Russians force schoolchildren to assemble drones in the occupied territories

In the temporarily occupied territories, the invaders are creating engineering classes to teach teenagers how to assemble drones for the needs of the Russian army.

According to the Center for National Resistance, the classes are being opened with the support of the occupation administrations, including the so-called ministries of education. The Russians have already approved a program to expand the network of these classes by 2030.

"In this way, the enemy deliberately violates international law and engages civilians in work for the needs of its own army. In this case, we are also talking about minors, which is an additional aggravating circumstance," the Center notes.

Also in the annexed Crimea, children in the Russian-occupied Artem recreation center are forced to spend at least six hours a week producing aid for the Russian army. The children have to assemble drones, weave camouflage nets, make trench candles and raise funds for medicines.

Earlier, <b>Kateryna Rashevska</b>, a lawyer at the Regional Center for Human Rights, said that the re-education of Ukrainian teenagers and youth is very well integrated into the policy of the Russian Federation, and it is carried out by bodies of different levels - federal, regional, occupation and even Ukrainian collaborators:

"This is a set of measures aimed at militarizing and politically indoctrinating Ukrainian children through both formal and non-formal education. Both in the occupied territory and in the territory of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus."

Before that, the occupation authorities of the Kherson region forced children to tear up the graves of victims of Nazi mass shootings in 1941-1943 near Henichesk. The invaders called this involvement of schoolchildren in the exhumation of human remains"patriotic education." In addition to children, heavy machinery was also involved in the "search work," which could simply destroy the burial site.

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