While American schools continue to rehearse "active shooter" scenarios as a grim reflection of modern-day society, Russian high schools will be bringing back the "duck-and-cover" routines of the early 1980s, Newsweek reported.
Pulling from the local publication Kommersant, the report cited a Russian Ministry of Education directive instructing students on how to protect themselves in the event of a nuclear strike.
Students will learn about "the combat properties and damaging effects of weapons of mass destruction, as well as methods of protection against them." It will be part of a curriculum being rolled out in high schools in Russia called "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland."
While the war in the Ukraine enters its third year, the talk of nuclear escalation has persisted. Last month, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) concluded Russia's stalemate in Ukraine and failure to achieve a meaningful objective with conventional weapons has bolstered the importance of nuclear weapons as a viable alternative.
Over the summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have moved some short-range nuclear missiles into Belarus. Although not confirmed by either the U.S. or NATO, the mere mention of the move is enough to alarm experts as the smaller weapons are harder to detect and would likely be used against troops.
Short range tactical nukes have a yield of around 1 kiloton as opposed to the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which was 15 kilotons.
The news regarding Russian higher education comes amid heightened nuclear tension not seen since the 1980s. Just last month the U.K. was preparing to bring nuclear weapons back to be stored at the Royal Air Force Lakenheath and Putin withdrew Russian's ratification of a ban on nuclear-weapons tests.
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