Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible

A new textbook soon to be taught in Russian schools leans on the works of a 16th-century monk. It fits a pattern of ‘political neomedievalism’ by the Kremlin.

By: Dina Khapaeva, Georgia Institute of Technology, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: April 18, 2026

Words: 1,449

Last Updated: 3 months, 1 week ago

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By Dina Khapaeva, Georgia Institute of Technology

Russian middle and high school students are using a new textbook titled “My Family.”

Published in March 2025, the textbook’s co-author Nina Ostanina, chair of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of the Family, claims that it will teach students “traditional moral values” that will improve “the demographic situation in the country” as part of a “Family Studies” course that was rolled out in …

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