Ukrainian intelligence agency names 10 more individuals involved in militarisation of Ukrainian children under occupation

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) has published data on 10 more individuals and two legal entities involved in the militarisation of Ukrainian children under Russian occupation.

Source: DIU

Details: Among them is the so-called deputy minister of education, science and youth of Crimea.

In May 2026, a competition called Zarnitsa 2.0 was held in temporarily occupied territories (TOT) by Russia, organised by the pro-Putin youth movement Movement of the First (Dvizheniye Pervykh).

During the event, children were taught to handle weapons and explosives and to operate drones. DIU says militarist propaganda was disseminated among the participants of the competition.

"The purpose of such activities is to destroy Ukrainian identity in children and prepare them to participate in the criminal war against their own country.

The aggressor state is carrying out the forcible ideological 'reprogramming' of Ukrainian children in the TOT and shaping a future pool of recruits for its army in pursuit of its aggressive neo-imperial policy," the intelligence agency explained.

Among those involved is Russian national Artur Orlov, who heads Movement of the First. The organisation participates in the mass abduction, illegal deportation and forced displacement of children and conducts "military-patriotic" education of young people and prepares them for service in the Russian military.

"Orlov is a veteran of the armed aggression against Ukraine and holds the title of 'Hero of Russia'. He regularly holds meetings with participants of Movement of the First who are taking part in the so-called Special Military Operation (SMO)," DIU said.

The list also includes Svetlana Bespalova, the so-called deputy minister of education, science and youth of the occupation administration in Crimea. The official facilitates the integration of the peninsula's educational institutions into the Russian system and participates in the implementation of Russian policy in the sphere of education, science and youth upbringing.

In October 2023, a ceremonial unveiling of a memorial wall to "SMO heroes" took place in Crimea. At the event, Bespalova stated that a unified system of "patriotic education" was being established in Crimea.

"Commenting in April 2026 on the results of a working meeting on the preparation of textbooks for the course 'History of Our Region', she stressed that their content should be based on so-called traditional Russian spiritual and moral values," the intelligence report states.

Regional leaders of Dvizheniye Pervykh also contribute to the militarisation of children: Aleksei Lavrentyev, Marina Tsvetinskaya, Riyal Asif Ogly Aliyev, Yekaterina Kozyr and Viktoria Kostromina.

Lavrentyev organised a local stage of the Zarnitsa 2.0 game in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast. During the competition, he stated that children needed to honour the traditions of Russia's military affairs.

Kostromina, together with Yunarmiya, participated in a flower-laying ceremony at the monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. She said at the time that the younger generation should remember the history of "accession to the Russian Federation" following the Council of Pereiasliv.

The list was extended by Nikita Polyakov, chief of staff of the regional branch of Russia's Yunarmiya in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast.

Among the institutions facilitating militarisation is the youth centre Selet-AK Bars of the Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, which operates on the territory of Crimea.

Secondary school No. 5 in Simferopol and its so-called principal Dmitry Prividyon were also added to the list. According to DIU, the educational institution regularly holds events aimed at re-educating and militarising children from the temporarily occupied territories. The school's "head" himself visits combat positions of the Russian military and delivers humanitarian aid from pupils and staff to them.

Background:

• The Back to Ukraine initiative previously established that Ukrainian national Oleksandr Mustiace, who as a child found himself under occupation after 2022, joined the Russian military.
• Due to the absence of posts on his social media, it was assumed that the young man had been killed. However, his current page was later found. He stated that "Russia has always been in his heart".
• Activists subsequently established that Oleksandr's 15-year-old brother is a member of the militarised Yunarmiya movement and is under the guardianship of Anna Nazarova. The woman may be the head of the Social Protection Department of the Pervomaisky district of Rostov-on-Don.

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