Russians took children on Christmas excursion to front line in Luhansk Oblast
It has emerged that Russian soldiers organised religious Christmas events for children near the line of contact in temporarily occupied Luhansk Oblast.
Source: National Resistance Center
Details: The National Resistance Center has reported that children were forcibly brought from settlements in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to the frontline area to take part in prayer services together with soldiers of Russia's 3rd Combined Arms Army.
The services were held in locations within the strike range of artillery and drones. Despite being aware of the very real threat of coming under fire, the organisers did not cancel the events. On the contrary, they used the children "as live props": they were made to stand next to armed soldiers, forced to stand for a long time during the service and made to take part in filming for the media.
The children were bussed in through schools and so-called patriotic organisations, frequently without the consent of their parents, the National Resistance Center said. Any refusal to participate was recorded by the occupation administrations and could lead to pressure on families, problems in educational institutions or other forms of persecution.
"Clergy controlled by the occupation administration played a separate and significant role in these events. It was they who accompanied the children in the frontline zone, blessed the soldiers, and publicly justified the presence of minors at the front with rhetoric about 'unity', 'service' and 'spiritual support for the army'.
In practice, the clergy became accomplices in the militarisation of childhood, covering dangerous actions with religious symbolism," the analysts said.
The Center stressed that this is not a one-off incident, but a systemic practice.
"The Russian occupation authorities and religious structures under their control are knowingly exposing children to deadly danger for the sake of an information effect. War is presented as a normal environment for minors, and children's lives are sacrificed to a staged image of loyalty, where weapons, the frontline, and 'blessings' become part of a scenario imposed from early childhood", the Center explained.
Background: The Russians put up a 14-metre Christmas tree outside the Drama Theatre in occupied Mariupol where hundreds of people were killed.
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