Ukraine cracks down: Russian teachers go on "business trips" and end up in prison

In order to increase its influence over the population of the occupied territories, the Kremlin recruits teachers in Russia and sends them to Ukraine.

Ukraine cracks down: Russian teachers go on "business trips" and end up in prison

In order to increase its influence over the population of the occupied territories, the Kremlin recruits teachers in Russia and sends them to Ukraine. The educators are lured with high salaries. But the job is not secure: Kyiv sees it as "a crime against the state" and imposes long prison sentences.

According to the government in Kyiv, teachers from Russia who taught Russian curricula in local schools have been arrested in the liberated areas of Ukraine. You face long prison terms. "You have committed a crime against our state," the country's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told the online newspaper Strana.ua. The politician did not say how many teachers were arrested.

"We have repeatedly warned Russian citizens who have agreed to come to Ukraine to engage in activities prohibited by the law," Vereshchuk continued. They would now be sentenced under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - violating the laws and customs of war, the government representative said. This article provides for a prison sentence of up to twelve years.

In addition, Vereshchuk stressed that the Russian teachers were not eligible for exchange as prisoners because they were not considered direct participants in the hostilities. "The Geneva Conventions do not provide for the exchange of non-prisoners of war," she said.

Ukrainian teachers who teach Russian curricula in the occupied territories are also threatened with harsh sentences of up to twelve years. They are charged with collaboration. Vereshchuk urged teachers there not to cooperate with the Russian military.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian television channel "24 Kanal" reported that several Russian teachers had been arrested in the liberated areas of the Kharkov region. The post said the Russian military simply abandoned the teachers who had recently been brought from Russia when they retreated. A member of the Ukrainian parliament, Oleksiy Honcharenko, also reported on his Telegram channel last weekend that Russian teachers had been arrested in the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, which had previously been recaptured by the Ukrainian armed forces. He gave no further details.

The Russian Ministry of Education described the reports of the arrests of teachers in the Kharkiv region as "provocative" and "untrue". All Russian teachers in Ukraine would be "under protection," the Kremlin-based Interfax news agency quoted the agency as saying. According to the ministry, all Russian teachers are currently located in areas controlled by the Russian military.

During a visit to Kaliningrad at the start of schools across the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized in early September that schools in Russia and in the occupied territories of Ukraine should in future teach history based on the Kremlin version. In his "lesson" for selected students, Putin reiterated, among other things, his claim that Russia was forced to invade Ukraine to defend the Russian-speaking population in the eastern part of the country.

The Russian media repeatedly reports that educators from Russia are being called upon to go on "business trips" to the occupied territories of Ukraine. The teachers are therefore lured with high salaries. A report by the news portal "Ura.ru" speaks of a total daily wage of 8,480 rubles (about 140 euros). According to the medium, it refers to an appeal by the Ministry of Education, which is said to have been distributed in schools in the Siberian city of Kurgan. In addition, accommodation costs of up to 7,210 rubles per day (about 117 euros) would be covered, the article says. For comparison: according to official figures, teachers in Russia earn an average of around 46,000 rubles (750 euros) per month.