Published on: 2026-09-09
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The Presidium of the Moscow Government considered the report of the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Social Development Anastasia Rakova on the organization of patriotic education for youth as an integral part of the educational process in the capital’s educational institutions. Following the discussion, Sergey Sobyanin instructed to continue systematic work aimed at preserving historical memory and fostering civic responsibility among the capital’s schoolchildren and college students.
According to the Mayor of Moscow, in 2025, 912 thousand Moscow schoolchildren and college students participated in patriotic events.
Cadet education
Today, the cadet movement in the capital unites over 27 thousand children. It has its own banner, approved by the Heraldic Council under the President of the Russian Federation, presented by the Mayor of Moscow, and consecrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’.
In general education schools in the capital, cadet education is one of the specialized training directions that prepares students for future military or civil service. The project began in 2014, when the first 70 cadet classes were opened. Now they exist in 225 schools, where more than 25 thousand children study.
Most cadet classes are designed for daytime attendance of students from seventh to eleventh grade. 24-hour stay in the capital’s system Department of Education and Science provided for in two cadet boarding schools — the First Moscow Cadet Corps and Cadet Boarding School No. 5.
In addition, there are five federal cadet educational institutions operating in Moscow, with over two thousand students. These are the Moscow Military Suvorov School, the Moscow Presidential Cadet School named after M.A. Sholokhov of the National Guard forces of the Russian Federation, the cadet corps of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation named after Alexander Nevsky, the Moscow Cadet Corps “Boarding School for Female Pupils of the Ministry of Defense of Russia,” and the Moscow Military Music School named after Lieutenant General V.M. Khalilov.
When selecting children for cadet classes in city schools, their academic achievements, physical development, health status, and orientation towards a future career as a military or civil servant are taken into account. Specialized training is organized with the participation of ministries and agencies of the security bloc, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Together with them, schools determine the subject profile and the set of additional general developmental programs considering the specifics of the agency, as well as ensure in-depth study of Russian history.
Every year, Moscow cadets participate in city patriotic events. Among them are the Moscow cadet movement parade “The Chain of Generations Will Not Be Broken,” dedicated to the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Moscow interdisciplinary olympiad “The Chain of Generations Will Not Be Broken,” the project “Cadet Class Day at the Victory Museum” (standing honor guard at post No. 1 by the Flame of Memory and Glory on Poklonnaya Hill), the educational project “Cadet Day at VDNH,” the city contest “Marching and Singing Review ‘March to the Victors!’,” as well as events dedicated to days of military glory and other commemorative dates of Russia.
In addition, cadets participate in events organized by Moscow’s public and veterans’ organizations. These include the Moscow City Council of Veterans of War, Labor, Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies; the Club of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, and Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory of the city of Moscow and the Moscow Region; the Regional Public Fund for the Support of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of the Russian Federation named after General E.N. Kocheshkov; and the Interregional Public Fund for Social Security “Rule of Law-Shield.”
Sports and patriotic tent camps
Starting from 2025, Government of Moscow together with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia will implement a project of sports-patriotic tent camps. In the summer of last year, more than 4,500 children rested and acquired knowledge and skills in three camps located in the Moscow region.
In 2026, the project was expanded to 10 sports-patriotic tent camps: nine of them are located in the Moscow region, and one more in Moscow. They were named after outstanding national military commanders and naval leaders: Alexander Suvorov, Fyodor Ushakov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Pyotr Bagration, Pavel Nakhimov, Alexander Vasilevsky, Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev, Konstantin Rokossovsky, and Vasily Chuikov.
This summer, over 13,000 children participated in the project — nearly three times more than the previous year.
From June 1 to August 29, six sessions were organized, each lasting 14 days. They were attended by students from Moscow schools aged 13 to 17, who had the primary medical fitness group for physical education.
Enrollment is carried out annually upon application by the parent or legal guardian, which is submitted through the “Moscow Electronic School“, and based on the results of the competitive selection. At the same time, the child’s achievements in sports and tourism, as well as participation in patriotic projects, are taken into account. Children of participants in the special military operation (SMO) are admitted without competitive selection.
The necessary infrastructure has been established in the camps. Tents accommodating 12 people are equipped with modern split systems for cooling and heating. There are dining halls offering five meals a day, educational and methodological centers for conducting educational programs, sports and workout areas, football fields, multifunctional sports zones, climbing walls, and rope parks. Comfortable toilets, washbasins, and hot water showers are provided for the children. The territories are under 24-hour security.
More than two thousand specialists, who have passed competitive selection and training, work with schoolchildren. These include university and college students, educators from educational organizations, as well as employees of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia.
Participants undergo tactical training, learn to operate unmanned aerial vehicles, and study first aid. Each session ends with a large-scale field game during which the children demonstrate the skills they have acquired. For schoolchildren, film screenings, concerts, sports tournaments, and meetings with combat veterans are also held.
Charity events and humanitarian aid for the Special Military Operation fighters
Young Muscovites actively participate in campaigns supporting the Special Military Operation fighters. For example, in February, the “Thank you, Defender of the Fatherland” campaign took place in schools and colleges in the capital. As a result, more than 20,000 postcards were sent to servicemen. Schoolchildren decorated them with appliqués, and students — graphic designers — created original designs.
Capital educational institutions regularly collect humanitarian aid for participants of the Special Military Operation. Thus, by Defender of the Fatherland Day, schoolchildren helped assemble dry rations and parcels for the field kitchen, participated in patriotic and charitable events. Students and teachers of colleges collected more than five tons of food and essential items, and also sewed over 500 sets of bedding and adaptive linen for military hospitals.
For Victory Day, schoolchildren sent parcels with food and medicines, wove camouflage nets, wrote letters, watched documentaries about special operation volunteers, and distributed St. George ribbons. In the run-up to May 9, college students and teachers collected humanitarian aid, designed greeting cards, held concerts, meetings with military personnel, and organized theatrical performances.
Volunteers from School No. 2109 regularly participate in the “Field Kitchen” project and help assemble dry rations: they clean vegetables for subsequent drying, label ready food packages, and assemble kits. Students from the special (correctional) boarding school No. 73 and School No. 2031 write letters to participants in the special military operation. At the Vorobyovy Gory educational complex, the children weave camouflage nets throughout the school year, write letters and postcards with warm wishes, and collect and send humanitarian parcels. Medications, food, hygiene products, trench candles, and other necessary items are delivered to the servicemen.
Every year, the All-Russian informational and agitation campaign “There is such a profession — to defend the Motherland!” is held. As part of it, graduating college students and high school seniors meet with participants of the Special Military Operation (SMO) and attend career orientation events at partner universities that offer programs related to public service in the power ministries and agencies.
Excursion programs in Moscow museums
Educational institutions of the capital actively cooperate with the Victory Museum.
Together with the largest museum complex in Russia dedicated to the history of the Great Patriotic War and World War II, an educational-historical quest is being conducted “Feats of the People”. Its plot lines are developed based on photo and video archives, documents, memoirs, recollections, books, biographies, and other historical materials. Annually, over 100,000 people participate in the quest, and each participant receives a corresponding certificate.
The interactive tour program is very popular “Battle for Moscow. The First Victory!”. The Victory Museum’s exhibition includes five three-dimensional panoramas, 24 multimedia complexes, and more than 1,700 exhibits, among which are personal belongings of soldiers, generals, and militia fighters. It also features over 3,500 photographs, more than a thousand scanned documents, and over two thousand reference materials. The exhibition is visited by 60,000 people annually.
An interactive tour is being held at the Victory Museum in cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church “Journey into History. Faith in Victory”. The project is dedicated to the contribution of believers in the fight against the fascists and the approach of the Great Victory. Schoolchildren are told about the feats of priest-partisans, the origin of the expression “nurse of mercy,” and the qualities that defenders of the Fatherland cultivate in themselves. Every year, 25,000 people visit the excursion.
Last academic year, more than six thousand seventh-grade cadet students took part in the project “Historical Journey at the Victory Museum.”
Among other popular venues are the State Historical Museum, the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, and the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. During visits to these institutions, schoolchildren study archaeological finds and exhibits from various historical periods, analyze political and social processes, and become acquainted with domestic weaponry and military equipment.
Young Muscovites study military history at the Museum of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia as well. It features an exhibition dedicated to the Special Military Operation, created with the assistance of the Regional Public Foundation for the Support of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of the Russian Federation named after General E.N. Kocheshkov.
Preserving historical memory and generational continuity
One of the priority areas of patriotic education for youth remains the preservation of the memory of participants of the Great Patriotic War and the implementation of joint projects with veterans’ organizations.
More than 1,100 museums operate in Moscow schools and colleges. Over 600 of them are dedicated to the history of Russia, including the Great Patriotic War and the Special Military Operation. Military personnel participate in the formation of exhibitions, donate personal items and documents to the museums, and also meet with children.
Since 2020, the “Hero’s Desk” campaign has been taking place in Moscow schools with the support of the Moscow branch of the “United Russia” party. Schools install desks with information about heroes connected to the school and their life journeys. The opening ceremony is held in a solemn atmosphere with the participation of the hero’s family members and other honored guests. Currently, about 190 such desks have been installed in Moscow schools.
Throughout the school year, capital city schoolchildren and college students participate in memorial patronage activities. They monitor the condition of monuments, memorial plaques, and commemorative signs in each city district, maintain order at burial sites, and take part in their upkeep. Additionally, the young people develop tours of memorial sites, serve as honor guards at memorials, assist veterans, study archival documents about the Great Patriotic War, and create their own projects based on them.
Over one thousand military graves, monuments, and obelisks erected in honor of war heroes are under the patronage of Moscow schools and colleges. In the past academic year, campaigns to preserve historical memory brought together more than 15 thousand children.
More than 30 search squads have also been established in schools and colleges in Moscow. Several times a year, their members go on expeditions to the sites of combat operations of the Great Patriotic War and conduct excavations.
Great attention is paid to search activities in military-patriotic clubs. Schoolchildren and students find the remains of soldiers, participate in their reburial, identify the deceased, and locate their relatives. In addition, they join the all-Russian project “Dialogues with Heroes,” the events of the military-applied sports league “League of Heroes,” and other initiatives. In Moscow, 513 such clubs have been opened, attended by over 36 thousand young people.
More than 106 thousand young Muscovites participate in the activities of volunteer squads.
More than 65,000 Moscow schoolchildren are members of the All-Russian Children’s and Youth Military-Patriotic Public Movement “Yunarmiya”.
In the 2025/2026 academic year, young army members from the capital participated in several major events. Among them were the socio-patriotic forum “Heirs of the Great Victory,” dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the creation of the “Yunarmiya” movement; the All-Russian military-patriotic game “Zarnitsa 2.0”; the “Spark of Hope” event on Poklonnaya Hill in honor of the anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad; and the Moscow oath-taking ceremony of young army members (initiation into Yunarmiya).
Preparation of youth for military service
Every year, more than 40,000 tenth-grade students and second-year college students undergo five-day training sessions as part of the “Fundamentals of Security and Homeland Defense” program.
This academic year, classes will be organized at the sites of the Educational and Methodological Center for Military-Patriotic Education of Youth “Avangard”, the Preobrazhensky Defense and Sports Center, and military units. The kids will get acquainted with the basics of military topography and general military regulations, acquire skills in military medical training, drill, tactical, firearms, and technical training, as well as skills in operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
In addition to traditional venues, for the first time the gatherings will also be held at seven sports-patriotic camps where summer sessions have just ended: these are “Zhukov,” “Vasilevsky,” “Konev,” “Bagration,” “Nakhimov,” “Suvorov,” and “Kutuzov.” Classes will be conducted both in classrooms and on specialized sites.
As part of the training camps, activities on military-professional orientation and thematic discussions are also held. Veterans of the Ministry of Defense and other law enforcement agencies and departments, representatives of the Moscow Military Commissariat and the Moscow Veterans Council, professors from military universities, career officers of the FSB and FSO of Russia, as well as active servicemen participating in the special military operation, take part in them.
Sobyanin: The number of military-patriotic clubs in schools and colleges has doubled
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