A Russian schoolteacher secretly filmed his own workplace as it was turned into a war propaganda machine. That footage is now part of a documentary shortlisted for an Oscar.
Here’s the story behind ‘Mr Nobody in Russia’:👇
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Pavel Talankin spent most of his life at School No. 1 in Karabash, a small industrial town in Russia’s Urals. First as a student, later as an events coordinator, he ran clubs, filmed concerts, and built a refuge where students felt safe
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Everything changed after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Within weeks, schools were ordered to implement a new “patriotic” curriculum designed to normalize war and loyalty to the state
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Students competed in 'grenade-throwing contests'. Weekly lectures labeled regime critics “parasites.” At assemblies, Wagner mercenaries taught children how to identify landmines and survive losing limbs
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Talankin was ordered to film it all and upload the footage to prove compliance. What he captured instead was something else: the mechanics of indoctrination, recorded from inside the system enforcing it
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Teachers struggled through scripted lines about “denazification.” Social media accounts were seized and used for army recruitment. Staff and students were pressured to repost propaganda, turning daily school life into state messaging
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Rather than quit, Talankin kept filming. Quietly, he began sharing footage with a filmmaker abroad, unsure if it was a trap. The project relied on trust across borders in a country where dissent is criminalized
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In 2024, after organizing one final graduation ceremony, Talankin left Russia for the first time, carrying hard drives instead of luggage. He did not expect to become an exile
[8/12]
When the film premiered, authorities reacted fast. Colleagues were pressured to cut ties. Talankin was branded a traitor. Yet parents and teachers also reached out, shocked by how far militarization had gone
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One response disturbed him most: a former student said he saw no propaganda at all. The lesson had already worked
[10/12]
'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' is not just about Russia. It is a warning about what happens when institutions teach children that killing is normal, and when silence, adaptation, and self-censorship become habits rather than choices.
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Read @nytimes piece in full here:
And follow for more insight on Russia and beyond!
[12/12]nytimes.com/2026/01/11/wor…
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