Militarization of children in TOT: occupation authorities of Kherson region brought Russian special forces to schoolchildren

At the end of last week, the occupation authorities of the Kherson region forced the children of Henichesk to meet with officers of the Russian special forces.

This was reported by the occupation administration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region.

Officers of the riot police of the regional department of the Russian Guard agitated the pupils of the Genichesk sanatorium boarding school to serve in the special units of the department. The Russian special forces officers told the Ukrainian children about their work and "its goals and objectives."

They also showed the boarding school students their equipment and gear - bulletproof vests, helmets, goggles, gloves and other items of equipment. They even made them put on the equipment. In addition, the children were given training weapons so they could compete in disassembling and assembling a training machine gun.

"Such classes form respect for the law and understanding of the need to ensure the safety of citizens in children," said Yuriy D., a member of the Russian Guard.

Kateryna Rashevska, 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."

Earlier, the "deputies" of the so-called "regional duma" of Kherson region presented a draft law "On spiritual, moral and patriotic education in Kherson region". The initiators of this bill were "deputies of the Kherson Regional Duma" from United Russia. According to the Kremlin's proxies in the occupied territories of Kherson region, "in the era of global confrontation with the West, the struggle is for the minds and hearts of people. Therefore, through patriotic education and strengthening traditional spiritual and moral values, they plan to unite Russian society and strengthen national identity. That is, to destroy the Ukrainian identity.

Previously, 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.

Олеся Ланцман