In the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, the Russian occupiers are systematically militarizing children. Children are being massively recruited into the "Unarmy", taken to Russia and forced to study Russian legislation instead of the Ukrainian program.
This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.
According to the analytical report for the first half of 2025, the occupiers have significantly increased their influence on young people through the educational system, cultural initiatives and leisure activities, using them as a means to impose Russian ideology, propaganda and militarization.
One of the main tools is the school system. In the cities of Melitopol and Henichesk, mass initiation of students into the "Yunarmiya" is held. First-graders in Melitopol are involved in the Russian project "Eaglets of Russia," and in Henichesk, demonstrations with Soviet rhetoric are organized.
In schools in the Kherson region, Russian security forces hold lectures on the so-called civic identity and statehood of the Russian Federation. Teachers are forced to sign documents supporting Russian policy, and children are forced to study Russian legislation. Refusal to participate in such activities can lead to pressure on families.
The cult of the Russian army is being spread in museums, social assistance centers and educational institutions. Children are introduced to army veterans, and in Kherson region, St. George's ribbons are handed out in social institutions.
In addition, the occupiers continue to take children to Russia under the guise of educational trips. In particular:
- about 200 children from Kherson region were sent to Adygea;
- 47 schoolchildren from Holoprystan and Oleshky districts were sent to Rostov-on-Don;
- 37 children from Kakhovka were sent to Moscow as part of the Digital Technologies program;
- 150 children - to the Gagarin camp in Yevpatoria;
- the winners of the competition from the village of Chaplynka - to the Anapa camp in Russia.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center emphasized that such actions are an attempt to total ideological influence on children and erase Ukrainian identity.
In 2026, the occupation authorities planned to hold a combat drone piloting championship for children from the age of 7. The National Resistance Center said that the Kremlin is pouring billions into training future soldiers before school, turning children into cannon fodder for someone else's war.
Анна Бальчінос