After school, students in grades 6–10 in the northern-Siberian town of Labytnangi sew balaclavas and warm cardigans for the Russian troops.
One of the teachers at the Third Labytnangi public school, Snezhana Kanashova, started the “project,” dubbed “The Warmth of Our Hands.” Labytnangi Mayor Marina Treskova praised the initiative on the town’s social network pages:
“The Warmth of Our Hands” brings together 15 kids from grades 6–10. After school, they stay in the classroom to sew balaclavas and warm cardigans. Seven complete sets of military clothing have already been made by the caring hands of the children. The plan is to triple that volume. Our men must feel warm and cared for!
Labytnangi is a town 20 kilometers northwest of Salekhard, in Russia’s far-northern Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district.
There have been other reports of Russian schools involving students in manufacturing army wear. Among them are the Fourth public school in the Vladimir-region town of Sobinka; the Fourth public school of Bezenchuk, a village in the Samara area; another school in Rostov-region Oktyabrsky village; and a number of colleges.
Schools publicize their contributions to the army under the hashtag that translates as “sewing for our guys.” Russian social networks also have city and town groups that promote sewing and knitting for the troops. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a state-run newspaper, has called this phenomenon a “volunteer movement,” supposedly started by Belgorod women earlier this fall.
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