Christine Drews Sieger
Russian schools are increasingly incorporating basic military training and defense-related recruitment efforts into the standard curriculum and youth events.
Public sports events usually bring local communities together through physical fitness, healthy competition, and regional pride.
Yet, when families fill the stands for a traditional autumn run, they rarely anticipate a sudden call to arms.
Middle school runners in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, faced an unexpected military recruitment pitch during a national sports event on September 13.
Children in grades five to eight had just finished the Cross of the Nation footrace when a uniformed officer took the stage.
The speaker praised the young athletes for their efforts. Quickly, however, he pivoted his speech toward the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“We need you, we’re fighting, come, we can’t do it without you,” the officer told the gathering of young students, according to social media posts by Sayana Fedotova, The Moscow Times reports.
Tearful public reaction
Fedotova, whose father Vyacheslav Markhaev leads the local Communist Party branch, attended the event.
The People of Baikal project highlighted her reaction after she shared her frustration online.
“They tell this to schoolchildren at the ‘Cross of the Nation.’ They tell them they have to go fight. Schoolchildren. Children,” Fedotova wrote.
She left the venue in tears and questioned why people cannot live in peace.
Her father has publicly demanded an end to the fighting, while regional party colleague Bair Tsyrenov aired television campaign ads asking when the military action will end, according to The Moscow Times.
Early military training
The incident points to a broader push across Russia to prepare younger generations for future conflict.
Russian lawmakers have recently suggested moving basic military preparation down into elementary school grades.
Older students in grades ten and eleven already take mandatory safety classes.
These lessons teach teenagers basic drill movements, wartime first aid, air raid protocols, and hand grenade usage.
Even primary school children participate in national patriotic games. The program trains seven-year-olds to operate combat drones, escape captivity, and practice field tactics, according to The Moscow Times.
Military Training Expands
The classroom itself is also becoming a larger part of Russia’s military preparation efforts.
According to Meduza, Russian schools doubled the share of class time devoted to basic military training from around 20 percent to 50 percent starting September 1, 2026.
The instruction applies to students in grades six through eleven and includes lessons on drones and practical training exercises.
The change places military preparation more firmly within the regular school curriculum, extending the country’s efforts to expose children and teenagers to defense-related activities at an increasingly young age.
