Violence in Russian schools and on the streets has surged, a trend that psychologists link to the state propaganda promoting a cult of force. According to the Moscow Times, half of all violent incidents in schools since 2000 have occurred in the last five years, four of them of a military nature. Nóvaya Gazeta Evropa reports that 6% of the 137,000 fighters who returned home have been prosecuted for criminal cases. The portal Vot Tak states that military courts handled 352 murder cases in 2025, seventeen times more than in 2021 (21). Experts also warn that the Kremlin is turning schools from centers of knowledge into hubs for spreading a state-chauvinist and xenophobic ideology. Over the past four years, in many schools, children participate in military marches, are forced to memorize the names of Russian 'heroes' of the war in Ukraine, are instructed by soldiers, and in some cases, learn to operate drones. Therefore, the children's rights commissioner in St. Petersburg, Anna Mitianitsa, has admitted that the age at which minors commit crimes is decreasing. Psychologists, who speak to the media only on condition of anonymity, say many children have relatives or acquaintances involved in the war, either as combatants or for work-related reasons. They believe the problem of violence cannot be solved with metal detectors but with psychologists in schools, to convince children that conflicts are not resolved through violence. Meanwhile, violence by men returning from the front, whom Putin called the 'new Russian elite', has also skyrocketed. Since the start of the war, veterans have committed 549 sexual offenses, nearly half of them against minors under 14. In January, a soldier wounded in Ukraine kidnapped a woman and, after demanding cigarettes and beer as ransom, strangled her. Both street violence by war veterans and school violence have surged in recent years in Russia, a trend that psychologists link to the cult of force promoted by Kremlin propaganda. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed 'special concern' over the increase in crimes committed by minors and highlighted 'the aggressive behavior of adolescents in schools, institutes, and public places.' Authorities avoid linking the surge in violence to the militarization of society and, in fact, accuse Kyiv of being behind many of the crimes committed by children and teenagers. Specialists believe that in the case of schools, minors cannot be isolated from their surroundings, starting with the glorification of war on television. In the first two months of 2026 alone, seven attacks were recorded (21 others were thwarted), compared to 15 in the entire previous year. In the last five years, 39 people were killed and 156 injured in attacks on about thirty schools. Authorities fear that veterans of Ukraine may suffer the same fate as those who fought in Afghanistan (1979-1989), known as 'afgantsi,' who upon their return ended up joining criminal and mafia organizations during the Soviet collapse.
