Three original Russian-language documents of the Russian Ministry of Education, reproduced in full. They are the Concept of Historical Enlightenment in Educational Organisations, approved by the Ministry's collegium on 15 April 2026, together with its implementation plan for 2025–2030. The second is the guidance On organising historical enlightenment in general-education organisations in the 2026–2027 school year, which is undated and does not name its issuer in the text. The third is the Deputy Minister's letter No. OK-1984/03 of 9 July 2026 to every regional education authority, sending a methodological letter on extracurricular activities. The files have been re-saved with document metadata removed; their content is unaltered.
The three documents set up a school-based system of "historical enlightenment" (istoricheskoe prosveshchenie) that applies in every Russian school, including those in occupied Ukraine. The Concept presents history teaching as an instrument of "worldview sovereignty" against "unfriendly" foreign states. It names the war against Ukraine in its rationale, lists an "ideological" function among the functions of historical enlightenment, and makes the involvement of "participants and veterans of the special military operation" a line of work in schools. It also proposes an expert council at Moscow Pedagogical State University to examine the most influential online history sources and prevent the spread of "false" history contrary to Russian values. Among its named partners is the "New Chersonesus" museum and church complex in occupied Sevastopol. The 2025–2030 implementation plan sets numeric targets, including history lessons on the "feat" of Second World War and SVO participants for more than 50,000 people a year and wider pupil volunteering to "support the heroes of the SVO". The 2026–2027 guidance turns this into a 0–18 point rating for each school, three of whose indicators are compulsory for every school. The July 2026 letter puts it into the timetable. It adds new historical-enlightenment courses for Years 2 to 11 alongside the weekly "Conversations about What Matters" and recommends "military training camps / basic military training" of 17 hours in Year 8 and 35 hours in Year 10.
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1. Concept of Historical Enlightenment in Educational Organisations (approved 15 April 2026)
About 34 pages of concept followed by an implementation plan for 2025–2030 that names responsible bodies, deadlines and targets. Delivery partners named in the plan include the Russian Military Historical Society, the Russian Historical Society, the Znanie society, the Volunteers of Victory movement, the "Russia: My History" history parks, the Presidential Library and the Fund for Humanitarian Projects.
| Page | Provision (Russian original, with English translation) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | «Задача формирования мировоззренческого суверенитета приобрела в нашем обществе исключительно важное значение.» "The task of forming worldview sovereignty has acquired exceptionally important significance in our society." | The opening line of the Concept. "Worldview sovereignty" frames everything that follows. |
| 4 | «…защиту его безопасности в условиях современных геополитических вызовов и специальной военной операции.» "…the protection of its security in the conditions of contemporary geopolitical challenges and the special military operation." | The war against Ukraine appears in the rationale for the whole Concept. |
| 23 | «…идеологическая: популяризует идеи и концепции, отражающие особый цивилизационный вклад России в историю человеческой цивилизации и культуры.» "…ideological: popularises ideas and concepts reflecting Russia's special civilisational contribution to the history of human civilisation and culture." | Listed openly among the functions of historical enlightenment. |
| 24 | «…использование опыта участников и ветеранов специальной военной операции при проведении мероприятий по историческому просвещению.» "…using the experience of participants and veterans of the special military operation in historical-enlightenment activities." | A named line of work in schools. Page 29 adds "involving participants and veterans of the special military operation in organising extracurricular historical-enlightenment events". |
| 30 | «…создать на базе МПГУ Экспертный совет … с наделением его функцией экспертизы содержания наиболее влиятельных в мультимедийной среде источников историко-просветительской информации, с целью предотвращения распространения ложных и научно не обоснованных исторических знаний…» "…to create at Moscow Pedagogical State University an Expert Council … with the function of examining the content of the most influential sources of historical-enlightenment information in the multimedia environment, in order to prevent the spread of false and scientifically unfounded historical knowledge…" | A body to vet online history content. The sentence continues: knowledge "contrary to the system of values inherent in Russian society". Plan item 1.3 schedules the council for 2026. |
| 11, 50 | «…музейно-храмовый комплекс «Новый Херсонес»…» "…the 'New Chersonesus' museum and church complex…" | A complex in occupied Sevastopol, named as a partner of schools (p. 11) and as a source of multimedia kits for the state "My School" platform (plan, p. 50). |
| 43 | «…воспитания у них уважительного отношения к подвигу участников Второй мировой, Великой Отечественной войн и специальной военной операции. Более 50 000 человек становятся участниками исторических уроков ежегодно.» "…fostering in them respect for the feat of the participants of the Second World War, the Great Patriotic War and the special military operation. More than 50,000 people take part in the history lessons each year." | Plan item 2.15, history lessons by the Volunteers of Victory movement, 2025 and annually. |
| 51 | «Расширение участия обучающихся в социально значимых, волонтерских (добровольческих) проектах, направленных на защиту исторической памяти, поддержку героев СВО» "Expanding pupils' participation in socially significant volunteer projects aimed at protecting historical memory and supporting the heroes of the SVO" | Plan item 4.1, 2026–2030; responsible bodies: schools and the Znanie society. |
2. Guidance on organising historical enlightenment in the 2026–2027 school year
| Page | Provision (Russian original, with English translation) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | «…необходимо разработать планы мероприятий по реализации Концепции и обеспечить информационную поддержку путем создания специальных страниц на официальных сайтах…» "…it is necessary to develop action plans for implementing the Concept and to provide information support by creating special pages on official websites…" | Addressed to the regions. |
| 5 | «…популяризации среди обучающихся разных возрастов вопросов из истории развития культуры, науки, техники, военно-промышленного комплекса, военной истории России…» "…popularising among pupils of different ages questions from the history of culture, science, technology, the military-industrial complex and the military history of Russia…" | Content that schools are to add beyond the history curriculum. |
| 11–14 | «Рекомендуемые «ключевые» показатели определяют состав позиций, выполнение которых является обязательным для каждой общеобразовательной организации.» "The recommended 'key' indicators define the items whose fulfilment is compulsory for every general-education organisation." | Six indicators, each scored 0–3, give a school 0–18 points: "basic" (6), "medium" (7–12) or "high" (13–18). The three compulsory ones are at least one special format such as a club or lecture series, at least three historical-enlightenment events a year, and a dedicated section on the school website. |
3. Letter No. OK-1984/03 of 9 July 2026 on extracurricular activities
| Page | Provision (Russian original, with English translation) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | «Количество часов внеурочной деятельности может составлять до 10 часов в неделю.» "Extracurricular activities may amount to up to 10 hours a week." | Totals are capped at 1,350 hours over primary school, 1,700 over basic school and 680 over upper secondary. |
| 3 | «"Разговоры о важном" – с 1 по 11 классы (1 час в неделю)» "'Conversations about What Matters': Years 1 to 11 (1 hour a week)" | First on the recommended list, followed by "Russia: My Horizons" (Years 6–11) and "Eaglets of Russia" (Years 1–4). |
| 3 | «"Военные учебные сборы"/ "Начальная военная подготовка" – в 8 и 10 классах (всего 17 часов для 8 класса и 35 часов для 10 класса)» "'Military training camps' / 'Basic military training': in Years 8 and 10 (17 hours in total for Year 8 and 35 hours for Year 10)" | Recommended military training for pupils aged about 13–14 and 15–16, linked to the school subject "Basics of Security and Defence of the Motherland". |
| 3 | «…курсы в рамках реализации Концепции исторического просвещения – со 2 по 11 класс (0,5 – 1 час в неделю…)» "…courses implementing the Concept of Historical Enlightenment: Years 2 to 11 (0.5 to 1 hour a week…)" | The Concept enters the weekly timetable from the age of about 8. |
| 3 | «…перечень курсов внеурочной деятельности определяется образовательной организацией самостоятельно…» "…the list of extracurricular courses is determined by the educational organisation itself…" | The letter formally leaves the choice to schools, while the guidance above rates them on these activities. |