From a school desk to the firing range: how Russians turn Ukrainian children into soldiers in Donetsk
Ukrainian law enforcement officers have documented cases of Russia militarising Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories: seven individuals have been served with notices of suspicion.
Source: National Police; Office of the Prosecutor General
Quote from the National Police: "Under the guise of so-called military-patriotic education, children have been systematically trained in military basics such as drill, weapons handling and combat tactics, while also being subjected to ideological indoctrination aimed at fostering hostility towards Ukraine. The programme initially involved children from Donetsk and nearby settlements, and later expanded to include those from the newly occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts."
Details: Ukrainian investigators noted that in 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defence initiated the establishment of the All-Russian Youth Military-Patriotic Movement Yunarmiya.
Its activities have since spread to the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories – Crimea and Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
The purpose of this movement is to involve Ukrainian children in military training and instil "loyalty to the new motherland".
Investigators have identified the head of the regional headquarters of the so-called Yunarmiya under the Russian-backed "Donetsk People's Republic" terror organisation, along with six local leaders who, between 2019 and 2025, recruited more than 6,000 Ukrainian children in Donetsk Oblast. The children were promised privileges and career opportunities in the Russian Armed Forces.
The suspects encouraged the recruitment of minors into the Russian Armed Forces and organised military training, particularly weapons handling, drills and participation in so-called "military" events. They also produced and circulated propaganda materials that denied and justified Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.
There have been multiple cases of graduates of the so-called Yunarmiya joining the Russian Armed Forces after reaching adulthood and taking part in combat operations against Ukraine.
On 15 March 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defence issued an order to involve Yunarmiya members in the so-called "special military operation" – Russia's propagandist term for its war against Ukraine.
According to Russia's Strategy for the Development of Patriotic Education, at least 10% of new army recruits must come from the Yunarmiya.
Juvenile prosecutors at the Office of the Prosecutor General have charged seven Ukrainian citizens with criminal offences connected to the recruitment of minors into the military-patriotic movement controlled by the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories.
Background: In a report dated 1 March 2024, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child specifically urged Russia to immediately cease its policy of politicising and militarising children in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
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