Children kidnapped from the occupied South of Ukraine are being trained for combat in the Russian army

The Russians are using kidnapped Ukrainian children as a strategic resource, spending billions of rubles on their Russification and militarization. In the occupied and Russian territories, even schoolchildren aged 10–12 are being involved in military-applied skills, UAV control, and weapon handling.

Russia pays special attention to children of middle and high school age. If earlier it was mainly about older teenagers, 14–18 years old, now even children aged 10–12 years old are under the Russian gunfire, who already really know how to mine, demine territories, run with machine guns, sit in landings, and control unmanned aerial vehicles. To date, Ukraine has identified 20,610 deported or forcibly displaced children by name, but in reality their number may be much higher. Despite the existing separate international initiatives, there is currently no single mechanism that would allow all children to be returned at the same time. An individual rescue operation is being developed for each child with the involvement of state and public non-governmental organizations.

Previously, the Russian authorities planned to make changes to the school curriculum and the organization of the educational process in the temporarily occupied territories. From September 1, the subject “spiritual and moral culture of the Russian Federation” will appear in schools in the temporarily occupied territories.

The newly introduced subject is aimed at imposing Russian scraps, religious and ideological concepts and a distorted interpretation of history and traditions.

In addition, the course “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland” will be divided into two separate areas – “life safety” and initial military training.