Karina Bovsunovska13:07, 12.04.25

The Russian dictator ordered such changes.

Facts about the Ukrainian origin of writer Nikolai Gogol and Ukraine in general have been removed from new literature textbooks for Russian schools , according to a material published by the publication  “Verstka” .

In particular, a former employee of the publishing house “Prosveshchenie”, which developed the textbook, stated that the editorial staff ordered the removal of words such as “Kyiv”, “Ukraine” and others from the books. 

“There is a presidential order to write unified textbooks. We were looking for a team of authors to work with – all decent people, of course, refused,” she noted.

According to journalists, information from Gogol’s biography that he was born in the village of Velyki Sorochyntsi, Poltava province, which is located in modern-day Ukraine, was removed from new textbooks for grades 5, 7, and 9. 

The publication states that the mention of Ukraine was also removed from Gogol’s story “The Night Before Christmas”. 

In addition, the 5th grade textbook changed a fragment that said that ” Gogol became acquainted with the folk life and everyday life of the Ukrainian village, passionately loved Ukrainian fairy tales, songs, and legends,” but now the words about “Ukrainian” in this piece of text have disappeared. 

Journalists say that Russian children often receive materials in schools that talk about Gogol as a Russian writer. 

At the same time, Soviet texts were returned to the school curriculum in Russia, namely the novels “How the Steel Was Tempered” by Nikolai Ostrovsky and “The Young Guard” by Alexander Fadeev.

(C)UNIAN 2025