On the benefits of the Gulag, the North Korean paragraph, and the Kurgan ark: #ShameReview from "NotMoscow"
Russian officials, propagandists, and members of parliament have made another series of absurd statements rewriting history and reality. North Korean soldiers are being urgently added to school history textbooks, propagandist Zakhar Prilepin discusses the "benefits" of Soviet prison camps, and Kurgan Governor Shumkov declares his region a haven for ideologically correct foreigners. We've compiled the most resonant statements of the week in the traditional #ShameReview from "NotMoscow."
North Korean paragraph in school textbooks
Russian school history textbooks will be urgently rewritten again, officially adding an episode about the participation of North Korean soldiers in military operations in the Kursk region. This was publicly announced by Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society (RMHS).
According to him, the new editions of the textbooks will also promptly include information on modern types of weapons and additional biographical information about Russian military personnel. The authors of these changes are absolutely certain that revising school textbooks on the fly is normal practice, arguing that "Soviet textbooks were also revised" depending on the political situation.
Zakhar Prilepin spoke about "earnings and careers" in the Gulag
Writer and propagandist Zakhar Prilepin issued a statement in which he effectively justified Stalin's repressions. He claimed that Soviet forced labor camps were supposedly beneficial to prisoners, as the system had the noble goal of "reforming people" so that they could ultimately "return to freedom as changed people." Prilepin asserts that there are "thousands" of such positive examples throughout history.
"There were precedents of people going to prison, earning money, leaving in their own cars, building careers, receiving medals, and moving into leadership positions. This is a vast story, and it hasn't been studied at all," this is how a propagandist describes the camp system of the 1920s, completely ignoring the millions of victims of state terror.
Governor Shumkov's Kurgan "Noah's Ark"
Vadim Shumkov, Governor of the Kurgan Region, reflected on geopolitics and migration, calling modern Russia a "Noah's Ark" for foreign immigrants. The Governor publicly declared the Kurgan Region's full readiness to welcome expats tired of Western values en masse.
"Here, black is black, white is white. Right is right, left is left. A woman is a woman, a man is a man. In this situation, we're talking about welcoming like-minded people here," Shumkov explained, emphasizing that a conservative mentality is key to successful resettlement in the Trans-Urals region.
Deputy Zhuravlev demands to "zero out logistics" and blow up bridges
State Duma Deputy Alexei Zhuravlev made another extremely aggressive statement, calling on the Russian Armed Forces to begin "fighting seriously" to completely stop Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian cities. The recipe for victory, according to the parliamentarian, is extremely simple and radical.
"Kyiv's capitulation is enough—that's as clear as day. How to do it is also clear. Zero out all logistics, bridges, tunnels, bomb railway stations," Zhuravlev called for the total destruction of civilian infrastructure.
