This study analyses the impact of the war in Ukraine and related state initiatives aimed at the militarization and unification of Russian education on the daily lives and value systems of teachers. The empirical basis of the research consists of 43 semi-structured interviews with educators from 11 regions of Russia and the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic”. The responses of these participants do not support the traditional view of the school as a ‘victim’ or the dominance of ‘silent’ or ‘resisting’ teachers. Based on the data, the study concludes that state initiatives of any kind have a highly indirect effect on the everyday professional practices of Russian schoolteachers. Anti-war and humanistic values are not decisive for their daily work, and the war in Ukraine primarily provokes personal and practical concerns rather than political or emotional protest.
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