A Russian school in west London is teaching its pupils how to assemble firearms and throw grenades as part of a strictly anti-Western curriculum.
The Russian Embassy School in Notting Hill is attended by the children of some known and suspected Russian spies as well as Soviet diplomats working in the UK.
They are taught in history class that Ukraine is a “puppet of the West” whose goal is to “destabilize” Russia, while they practice throwing hand grenades by throwing tennis balls during physical education classes.
During the last school year, the curriculum also included a course called “Combat Properties of the Kalashnikov Assault Rifle,” in which students would learn how to assemble and use the weapon, according to the Times.
Pupils returned to class on Monday, as did thousands of other schools across the UK, with photos showing them raising the Russian tricolour and singing the national anthem in the playground.
Students at the Russian Embassy School in London sing the Russian national anthem on Monday as they return to class after the summer holidays.
Other students were also seen hoisting the Russian tricolour flag as they took part in the back-to-school assembly.
The Russian Embassy School in Notting Hill is attended by the children of some known and suspected Russian spies as well as Soviet diplomats working in the UK.
The deputy ambassador of the Russian embassy, Alexander Gusarov, is currently the director of the school and his children are believed to attend the school.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency Molfar has previously accused the 42-year-old of acting as an undercover spy for Moscow’s foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR.
Other parents of students at the school are said to include Colonel Maxim Elovik, who served as the Russian embassy’s defence attaché until he was expelled from the UK in May after being exposed as a high-level spy.
Elovik had been living in Britain for about a decade and was also a deputy military attaché at the Russian embassy in the United States.
The school has around 100 students, including 60 aged 7 to 18 who attend classes five days a week for three terms each year.
The remaining 40 or so attend evening classes.
Of these, about three-quarters have parents who work at the Russian embassy or trade mission, while the rest are believed to be children of Russian parents living in Britain or children of people working at the Belarusian embassy.
Colonel Maxim Elovik (pictured) was dismissed from his post as defence attaché in May on the grounds that he was an “undeclared military intelligence officer”.
Students, some of whom have British citizenship or dual nationality, must have knowledge of the Russian language.
According to the Times, parents who are not diplomats are forced to pay tuition fees of less than £1,000 a year.
The school is just 800 metres from the Russian Embassy and is housed in a Russian Victorian townhouse.
Upon entering the school, students are greeted by a portrait of Vladimir Putin hanging in the entrance hallway.
Teachers must follow the Russian state curriculum, with history lessons promoting the war in Ukraine as part of Russia’s historical mission.
According to the Times, lesson plans from last school year reportedly revealed that older students received one-hour lessons each week on battlefield maneuvers, military signals and first aid in combat situations.
A former pupil, who left the school in 2022 but did not wish to be named, told the newspaper that pupils also practised throwing grenades using tennis balls.
Photos from the school’s sports day earlier this year show children taking part in bandaging and crossbow shooting competitions.
A woman is seen leading a group of young schoolchildren through the playground on Monday
Students also dressed up as the Red Army, the military force of the Russian Soviet Republic, while celebrating Victory Day, which commemorates the country’s victory over the Nazis in 1945, according to the Times.
The school does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education or the school inspectorate.
This is because it is subject to diplomatic exemptions as a branch of the Russian Embassy.
There are about 80 other Russian embassy schools around the world, although one in Warsaw was closed by the Polish government last year in a move the Kremlin called an “invasion.”