In the new version of the textbook «The World Around» for the fourth grade, the publishing house «Prosveshchenie» erased several references to Kiev in paragraphs relating to the history of Kievan Rus.
Mediazona reviewed several pages of the edited textbook and compared them with 2021 version. For example, if the old edition said that the chronicle «The Tale of Bygone Years» was written by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor, then in the new version Nestor is simply called a monk, without specifying the place where he lived and worked.
Another change: in the old version it was said that Prince Vladimir baptized all the people in Kiev, in the new one — «in the capital.» One more thing: it was «After the death of Oleg, Prince Igor began to rule in Kiev», and it became — «After the death of Oleg, Prince Igor began to rule Russia.»
In addition, in the textbook on the history of Russia for the sixth grade, the date that is considered the moment has changed foundation of Russia as a state.
The 2016 edition says: “882, when Oleg united Novgorod and Kyiv, many historians call the conditional date of the formation of the Old Russian state.” In the 2023 edition, it is written: “Gradually, the dynasty of princes, who built their family to Rurik, acquired the greatest importance. The formation of the state of Rus' is associated with his vocation in 862 to Novgorod.
The new edition of the textbook «The World Around» has not yet gone on sale — it has just been sent to print. In addition to the new edition of the textbook, methodological materials are being prepared for release, which clarify the role of Kyiv in the history of Russia. According to the interlocutor of «Mediazona» in the publishing house «Prosveshchenie», these materials will go to schools by the end of spring and will be used in the next academic year.
Mediazona back in April 2022 wrote that the Prosveshchenie publishing house was preparing new editions of textbooks.
“Once we mention that Kievan Rus was formed, and then we simply call it Rus, there is no more Kievan Rus. And Kyiv is its capital, — said one of the employees of the «Enlightenment». — No matter how strange it may sound, but ideally [it is necessary] to replace the line that «Vladimir baptized Kyiv»; to the words that he «baptized the capital».
Subsequently, Vladimir Medinsky, aide to the president and former minister of culture, confirmed that unified history textbooks would appear in Russia, written «taking into account the historical events that took place in this year.”
“This is the beginning of a special military operation, and the entry into the Russian Federation of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and unprecedented sanctions pressure. These facts, of course, will be reflected in new textbooks,” Medinsky specified.