The Suvorov Military Schools are a type of boarding school in the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia and Belarus for boys of 14–18. Education in these schools focuses on military related subjects. The schools are named after Alexander Suvorov, the great 18th century general. Their naval counterparts among Russian military schools for teenagers are the Nakhimov Naval Schools. They are named after Pavel Nakhimov, the 19th century admiral.
History
The Suvorov and Nakhimov school models were created during the Second World War in December 1943 to provide boys of school age, particularly those from families of military personnel, with a secondary education specializing in military subjects and training. Boarding school aspect was particularly important at the time because many students were war orphans, who were either without parents or with only a surviving mother, unable to support them. A number still exist in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Other schools have existed in other Soviet republics. The former Kiev Suvorov Military School in Ukraine was reorganized in 1992 and named after Ivan Bohun in 1998. In July 1991, the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR signed an order making the Bishkek Suvorov Military School and the Ulyanovsk Guards Suvorov Military School. Although the school in Ulyanovsk was created, the Bishkek branch was not created due to the collapse of the USSR. Carey Schofield, a British journalist with close links to the Soviet Armed Forces, wrote in 1990–91, 'it is still generally accepted that the best way for an officer to start his career is to attend one of the very smart Suvorov or Nakhimov schools, the military boarding schools.' She noted that at that time, several of the original schools had closed, leaving eight Suvorov schools and a single Nakhimov school across the whole of the Soviet Union. Harriet F. Scott and William F. Scott, in the Russian Military Directory 2004, listed Suvorov schools active at the time in Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Moscow, St.Petersburg, Vladikavkaz, Tver, Ulyanovsk, and Ussuriysk. In 2016, the Defense Ministry announced plans to reopen the Tula SMS campus. Its new campus in Perm opened in 2014 and so is the youngest school to be opened, together with the Orenburg campus and Irtusk.
Republican Special Boarding Schools
Republican Special Boarding Schools are military schools that were created in the early 1980s on the basis of the Suvorov Military Schools. They were subordinate to the Ministry of Education of the USSR. Pupils were given a similar education as is given in the Suvorov Schools. These schools existed in the following cities:
Almaty
Ashgabat
Baku
Chișinău
Frunze
Dushanbe
Karaganda
Kryvyi Rih
Lviv
Riga
Tashkent
Tbilisi
After the collapse of the USSR, the military lyceums/high schools in the newly formed countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States were nationalized and came under the auspices of the local defense ministries.
Role
The Suvorov schools in Russia are now subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, with schools still operating in cities such as Tambov, Ekaterinburg, and Kazan. The schools today also offer to teenage boys preparing for service as officers in the Russian Army secondary education and military style training in the military traditions of the nation and the spirit of its namesake. Several Cadet Corps, a number of them recently formed, were also listed, each affiliated to a specific service branch such as the Space Forces, the Chief of Construction and Billeting, and the Signals Troops.
The Moscow Military Music College, which is a spin-off of the Suvorov Military School whose mission is to train future Rususan military musicians, is amous for its Corps of Drums, which was a participant in the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 and a regular participant in October Revolution Day and Victory Day parades. The corps's instrumentation includes snare drums, fifes, trumpets, and glockenspiels. Today, all Suvorov military schools have the traditional honor of opening all Victory Day Parades in their local city. .
