The Kremlin is taking a page from the former Soviet Union’s playbook by emphasizing the political indoctrination of the armed forces now mired in a long and costly fight in neighboring Ukraine.

Last week, the Russian Ministry of Defense rolled out the first issue of Politruk, a new training journal for the military. It is intended to help instructors carry out the political education of the troops, British officials said Monday.

Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Goremykin, who heads the main political directorate of the Russian military, said Politruk “draws heavily” on the legacy of Soviet military publications aimed at the political education of military personnel, British military officials said on social media, citing longtime Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as one model.

“Goremykin cites Stalin on the importance of political education of soldiers and the need to mortally hate the enemy,” U.K. officials said on X in their latest assessment of the battlefield conditions in Ukraine. “The journal emphasizes that the enemy in Ukraine today is the same as the enemy the Soviet Union was fighting, namely the Nazis.”

The journal also casts doubt on the authenticity of Ukrainian statehood as part of its mission to justify the invasion, echoing the comments of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Politruk reflects the politicized use of history in Russia that has become a prominent feature of the country’s educational system in recent years, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine. It continues to peddle a false narrative about the war that the Kremlin has been using to influence the population in general and military personnel in particular, British officials said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.