‘I see nobody on the road,’
said Alice.
‘I only wish I had such eyes,’
the King remarked in a fretful tone.
‘To be able to see Nobody!
And at that distance too!
Why, it’s as much as I can do
to see real people, by this light!’
All this was lost on Alice,
who was still looking intently
along the road,
shading her eyes with one hand.
‘I see somebody now!’
she exclaimed at last.
‘But he’s coming very slowly
– and what curious attitudes he goes into!’
That ramping up of.
War propaganda.
Directed at ‘orcs’ children.
Has been brought to life.
Before a global audience.
In an Oscar-winning documentary.
Mr Nobody.
Against ‘the One’.
‘Four thousand two hundred and seven,
that’s the exact number,’
the King said,
referring to his book.
‘I couldn’t send all the horses,
you know, because
two of them are wanted
in the game.
The documentary was.
Based on footage by.
A primary school events co-ordinator.
And videographer.
In the small provincial town.
Of Karabash.
Of Karabash.
In the Ural mountains.
And I haven’t sent
the two Messengers, either.
They’re both gone
to the town.
Just look along the road,
and tell me
if you can see
either of them.’
When her seven-year-old.
Daughter was told to learn.
A poem about ‘Mordor’’s.
“Glorious army”.
For a school event.
She from Moscow thought.
It was too much.
It was too much.
She has struggled.
To shield her daughter.
From an ever-increasing number of.
“Patriotic” activities and lessons.
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
The chessmen were walking about
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
White Pawn to play
And win in eleven moves
What troubles she most.
Is that her daughter enjoys.
Taking part in the state-backed.
Patriotic programme.
“She likes her teacher.
She likes her classmates.
– she likes being.
A part of it.”
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
The chessmen were walking about
Two and two
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
One thing was certain, that
the white kitten had had nothing to do with it.
She worries that openly.
Opposing school activities.
Could isolate.
Her daughter socially.
And when she once kept.
Her home to avoid.
A patriotic school event.
Her daughter was upset:
“I don’t want her.
To feel like.
She doesn’t belong.”
She doesn’t belong.”
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
The chessmen were walking about
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
White Pawn to play
And win in eleven moves
His film documents.
How he was reluctantly.
drawn into ‘the One’’s.
Propaganda machine.
Propaganda machine.
As ‘orcs’ full-scale invasion.
Of Ukraine.
Unfolded in 2022.
‘I see nobody on the road,’
said Alice.
‘I only wish I had such eyes,’
the King remarked in a fretful tone.
‘To be able to see Nobody!
And at that distance too!
Why, it’s as much as I can do
to see real people, by this light!’
Flag-raising ceremonies.
Were introduced.
As well as compulsory lessons.
To teach pupils about.
To teach pupils about.
The government’s take.
On ‘orcs’ values.
And world events.
All this was lost on Alice,
who was still looking intently
along the road,
shading her eyes with one hand.
‘I see somebody now!’
she exclaimed at last.
‘But he’s coming very slowly
– and what curious attitudes he goes into!’
History books were.
Re-written and updated to.
Re-written and updated to.
Include latest developments.
Including what.
‘Orcs’ were told was.
A “special military operation”.
A “special military operation”.
(For the Messenger kept
skipping up and down,
and wriggling like an eel,
as he came along,
with his great hands
spread out like fans
on each side.)
‘Not at all,’ said the King.
Those diktats have continued.
Only last month ‘orcs’.
Education ministry announced.
Plans to introduce.
A list of state-approved toys.
And games for nurseries.
To promote.
“Traditional ‘orcs’ values”.
‘He’s an Anglo-Saxon Messenger
– and those are Anglo-Saxon attitudes.
He only does them
when he’s happy.
His name is Haigha.’
(He pronounced it
so as to rhyme with ‘mayor’.)
‘I love my love with an H,’
The messages.
The government wants.
The children to absorb.
Are clear:
The invasion is.
A defensive war.
And patriotism means.
Unquestioning loyalty.
At home though.
Some encounter different views.
At home though.
Some encounter different views.
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
The chessmen were walking about
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
White Pawn to play
And win in eleven moves
A boy, eight, lists.
Everything he has learnt.
In his patriotic.
Education lessons:
About great ‘orcs’.
Poets and painters.
About friendship.
And how not to quarrel.
His excitement grows.
As he remembers.
Discussions about robots.
Tanks and laser tag.
“They told us.
This is how to prepare.
For war,” he says.
For war,” he says.
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
The chessmen were walking about
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
One thing was certain, that
the white kitten had had nothing to do with it.
Like the girl’s mother.
This boy’s mother opposes.
‘Orcs’ invasion.
But she avoids.
Openly discussing it.
In front of her son.
In case he repeats.
What she says in public.
“An active anti-war position.
Might attract.
Unwanted attention”.
She says.
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
The chessmen were walking about
Two and two!
Through the Looking-Glass
And what Alice found there
White Pawn to play
And win in eleven moves
Navigating a line between.
The messages from school.
And what they say at home.
Is difficult, says a psychotherapist.
“A child has to live.
In this environment.
– attending the school.
Being a part of this group.”
“This doesn’t mean.
Parents should agree.
With the propaganda.
But there is no need.”
“But there is no need.
To take a political stance.
In front of your child.”
In front of your child.”
Alice couldn’t help beginning,
‘because he is Happy.
I hate him with an H,
because he is Hideous.
I fed him with – with – with
Ham-sandwiches and Hay.
His name is Haigha,
and he lives –’
She suggests that.
Parents focus on.
Universal values such as.
The importance of human life.
And the idea that.
Conflicts should always be.
Resolved peacefully.
Resolved peacefully.
– instead of directly.
Confronting school narratives.
– instead of directly.
Confronting school narratives.
‘He lives on the Hill,’
the King remarked simply,
without the least idea that
he was joining in the game,
while Alice was still hesitating
for the name of a town
beginning with H.
‘The other Messenger’s called Hatta.
Studies show younger children.
Are particularly receptive.
To messages from.
Figures of authority.
“If you tell a young child.
That the war is good.
They will accept it.”
They will accept it.”
I must have two, you know
– to come and go.
One to come, and one to go.’
One to come, and one to go.’
‘I beg your pardon?
Said Alice.
‘It isn’t respectable to beg,’
said the King.
According to a researcher.
Childhood and adolescence.
Provide a genuine window of.
Opportunity for shaping attitudes.
The key question is whether.
Those attitudes will persist.
And that is where the individual’s.
Broader social world plays a key part.
“When parents actively.
Disagree with institutional messaging.
Family influence usually.
Prevails in the long run.”
‘I only meant that I didn’t understand,’
said Alice.
‘Why one to come and one to go?’
‘Don’t I tell you?’
the King repeated impatiently.
‘I must have two
– to fetch and carry.
One to fetch, and one to carry.’
However, when.
The state controls.
Most sources of information and.
Alternative narratives are limited.
The outcome is.
Less predictable.
And that is very much.
The case in ‘Mordor’.
At this moment
the Messenger arrived:
he was far too much
out of breath to say a word,
and could only wave
his hands about,
and make the most fearful
faces at the poor King.
One well-known study.
Into Nazi-era education.
Found that.
Found that.
School-based indoctrination.
Could have long-lasting effects.
Particularly when reinforced.
By the wider social environment.
‘This young lady loves you
with an H,’
the King said,
introducing Alice
in the hope of turning off
the Messenger’s attention
from himself
– but it was no use –
Implementation of the ‘orcs’.
Government’s guidelines.
Varies widely.
Varies widely.
Some schools follow.
Them enthusiastically.
While others soften.
Or sidestep them.
Teachers may adapt.
Teachers may dilute.
Or teachers may quietly resist.
The messaging.
‘This young lady loves you
with an H,’
the King said,
introducing Alice
in the hope of turning off
the Messenger’s attention
from himself
– but it was no use –
In one scene from his film.
Children in Karabash are.
Handed ‘orcs’ flags.
As they gather in the school hall.
To listen to ‘the One’ announcing.
The creation of a children’s movement.
Reminiscent of the old Soviet-era.
Pioneer youth organisation.
the Anglo-Saxon attitudes
only got more extraordinary
every moment, while the great eyes
rolled wildly from side to side.
‘You alarm me!’
said the King.
‘I feel faint
– Give me a ham sandwich!’
In another.
A class is warned that.
The enemy will try to recruit.
From their communities.
And spread propaganda.
To defeat them from within.
And spread propaganda.
To defeat them from within.
On which the Messenger,
to Alice’s great amusement,
opened a bag
that hung round his neck,
and handed a sandwich
to the King,
who devoured it greedily.
‘Another sandwich!’
The patriotic education lessons.
Are known is in ‘orcs’-language.
As “Conversations about.
Important Things”.
A 14-year-old.
From St Petersburg.
Complains they are.
Very boring.
“No one is participating.
In the discussion.
We just sit there.
And listen to the teacher.”
“And then leave.”
She explains.
“No one is participating.
In the discussion.”
said the King.
‘There’s nothing but hay left now,’
the Messenger said,
peeping into the bag.
‘Hay, then,’ the King
murmured in a faint whisper.
Alice was glad to see that
it revived him a good deal.
“Compelling citizens.
To engage in.
Public performances.
Of patriotism is a way.”
“Of reminding citizens.
Of the regime’s.
Overwhelming power.”
Says a professor of ‘orcs’ studies.
That perception is.
Reinforced by state-run media.
State-commissioned public opinion polls.
And rigged elections, he adds.
‘There’s nothing like eating hay
when you’re faint,’
he remarked to her,
as he munched away.
‘I should think throwing
cold water over you would be better,’
Alice suggested:
‘- or some sal-volatile.’
To make the most of.
“Patriotic education”.
In schools.
‘Orcs’ authorities in 2023.
Made it easier.
For school-leavers.
To join the army.
Some have been lured by.
Hefty signing-on payments.
While others were simply.
Convinced to take part.
In the war effort.
‘I didn’t say
there was nothing better,’
the King replied.
‘I said there was nothing like it.’
Which Alice did not
venture to deny.
‘Who did you pass on the road?’
the King went on,
The girl from St Petersburg.
Like her parents, believes.
‘Orcs’ war is wrong.
‘Orcs’ war is wrong.
But does not discuss it.
At school and.
Does not know.
What her classmates think.
“At first I was worried.
That I couldn’t be friends.
With those who support.
The war and ‘the One’.”
“But nowadays.
Everyone behaves.
So neutrally that.
Everything feels normal.”
holding out his hand
to the Messenger
for some more hay.
‘Nobody,’ said the Messenger.
‘Quite right,’ said the King:
‘this young lady saw him too.
So of course Nobody
walks slower than you.’
‘I do my best,’
the Messenger said in a sulky tone.
‘I’m sure nobody walks
much faster than I do!’
‘He can’t do that,’
said the King.
‘or else he’d have been
here first.
*Because I read “Russia’s school propaganda was highlighted by Oscar-winning film – but does it work?” by Olga Prosvirova & Nataliya Zotova on 21 Mar 2026, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including a story of Pavel Talankin, a story of Nina, a story of Maksim and Marina, a story of Rubtsova, a story of Willoughby, a story of Maia, and a story of Goode, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Russia’s school propaganda was highlighted by Oscar-winning film – but does it work?
