this year, children took part in competitive bandaging and crossbow shooting. On Victory Day, Russia’s equivalent of VE Day, they dressed up in Red Army uniforms.
> The school in London is one of the oldest of 80 Russian embassy schools around the world, all of which teach the state curriculum and are overseen by the foreign ministry. As a branch of the embassy, they are subject to diplomatic exemptions and therefore do not come under the oversight of the Department for Education or the schools inspectorate.
> Last year, however, the Polish government took the unprecedented step of shutting down the embassy school in Warsaw and reclaiming the property for the use of its own state education system. Moscow described the move as an “invasion”. In an interview with The Times in July, Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian world heavyweight boxing champion, highlighted the fact that there were 24 Russian schools operating in Britain and claimed that they were a means by which “Britain [was] being used by Putin’s cronies”.
> The majority of these schools are registered with Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, and are not believed to have any links with the Russian state.
“Russian exiles who were chased from Russia and sought political asylum — that’s one thing,” Usyk said. “But when it comes to people very close to Russia’s top management who can easily live here, spend their money, send their kids to schools and universities and keep supporting the regime, that’s something that has to be taken care of.” The Foreign Office and the Department for Education declined to comment.
!ping UK
So like the southern half of the US does during homeschooling, but with AR′s.
Wannabe roadmen and chavs – “How do I get in?”
You know, those who don’t want to do cadets.
These kinds of schools need to be shut down.
I mean in all fairness my London school taught me how to assemble an SA-80.
I had a Ukrainian friend who spent his summers at some barbaric sounding fight camp. I often wonder how he’s doing and can only assume that he’s surrounded by the heads of orcs at home.