This is the hilarious moment a prankster convinced some gullible Russian teachers to wear tinfoil hats called “Helmets of the Fatherland.”
The political prankster forced teachers, from several Voronezh schools, to wear shiny hats in an attempt to demonstrate how brainwashed they had been by Kremlin propaganda.
The trickster activist Vladislav ‘Vladik’ Bokhan had told them that the tin covers would protect them and their students from radiation from NATO satellites.
Bokhan claims that Russians are so deeply conditioned to obey the tyrannical President Vladimir Putin that they will follow any official instruction, no matter how ridiculous.
In the footage of the strange moment, a teacher can be heard saying: “Making tinfoil hats is not only an interesting and creative activity, but also an important patriotic act, symbolizing the willingness to defend our homeland from external threats.” (westerners).
Gullible Russian professors were pranked into wearing tinfoil hats to protect their minds from “the transmission of Western ideas.”
Some teachers claimed that after putting on the hat they felt a “purification of thoughts,” a “boost of spirits,” a “surge of patriotism,” and a “need to help the (war).”
Aluminum head coverings are generally associated with conspiracy theories, aliens, and paranoid delusions.
“Let our hats become a symbol of unity and resilience in the face of (foreign) challenges.”
The teachers were told beforehand that they were going to participate in a “large-scale patriotic event” that would require them to make tinfoil hats.
Aluminum head coverings are often associated with conspiracy theories, aliens, and paranoid delusions.
But no doubt seemed to cross the minds of the professors who threw themselves into the task and happily constructed their hats to protect their minds from “the transmission of Western ideas.”
After placing the hats on their heads, some teachers reported feeling a “purification of thoughts,” a “boost of spirits,” a “surge of patriotism,” and a “need to help in the (war).”
Also in the images another teacher is seen saying: “Let the helmet, which you will make with your own hands, become a means of defense against the external enemies of our beautiful country.”
Explaining the prank, Bokhan – a former history teacher now living in exile – said: “During my career, I carried out a series of powerful actions in Russian schools.
“I thought I had reached the peak of absurdity, until the day I made a meme about tinfoil hats a reality.”
Bokhan tricked the teachers into believing that “malicious NATO members plan to irradiate the Russian people physically and biologically.”
Prankster Vladislav Bokhan said he was “delighted” and “surprised” that the prank worked.
The teachers were informed beforehand that they would be participating in a “large-scale patriotic event” that would require them to make tinfoil hats.
Several teachers jumped into the task and happily built their hats.
Bokhan tricked the professors into believing that “malicious NATO members plan to physically and biologically irradiate the Russian people.”
He urged them to “learn to resist this with primitive means of protection, such as a tin foil hat.”
‘I still can’t believe it happened. “I am delighted and surprised at the same time,” he said.
‘Schools have become institutions of brainwashing and repression, (and) I made the system work against itself.
“On behalf of officials, I forced these educators to perform absurd tasks, raising state propaganda to the level of absurdity.”
And he added: “Russia has positioned itself as a ‘de-Nazizing country’.
‘For me, however, Russia is an empire that represses its neighboring peoples.
“When it questions the right of nations to self-determination and of countries to exist, it resembles Nazi ideology more than anything else.”
After the funny prank, an official from the Ministry of Education said: “The teachers once again demonstrated their patriotic spirit, high efficiency and creative approach to any task; the ‘helmets’ made of aluminum foil look very convincing.”
“On the other hand, of course, it was disappointing that they couldn’t distinguish a genuine party initiative from an inappropriate joke.”