A substitute teacher from Virginia was suspended after expressing approval of Putin's invasion of Ukraine

• Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton for expressing pro-Ukraine invasion sentiments.
• Stanton "told students he supported Russia," concerned parents told the school board.

A substitute teacher from Virginia has been suspended by a local school district after expressing approval of the Ukraine invasion, according to a report from The Washington Post.

During a Spanish class at Swanson Middle School on February 25, John Stanton, a 65-year-old substitute teacher, told The Post that he devoted the first 10 minutes of class discussion around the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

"I said, 'Here's what's going on,'" Stanton told The Post earlier this week. "The statement I think that got me was I said, 'I personally support the logic of Putin,' and what I meant by that is, he made a rational decision from his perception."

He said he was trying to offer students an alternative point of view that he characterized as rarely heard, according to The Post.

He also encouraged the students to read varying news sources, including Sputnik News, which is regarded as a "state-run propaganda machine," according to a 2017 federal report compiled by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Stanton, who told The Post he had worked in the Arlington Public Schools system for three years, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Saturday.

In an email to the school board obtained by The Post, concerned parents noted that there was a Ukrainian student present in the Spanish class while Stanton made the remarks.

Stanton "told students he supported Russia, asked whether anyone in the class 'hated Russia,' and complained about rising gas prices, presumably as an effect of the current crisis," the email said.

The parents characterized Stanton's remarks as "Russian propaganda," adding that they were "wholly inappropriate," the email said, according to The Post.

Arlington Public Schools did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Stanton learned of his suspension earlier this week. A letter notifying him said the suspension was a result of "an allegation of comments made to students during instructional hours regarding sensitive world events with Russia and Ukraine," The Post reported.

Stanton told The Post that he would make the remarks again if given the chance.

"If I reached one student — and there was one student that told the kids 'Be quiet,' because he wanted to learn," Stanton said. "If for one student that is the case then I would do it again."