Students at Russian universities will have to attend compulsory classes on state ideology from next year, according to independent Russian media Meduza reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources linked to the Kremlin.

The content of the lecture is to be developed under the close supervision of the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, and will aim to teach students “where Russia is heading and why”, according to the publication’s sources.

“The West is rotting, it has tried many times to weaken Russia, but its time is over,” Meduza said, quoting one of his sources, when asked to describe the central message of the course. .

“We [Russians] a bright future, a rich history and culture. We must take advantage of this moment of crisis and make the most of it,” the source added.

The ideology course would include sections on Russian history, Russian culture, Russian foreign policy and the “future image” of Russia. Each section will be assigned to a state-aligned expert in the discipline, such as the director of the Hermitage Museum of Russia, Mikhail Piotrovsky, and the head of the Russian Foreign and Defense Policy Council, Sergei Karaganov.

History and political science students would be required to take the ideology courses throughout their studies, while those studying other social science and humanities disciplines will take the course for at least two years.

All other students will be required to complete a year of ideology studies.

The state ideology lessons – dubbed “the important conversations” – were introduced in Russian schools earlier this year alongside compulsory raising of the Russian flag and singing of the national anthem every Monday.