Young people from the Kherson region taken to Russia for a propaganda forum

Russian forces transported a group of young people from the temporarily occupied Kherson region to Yekaterinburg to participate in the so-called International Youth Festival. In doing so, the aggressor state continues to exploit Ukrainian citizens for its propaganda activities and impose a Russian identity upon them.

Russian officials claimed that 70 residents of the Kherson region competed for the chance to “represent” the area. Following the selection process, five individuals were included in the delegation.

In total, approximately 10,000 young people from 191 countries are reportedly participating in the event. A “global youth march” was organized for the attendees, and Putin, who was present at the event, urged them to join Russian projects or “build a just world” in their own countries.

Previously, in occupied Crimea, Russian authorities involved teenagers aged 14 and older in drone-piloting competitions as part of the so-called “Crimean Drone League.” Such events are part of the systematic militarization of Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories, aimed at eventually recruiting them into the Russian army. The competitions took place in Simferopol at the Simferopol Technical College of Transport and Infrastructure.

Russia uses abducted Ukrainian children as a strategic resource, spending billions of rubles on their Russification and militarization. Russia pays particular attention to children of middle and high school age.