Russia, student corrects Putin during history lesson

A student corrected President Valdimir Putin on the first day of school. To celebrate the day, the Kremlin leader gave a history lesson in a classroom in Vladivostock, in the Far East of Russia. But the event, which was filmed on television, took an unexpected turn when Putin began talking about the battle of Poltava won by Peter the Great in 1709 against the Swedes, “during the Seven Years’ War”. A high school student, Nikanor Tolstykh, however, corrected this, saying that it was the Great Northern War, which lasted 21 years. Putin accepted the correction, but the media reported that the boy was later scolded by the headmaster for his “audacity.” Several media and opposition politicians today praised young Nikanor’s courage. Kira Yarmish, spokesperson for jailed dissident Alexei Navalny, accused the school’s professors of believing that one should not teach facts but “submission and servility”. The Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov also spoke on the case. “No impudence. We categorically disagree with the principal,” he said, adding that he hoped the boy would not be punished.