What’s changing in Russia this September? ‘Spiritual and Moral Culture’ classes in schools, the digital ruble, and mandatory camel registration.
High schoolers are starting to study social studies from a textbook edited by Medvedev, while fifth-graders begin a new course called “Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia.” Some schools will now offer Arabic as a second foreign language, and behavior grades will be introduced for students in grades two through eight, though not every school will adopt the practice.
Adult Russians will be able to use the digital ruble, legally buy cryptocurrency on an exchange (though only in small amounts), ban themselves from gambling through the Gosuslugi portal, and take a mortgage payment holiday if they have more than one child. They’ll also be allowed to work up to 240 overtime hours a year, double the previous limit of 120, and buy gasoline that doesn’t meet the usual environmental standards at gas stations. And anyone keeping more than 10 chickens or ostriches — or even a single deer or camel — will now have to register the animals.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.