RUSSIA is building an army of "child zombies" in a bid to turn them into Kremlin loyalists and enemies of the West. Tyrant Vladimir Putin is brainwashing schoolchildren to ensure they do not become critics of the Russian regime, according to experts. Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has ramped up efforts to control the young population and dissuade them from becoming critics of the state.

This includes "Three Pillars" of propaganda the Kremlin introduced to push more pro-Putin ideologies. Tactics like compulsory patriotic education and drastic changes in Russian history that fit the Kremlin's narrative have been introduced alongside active military-patriotic activities. Russia experts say that the regime - which now thinks it is at war with the West - needs popular support from its citizens more than ever.

And an indoctrinating an entire generation of patriots will help Russia move forward with its ideologies against the West. And it will also prevent the youth from turning into critics of Putin's government, they argue. Mikhail Komin, a Russia expert from the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Sun: "In the next 10 years, because of the intense state-related propaganda, Russia will have a proper Putin generation who will be loyal to the dictator.

"Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has realised he needs a more loyal public and the influence he had on them was not enough. "So now he is brainwashing the children from kindergarten up to the youth studying in universities. "The Russian regime believes that a real rivalry with the West, a war with Nato has now begun and the whole world is watching it so Putin is trying to control as much population as he can.".

Dr Maxim Alyukov, a King's College Russia program research fellow, said Putin views children as a potential threat to his iron-fist regime. He told The Sun: "By shaping students’ views early, the government hopes to influence their political attitudes and 'inoculate' them before they reach adulthood, become interested in politics, and potentially become an audience for the opposition. "Children are often used as a pretext for justifying more repressive measures. Framing repressive measures as necessary for the protection of children tends to receive less public resistance.

"Many repressive policies, such as anti-LGBT measures, internet censorship and many others, were introduced in Russia using children as a justification.". The Russian regime believes that a real rivalry with the West has begun so Putin is trying to control as much population as he can. Mr Komin explained Kremlin's first pillar of propaganda is compulsory patriotic education. He said this promotes pro-regime ideas - and teaches young kids a Kremlin-approved view of current political events and history.

Russia recently introduced what it calls "Conversations About Important Things," a compulsory class taught every Monday in all Russian public schools. The lessons taught in this class are used to brainwash kids with an alternative reality of the country - and promote Russian "values" like conservatism and traditional feminism. Just a month after the Russia-Ukraine war started, Vladimir Medinsky, the former Minister of Culture introduced a drastic change in the Russian history textbooks.

The Russian government hopes to influence their political attitudes and 'inoculate' them before they reach adulthood. As a result, an entirely new curriculum was introduced that offers a completely different version of Russian history that contains a much stronger pro-Kremlin bias. Dr Alyukov said the textbook "significantly shifts emphasis in the coverage of Soviet history, de-emphasising Stalin’s repressions, and framing the West as the major culprit of most international conflicts in the latter half of the 20th century.".

"It highlights the achievements of the superpower Soviet Union, indignation at the humiliations of the Soviet collapse, and acclaim for the 'rebirth' of Russia under Putin's rule," he added. The lessons also include chapters about the invasion of Ukraine but have been framed in a way that matches the Kremlin's views and perspectives. In the new version of Russian history, officials call the bloody Ukraine war a "special military operation" and blame the West heavily for the world events.

Many chapters use the word "Nazi" as the key term to refer to Ukraine. These chapters, according to the experts, are meant to brainwash kids and make them believe that Putin's meatgrinder war against Ukraine is justified. The second pillar includes things outside the educational context. Experts told The Sun how Putin's regime has introduced new activities in schools and colleges to capture the minds of the youth.