A new Russian textbook has been created which distorts the history of the war against Ukraine and encourages students to join the military.

It is designed for a new theme titled “Basic Principles of Homeland Security and Defense”.

The course is compulsory for high school students aged 15 to 18 in Russia and occupied Ukraine.

It will be taught once a week from Septemberreplacing a course known as “Basics of Safe Living”.

Ex-soldiers expected to teach new course to Russians with pedagogy degrees – the teaching method and practice – returning from the war. Free continuing education courses to become teachers are already offered.

The first textbook for the new course, called The Russian Army in Defense of the Fatherland, was published by the leading Russian education publisher Enlightenment. Its authors include two senior officials working for the Defense Ministry and the Kremlin newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

Its 368 pages are filled with stories that describe the “heroic achievements of Russian soldiers” from the 13th century to the present day.

“Colleagues, we all understand the importance of presenting information to our students from her perspective [Ρωσίας]», publication spokeswoman Olga Plechova said at an online introductory session for teachers in January, attended by BBC.

“We cannot convey alternative views to students. So this handbook will help you answer children’s questions and provide accurate coverage of certain events.”

The authors of the book praise the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and celebrate Soviet victories in the Great Patriotic Waras the Russians refer to World War II.

They also applaud the role of the Russian military to the seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, which they call “Crimea’s reunification with Russia.”

The textbook also devotes a section to twisted history to explain Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, using the Kremlin’s term “special military operation.”

“When there was a coup in Kiev in 2014, the new government has launched a crackdown on all things Russian,” argue the authors, before making a series of false claims.

“Russian books were burned, monuments were destroyed, Russian songs and the Russian language itself were banned… Cocktails of ‘Russian blood’ were served in restaurants.”

“Cities in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, where there was dissent against such policies, they were bombarded by Nazi shells and rockets.”

The authors state “it was Ukraine and NATO that planned to start the war”suggesting that “a huge number of Ukrainian troops and armored personnel carriers were concentrated on the border.”

In fact, it was Russia that massed more than 100,000 troops both along its border with Ukraine and in Belarusostensibly for joint military exercises, only to begin its full invasion on February 24, 2022.

The Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko summarizes the manual as “misinformation and lies”.

The book goes on to falsely claim that the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which was pounded for nearly three months by Russian bombingwas destroyed during battles with “Nazis” and “foreign mercenaries”.

“Russia fights with integrity”, the authors insist. In several passages, they state that Russia prioritizes the safety of Ukrainian civilians and minimizes destruction, while “Ukraine frequently targets civilian infrastructure.”

During the winter of 2022-2023, Russia destroyed more than 40% of Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure with more than 1,000 missile and drone attacks, according to Kiev figures.

As for Russian integrity, Mr. Fesenko says there are many examples that prove just the opposite. “We all remember the tragedy in Bukha, where dozens of Ukrainian citizens were killed by Russians and women were reportedly raped.”

Another section of the book begins with an in-depth overview of the structure of the Russian Armed Forces and is increasingly calling on people over 18 to join the army.

The school handbook lists the required documents and links to the application form as well as nearby addresses for ranking. It highlights military benefits such as free medical care and insurance, an attractive salary and three meals a day.

Young men from occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Crimea and Donbas, which have been subject to aggressive propaganda for 10 years and have little opportunity to make money, may be lured by these financial bonuses, warns Olha Skrypnykhead of a Crimean human rights group.

The textbook can help increase the numbers joining the militarybelieves: “So these children go to war and die.”

Russia does not give details of its losses in the war in Ukrainebut in two years of war, at least 1,240 soldiers under the age of 20 have been killed according to information confirmed by the BBC’s Russian service.