Media Investigation Targets School Based at UOC Monastery in Kyiv
In an attempt to "expose" the school, the media report alleges use of Russian language and Soviet-era materials, while critics note lack of evidence for key claims.
KYIV — Journalists from Slidstvo.Info have released an investigative report titled “Children Learn Russian and Sing the Russian Anthem: How an Underground School at a Monastery Operates in Kyiv,” focusing on a school operating at the Holosiivskyi Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, the video claims that at the school "children are taught not only to glorify the Russian God, but also to speak Russian." Other allegations include that the school uses Soviet-era textbooks, requires memorization of poetry by Sergei Yesenin, shows Soviet films, and includes the singing of Soviet songs. According to the journalists, some subjects are taught in Russian alongside Ukrainian, which they describe as unacceptable “in the fourth year of the full-scale war with Russia.”
At the same time, critics have pointed out that the headline of the investigation contains a false allegation. Despite the claim that children “sing the Russian national anthem,” the video provides no evidence that such activity takes place at the school.
Slidstvo.Info also criticized the school’s organizational model, noting that it operates as a “Parents’ Club.” According to teachers, this format allowed them to implement their chosen curriculum and to compress the primary education program from four years to three. “Our first grade already corresponds to the level of the second grade in a modern school,” educators said.
To prepare the report, journalists reportedly posed as prospective parents and conducted covert filming without the consent of parents, teachers, or the school’s director. The footage includes statements from a mother who argued that children’s time would be better spent in prayer than listening to an anthem, and who said her child had been taught hatred in a public school.
The investigation also features commentary from figures described as experts, including former head of Ukraine’s Institute of National Memory and Member of Parliament Volodymyr Viatrovych, as well as Ivanna Kobernyk, founder of the civic organization “Smart Osvita.”
Previously, UOJ reported that Ukrainian journalists harassed UOC believers praying in private apartments.
