What questions are asked to participants in the military-patriotic dictation online?

On November 28, the 2nd All-Russian Military-Patriotic Dictation started at VDNKh. The dictation is a series of fifty questions that participants must answer within an hour. On the first day, it was possible to take part in the dictation in person at more than 600 sites throughout Russia. From November 28 to December 12, everyone over 14 years old can take the test in online formatas the Kommersant correspondent did.

The second All-Russian military-patriotic dictation started on the afternoon of November 28 in the 57th pavilion of VDNKh, where the exhibition “Russia is my history” has been operating for several years: now it is also taking place as part of the international exhibition-forum “Russia”. The organizers of the dictation were the educational and methodological center for military-patriotic education of youth “Avangard” with the support of the Russian Society “Knowledge”. The Ministry of Defense, the governments of Moscow and the Moscow region, and educational institutions in the regions of Russia also provided assistance in preparing the dictation. According to the organizers, the dictation is aimed at deepening knowledge in the field of Russian military history and encourages additional study, helps to understand geopolitical processes, and fosters a sense of patriotism.”

Participants are asked to answer 50 questions in an hour, mainly related to military-historical topics.

A Kommersant correspondent took part in an online dictation. After registration, one of the options was available to him. All tasks were written in test form: among them there were closed questions (yes/no), questions with a choice of one of several answers, tasks for correlating dates and events, as well as quotes and images. Video questions were announced on the campaign website, but they were not included in the version received by the Kommersant correspondent. The participant is given a little more than a minute for each answer, the time is counted on a timer, and you cannot return to previous questions.

The test opened with questions about the heroes of a special military operation: it was proposed to determine exactly what feats were performed by Lieutenant Commander Anton Averyanov and Corporal Sergei Ageev. Thus, Sergei Ageev acted while the enemy was advancing towards a Russian military stronghold, secretly changed his position and took up an advantageous firing line. After that, he “committed a fire ram,” “destroyed an enemy mortar crew,” “destroyed an enemy squad near him and suppressed a machine gun crew,” or “surrounded the Ukrainian nationalists in a fire bag”: the participant is asked to choose one of the options. “Fire bag” and “destruction of the enemy’s mortar crew” were also among the answer options to the question about the brigade of Lieutenant Commander Averyanov.

Knowledge of the details of the special operation was required several times during the test, and the tasks concerned both the line of combat contact and the rear.

In particular, it was proposed to determine in what month Russia established control over the Kherson region, when the first attack on the Crimean Bridge took place and which buildings were attacked by drones in Moscow (among the options are the Bolshoi Theater, the State Duma, the City and the Lenin Mausoleum).

Another set of questions is devoted to types of weapons: in particular, it was proposed to determine which part of the AK-74M is shown in the photo – the bolt frame, receiver, receiver cover or machine gun cover. Under the image of the PPSh, it was proposed to put a tick in front of the appropriate type of weapon: rifle, mortar, machine gun, submachine gun. One of the questions concerned the types of drone engines.

Questions about the components of weapons and their types were unexpectedly followed by tasks in which it was necessary to correlate quotes from Soviet films with the names of these films.

The selection included “Girls”, “Gentlemen of Fortune”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and “Queen of the Gas Station”. It was also asked to remember the background of the lonely sail in Ostap Bender’s song performed by Andrei Mironov. In the cultural section, it was necessary to answer questions about which painting from the Tretyakov Gallery collection brought misfortune to its owners (“The Lacemaker” by Tropinin, “The Merchant’s Wife at Tea” by Kustodiev or “The Unknown” by Tropinin), and how long the first theatrical play staged in Russia lasted. In several tasks it was asked to determine which monuments and architectural objects are presented in the photo.

A block of questions was devoted to information about the Russian armed forces – for example, it was proposed to list the types of troops – and the political structure of the Russian Federation (it would be correct to name the number of regions included in its composition).

The historical block, as expected, focused on the events of the Great Patriotic War, but also touched on other pages of Russian military history: it was proposed, for example, to decide who Alexander Nevsky’s army defeated in the Battle of the Ice. Among the tasks there were also questions about Soviet football player Lev Yashin and actor Vyacheslav Polunin. The test ended with a proposal to name the date for Russia’s withdrawal from the “grain deal.”

Director of the Avangard Center Daria Borisova believes that dictation “helps prevent the falsification of historical facts, including those relating to today.” She recalls that over 200 thousand people took part in the first dictation, in November 2022, and believes that this year there is a chance to exceed this result.

Participants who score from 48 to 50 points, one point per question, will be considered the winners of the military-patriotic dictation. One of the reward options will be a five-day trip to the Avangard center. Prizes for the winners, among whom the Kommersant correspondent was not included in the test result, will be awarded in December at a ceremony dedicated to the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland (celebrated since 2007 on December 9).

Polina Yachmennikova