Putin tells children that Russia is invincible as he opens the school year

Putin attended the opening ceremony of new educational institutions in five regions via video link Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/via AP

Vladimir Putin said schoolchildren that Russia is “invincible” by kicking off the country’s academic year with a virtual performance.

The Russian president hosted a two-hour televised lesson on Friday for a handpicked group of students, during which he insisted on portraying Moscow as a fortress under siege, waging an existential battle with the West.

Recalling how his relatives died during the battle of the then Soviet Union with Nazi Germany, Putin said: “I know why we won World War II: it is impossible to defeat people who purposeful. We were absolutely invincible — and we still are.»

Putin signs autographs for schoolchildren after a lesson that is part of the Russia – Land of Opportunity platform project Photo: Reuters

Earlier on Friday, Putin spoke via video link with the staff of four new schools opening in Russia and another in Russia. The Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.

Mariupol was destroyed by Russian bombing last spring before Moscow forces took full control of it.

In a seemingly planned conversation, a Russian-appointed official in Mariupol gave the floor to a young student, who then expressed to Putin «thank you so much for taking care of my beloved city, Mariupol.»

The boy then stuttered before his the official interrupted.

In Russia itself, several schools celebrated the start of the term by having their students wear military uniforms and sing «patriotic songs», reflecting the Kremlin's increasingly obvious attempts to militarize society and present the invasion of Ukraine as a righteous conflict.

School in Nizhny Novgorod in the west of the country forced at least three students to pose with machine guns in combat uniforms.

First-graders of a St. Petersburg school take part in a ceremony dedicated to start of classes. Photo: Dmitry Lovetsky/AP A teacher talking to a first-grader on their first day at school Photo: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS

Earlier this week, parents were reported to have expressed concern after the school handed out military uniforms to several children.

Elsewhere, in the central city of Kurgan, the local governor personally accompanied a girl whose father died fighting in Ukraine. to school on Friday.

The press service of Vadim Shumkov filmed how he picks up the girl from home and escorts her with her mother to school.

The governor led her all the way. to her desk in the classroom and warned the other children not to “mock” her.

Russian flags and state symbols meanwhile were everywhere in classrooms across the country, and some schools even resorted to new, promoted Kremlin, «patriotic

In Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, a teenager was spotted on Friday performing the pop song We Will Rise Up, which glorifies Russia's imperial ambitions and depicts it surrounded by enemies. in the school gym. Other students waved Russian flags behind her.