Putinism has banned the teacher who showed the indoctrination of children in Russian schools in the documentary Mr. Nobody contra Putin, Pavel Talankin. This Friday, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared the co-director of the work a foreign agent, just two weeks after winning the Oscar award for best documentary feature. A day earlier, a court in the region where he taught, Chelyabinsk, banned the film from being broadcast.
The Russian Government teaches children in their classrooms how to use drones and that “there is no fear of dying for the motherland.” Talankin, a former teacher in the small city of Karabash, in the Ural region where Russia splits between Europe and Asia, recorded the propaganda that his school imposed on students until he went into exile to the Czech Republic in 2024.
The documentary traces the evolution of his school in the first two years of the invasion of Ukraine, starting in February 2022. Talankin, with the collaboration of American filmmaker David Borenstein, recorded the ceremonies at the beginning of the school year, its assemblies and its classes. The Russian Justice Ministry accuses Talankin of “spreading false information about the actions of the Russian authorities, opposing the special military operation in Ukraine and collaborating with undesirable organizations.”
Likewise, a Russian court banned the broadcast of the documentary last Thursday because it considered that it contained “signs of propaganda that convey a negative attitude towards the Russian Government and the special military operation.” The Russian court also stressed that the teacher recorded the minors without the consent of their parents.
Talankin has expressed surprise to the Russian independent media. “Honestly, I didn’t expect them to declare me a foreign agent because the film is already a year old, it’s old. Why now? Has the Oscar bothered you so much?” the co-director told the Vot Tak news channel.
Talankin’s victory at the Hollywood Academy Awards was overlooked by Russian news agencies and television stations in their coverage of the rest of the gala.
The label of foreign agent means the ban from all public life in Russia. The measure, which a decade ago required the affected opponent, journalist or activist to declare up to the last kopek – cent of a ruble – has been gradually reformed by the Kremlin to the point of prohibiting those citizens who the putinism accuses him of acting “under foreign influence,” even though he does not even have contact with any organization or person from another country.
Label with which to close associations
This same label has been used by the Kremlin to close human rights organizations that have been key in the Russian democratic period. One of them is the Memorial Foundation, the historical memory association that brought to light the millions of victims of Soviet repression and, later, defended human rights in the Russia of Yeltsin and Putin. Memorial was liquidated by the Kremlin at the end of 2021, months before beginning the invasion of Ukraine, under the accusation that it did not put the foreign agent mark on each and every one of its social media posts.
This Friday, the Ministry of Justice has gone one step further and has requested to declare Memorial extremist. This measure would mean fines and even prison sentences for citing or using the symbols of this human rights organization.
Hundreds of Russians have been declared foreign agents since the war began. The Ministry of Justice publishes every Friday the citizens and NGOs that are added to this blacklist. In addition to Talankin, businessman Vitali Ginzburg, journalist Marina Skorikova and the organization Christians Against War have been included in the Kremlin’s black mark this day.