Mayor of city in western Russia says memorial plaques in schools for graduates who died in war may be bad for students’ psyche

After a regional duma deputy in Penza, a city in western Russia, criticized a local school director for not wishing to install a memorial plaque for a graduate who died in the war, Alexander Basenko, the mayor of the city, suggested looking at the situation from another point of view. Basenko said that he has the “utmost respect” for “special military operation” participants, but suggested a large number of plaques might have a negative impact on children’s psyche. He noted that schools are primarily educational institutions, with students as young as seven, and some schools had already lost seven or eight graduates in the war.

“This is not about saying no,” Basenko said. “We ask for time, both to honor the memory [of those who died] and to not create, so to speak, necropolises on school buildings.” Basenko added that it was important to work on children’s patriotic education so they would go into the army, saying that after “victory,” it would be time to put up a memorial plaque in honor of all who died.