President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on bracing his country for all-out war by preparing school children for the frontline.
Pupils will be made to undertake 140 hours of military training in their final two years of study and will be taught by battle-hardened veterans.
Moscow’s lawmakers hope preparing teenage pupils for war will end the problem of sending untrained recruits to war in Ukraine.
Russia ’s Ministry of Defence First Deputy Minister Valery Gerasimov said:”With the beginning of the special military operation this issue became especially acute.
“Even many volunteers do not have the necessary experience to participate in hostilities.
“The introduction of such a subject in schools will make it possible to systematically prepare citizens for a possible confrontation with the enemy.”
Pictures have also appeared of pupils brandishing assault rifles and they will also be taught battlefield first-aid and communications skills.
This probably means military chiefs hope to cut down the length of time it takes to put new recruits through basic training.
And it has escalated fears that Kremlin chiefs now believe war in Ukraine and possibly against the west could last for many years.
Sources say security officials are ordering air-raid sirens to be tested and in towns like Volgograd, 550 miles inside Russia, underground train stations are being turned into bunkers.
One UK defence source told the Mirror: “All of this has little practical use other than to turn this invasion into a 'people’s war' and encourage support on the home front.
“Mass casualties from defending so-called loyalist areas in the east may garner sympathy, proving in some twisted way that Putin’s invasion was a righteous one.
“And all these supposed preparations for an attack on Russia, whilst ludicrous, offer a sense of alarm and make people believe there is a genuine threat from either Ukraine and or NATO.
“The Kremlin is operating in a truth vacuum and trying to con citizens into believing Russia’s war against Ukraine and possibly against the west eventually is a righteous defence against a threat.
“But there is no actual threat."
