Poems about "Ukrainian Nazism" and videos of tortured Ukrainian troops: how Russian propaganda works in schools under occupation
Russian forces have turned schools in temporarily occupied Luhansk Oblast into bases for their military operations, and children have been forced to attend ideological classes and watch videos of captured Ukrainian soldiers.
Source: analytical report by the East SOS charitable foundation on violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine's education sector
Details: The Russian occupying authorities sought to convince children that the commission of war crimes against Ukraine's Armed Forces is acceptable and even commendable, while also attempting to erode their Ukrainian identity.
Children in the temporarily occupied territories have been required to receive education according to Russian standards since 2014. This practice has undergone significant expansion and widespread adoption since 2022.
Quote from a woman in the report: "I think it was 2017. The Russian military from the so-called 'Donetsk People's Republic' (DPR) came to our school. We were all gathered in the assembly hall. A video was shown on the projector depicting a terrorist forcing Ukrainian soldiers at Donetsk airport to kneel, cut a Ukrainian flag chevron from their sleeves and make them chew it.
We were so little, and they forced us to watch. I can still remember it. We were probably nine or ten years old."
Details: The Russian occupation authorities developed special teaching materials for schools in temporarily occupied territories. In 2022, these materials were distributed to schools in Kherson. Teachers were required to justify the legality of the Russian occupation on the first day of the school year.
Ukrainian was taught as a foreign language once a week. In temporarily occupied Luhansk Oblast, parents were required to submit statements requesting a reduction in the time their children spent studying Ukrainian.
Quote from respondents in the report: "The Ukrainian language was quickly eliminated. A message from the parents' chat was forwarded to the teachers. A statement had to be written requesting that Ukrainian be taught for just one hour a week. These statements were indeed written.
Until the end of 2022, they [the Russians] still used Ukrainian textbooks but forced [students] to speak Russian at school."
Details: The Russian occupation authorities pushed for the Russification of children in the temporarily occupied territories, with Russian language and literature lessons being introduced as a part of extracurricular activities. As a result, students were forced to learn Ukrainian secretly. Additionally, students from temporarily occupied territories have been secretly learning in Ukrainian schools remotely since the full-scale invasion began.
Schoolchildren were forced to attend tours of sites celebrating the so-called "Great Patriotic War" – the Russian term for Nazi Germany's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union – as well as events commemorating Russian service members killed in the so-called "Luhansk People's Republic" (LPR) and DPR since 2014. Children were also compelled to take part in celebrations of significant dates in Russia's history.
Quote from respondents in the report: "The entire school was gathered, and even students from other schools were brought by bus. They escorted us to the 'Memorial of Defenders of Donbas'. Russian flags also appeared there. The purpose of this event was to pay tribute to the memory of those who died in the 'liberation' of Donbas.
But it was not presented as a World War II liberation; instead, they drew parallels with what is happening today. It was 2021, Russian flags were everywhere, and a boy of eight or nine came on stage to read a poem about 'Ukrainian Nazism'."
Details: The Russians also imposed religious teachings from the Russian Orthodox Church on children and introduced a lesson called "Conversations about the Important". The respondents said students were told how much Russia does for Donbas and its residents.
The Russian military also attended these classes, spreading false information about the war and convincing children that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were deliberately striking civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities.
In addition, the occupying authorities promoted service in the Russian armed forces and fostered a distorted view of warfare among young people, portraying murders and war crimes against Ukrainians as normal and even heroic.
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