Putin Ups His Efforts To Wipe Out Ukrainian Culture In Schools, UK Says
In Vladimir Putin's latest bid to impose Russian culture on his European neighbours, the president plans to remove Ukrainian from school curriculums in the parts of the beleaguered country he is still illegally occupying.
According to the most recent estimates, Russia holds 19% of Ukraine's sovereign land. That's roughly the same size of the US state of Ohio.
This education policy is likely to primarily impact Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, but may also affect Crimea, annexed by Russia a decade ago, as well as Luhansk and Donetsk.
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) explained in its latest update on social media that this is part of a wider long-standing 'Russification policy' which aims to 'extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood'.
Pointing to a Russian Education Ministry Order covered in open-source reporting, the MoD said the changes will come in from September 2025 and are supposedly the result of the 'changed geopolitical situation'.
The officials said: 'This follows reported long-term Russian efforts to reduce and eliminate the Ukrainian language in schools in other illegally occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea.'
Putin has also demanded protections for the Russian language 'within unoccupied territories of Ukraine', according to the MoD.
The intelligence summary concluded: 'The Russian Education Ministry's plans as reported amount to a further addition to the senior leadership's long-standing Russification policy in illegally occupied Ukrainian territory.'
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 18 July 2025.Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/wmOoAZdzxI#StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/yTYA0Hbe7K
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 18, 2025
The update suggests that Putin has no intention of winding down his aggression against Ukraine, despite Donald Trump's best efforts to end the three-year war.
The US president warned earlier this week that America would impose 100% tariffs on Russian exports to the States unless Moscow stopped its assault on Ukraine within the next 50 days.
The US president has also agreed to send US Patriot missiles to Ukraine, although they will be paid for by the European Union.
'I haven't agreed on the number yet but they're going to have some because they do need protection,' Trump said.
But Putin continues to press on with the war, dismissing the US threats – just last week, the MoD said Russia was even 'increasing the pace of gains' in Ukraine.
Moscow has been cracking down on Ukrainian culture for some time, too.
In March, Putin signed a decree forcing Ukrainian nationals in any land Russia currently controls to 'settle their legal status' by September 10, 2025.
If they miss that deadline, they will be forced to leave.
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