Cadet class and the Russian anthem: the director of the occupiers' school in Kherson region will be tried

A woman who headed a seized school during the occupation and implemented Russian educational standards will be tried in Kherson region. According to investigators, she confiscated Ukrainian books, forced children to learn the Russian national anthem, and collaborated with the occupation administration.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office submitted to the court an indictment against a resident of the region who is suspected of implementing the educational standards of the aggressor state and aiding and abetting Russia.

The investigation found that in August 2022, while in the temporarily occupied territory of Skadovsk district, the woman agreed to head the seized Vadym school, which the occupation authorities included in the Russian education system.

According to law enforcement officers, she organized the educational process according to Russian curricula, introduced teaching in Russian and convinced local residents to send their children to school. Parents who refused were allegedly threatened with deprivation of parental rights.

Also, according to the investigation, the accused removed Ukrainian literature from the library, replacing it with books in Russian, dismantled Ukrainian state symbols and organized the registration of the educational institution with the tax authorities of the Russian Federation.

In addition, she handed over the school's property to the occupation administration, recruited employees and conducted propaganda activities with the participation of representatives of the occupation authorities and the Russian military.

Under the leadership of the pseudo-director, the school created a so-called "cadet class" where children were forced to wear Russian-style uniforms and learn the anthem of the aggressor state.

The woman is currently on the wanted list. The trial will be held in absentia.

The court also found Andrii Hropianov, a former master of industrial training at the Kherson Professional Lyceum of Communications and Printing, guilty of collaboration and aiding the enemy. In 2022, he headed an educational institution illegally established by the occupiers in occupied Kherson.

Анна Бальчінос