Russian invaders intimidate teachers in occupied areas, forcing them to cooperate
Teachers of a secondary school in the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhia region are being subjected to psychological pressure with elements of intimidation as Russian security operatives are trying to force them to undergo “retraining” in Crimea to be able to teach children in line with the Russian curriculum starting September 1.
This is evidenced by a tape obtained to Guildhall from a Ukrainian intelligence source, Ukrinform reports.
On the tape, a Russian invader is heard asking the school staff, which of the teachers would agree to undergo retraining in Crimea and start teaching classes on September 1.
“No matter how you resist, you will have to work, and in order to work, you will have to undergo retraining in Crimea (…),” he said.
None of the teachers agreed.
The Russian made a special emphasis on teaching history, which, in his opinion, is “extremely corrupted” in Ukraine.
“History interests me the most. Because history in Ukraine is corrupted, do you agree with me?” the man asked.
A local history teacher replied that she categorically disagrees with the assumption.
The team of teachers refused to further work in the school, citing the need to teach in Russian as one of the reasons, to which the occupier told one of the staffers that he would not get his paperwork back from the HR department and would be drafted into the Russian army and deployed in the front line alongside other local men
“Having interviewed 30,000 people in Enerhodar, I realized that you, both old and young, are all idiots. Because no one here knows who Zhukov (a Russian marshal of WW2 era – ed.) is, they don’t know Malinovsky or Rokosovsky (also military commanders who served in the Soviet Army during WW2 - ed.),” he said.
During the entire meeting, the occupiers are heard persuading teachers to continue to work at school, intimidate them and force dissenters to leave the region, and openly threaten them. Those who refuse to teach children according to a Russian curriculum and also refuse to leave te region are threatened to be sent to the war-torn Marupol.
“I will come to your homes, gather everyone who fails to leave, and you will be sent to work in Mariupol,” the invader said.