An education board in Siberia has issued an official reprimand to a local school director for allowing a student to read an anti-war speech during a visit to the German parliament.
Nikolai Desyatnichenko, a teenager from the industrial city of Novy Urengoy, gave a speech in the Bundestag last month that expressed sympathy for a German POW. The speech was condemned by some Russian officials who said that the speech condoned fascism and demanded an official investigation.
“The goal was to equate the fascists who died in captivity with Soviet people who died in concentration camps after being driven to Germany,” the local communist deputy who initiated the investigation was cited as saying by the RBC business portal.
In its audit, the Education Department of the Yamalo-Nenets region found that school director Ekaterina Kashnikova violated the law by allowing Desyatnichenko — along with three other students — to visit Germany on Nov. 22 without notifying the proper authorities, according to a letter published on Tuesday.
“This is not about Kolya Desyatnichenko,” the communist deputy said.
“It’s us, the adults, who can’t figure out what’s happening in our society.”
