Russia is carrying out forced Russification of education in the occupied territories

Investigators of the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch discovered numerous violations by Russia of the international right of children to education in the temporarily occupied territories.

This is reported by human rights activists in a report entitled “Education under occupation: forced Russification of the education system in the occupied territories of Ukraine.”

International acts, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, require the occupying power not to change the laws, but to observe the procedures that operated in the territory before the occupation.

At the same time, disregarding the laws of war, the Russian authorities systematically limit the opportunity for Ukrainian children to receive an education.

In particular, this is manifested in the fact that the Russian Federation implements its own education system, spreads anti-Ukrainian propaganda and introduces teaching in schools in the Russian language, which violates the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Ukrainian children in the occupied territories are also given military training as part of the curriculum.

“Representatives of the Russian authorities require secondary schools in the occupied territories of Ukraine to provide the names of former students over the age of 18 whom the Russian authorities consider suitable for conscription into the Russian armed forces,” the report states.

Human rights activists discovered that Russian authorities force children to study in Russian schools by pressuring their parents. In particular, families of Ukrainian schoolchildren risk being fined, arrested or even deprived of parental rights for refusing to send their children to Russian educational institutions.

Despite this, according to Human Rights Watch, out of about a million school-age children who are in the temporarily occupied territories, more than 62,000 continue to study in Ukrainian educational institutions remotely.

“Russia should not deprive Ukrainian children of their right to education, which is guaranteed to them by international law.

It must immediately stop the Russification of the education system and its use for political propaganda in the occupied territories of Ukraine,” said Bill Van Esveld, deputy director of the children’s rights department at Human Rights Watch.

Educators are also affected by the sending of the Russian Federation, who, through coercion and sometimes even torture, are forced to work or hand over personal files of students or information about educational institutions.

The report documents a case where a school principal from Kharkiv Oblast was repeatedly tortured by security forces and held in terrible conditions for a week for refusing to provide information about the school where he worked.

Constant violations and obstacles to the education of Ukrainian children have already exacerbated the need for psychological support, as well as created difficulties for students with special needs.

The report also called the Ukrainian legislation, which provides for the prosecution of educators working under Russian occupation, problematic.

According to human rights defenders, the Ukrainian authorities should reconsider the too broad understanding of collaborationism, in particular regarding the punishment of teachers for teaching according to Russian programs.