The occupying authorities in the Kherson region are sending children to military training in Russia
Source: National Resistance Center
The occupation administration of the Kherson region has launched another phase of the systematic militarization of children from the temporarily occupied territories. A group of 24 teenagers was taken outside the occupied territory—to Volgograd in the Russian Federation—under the guise of an educational project called “Pride of the Nation: The Path to Development.” The real purpose of the trip, however, is the forced integration of minors into the Russian Federation’s military infrastructure and the creation of a loyal mobilization reserve.
At the so-called “Avangard” defense and sports camp, the teenagers were trained in operating UAVs, military specialties, elements of cyber operations, and tactical training. At the same time, they were subjected to an ideological indoctrination program: visits to Mamayev Kurgan, “patriotic” ceremonies, and museum-based war propaganda. Children are deliberately being conditioned to view war as the norm and the path to development.
According to CNS sources, participants were selected through schools and lyceums under administrative pressure. School administrators were given quotas for the number of children, and parents were effectively left with no alternative—participation was presented as a “mandatory recommendation.” In several cases, families were directly warned of potential problems with payments, social assistance, and school evaluations if they refused.
Separately, the involvement of the office of the occupying governor of Kherson Oblast, Vladimir Saldo, has been documented; he publicly supports such trips and uses them as part of his own propaganda campaign. According to the CNS, it is through his office that logistics, lists of children, and coordination with Russian military-patriotic centers are managed.
Earlier, the CNS reported that the occupying authorities are systematically transporting children from the temporarily occupied territories to the Russian Federation with the aim of assimilating them. In particular, more than 400 minors from the Zaporizhzhia region were sent to the Yaroslavl region under the guise of “tourist exchanges.” And a group of schoolchildren from Shakhtarsk was taken to Sakhalin for a “university exchange.”
In fact, this constitutes the organized removal of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories to the territory of the aggressor state for the purpose of their ideological indoctrination and military socialization. This is a direct violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the involvement of children from occupied territories in military programs and war propaganda. The occupying authorities are deliberately targeting an age group that is not yet capable of critically assessing events, and are turning “educational trips” into a tool for recruiting loyalty.
The occupation administration of the Kherson region has launched another phase of the systematic militarization of children from the temporarily occupied territories. A group of 24 teenagers was taken outside the occupied territory—to Volgograd in the Russian Federation—under the guise of an educational project called “Pride of the Nation: The Path to Development.” The real purpose of the trip, however, is the forced integration of minors into the Russian Federation’s military infrastructure and the creation of a loyal mobilization reserve.
At the so-called “Avangard” defense and sports camp, the teenagers were trained in operating UAVs, military specialties, elements of cyber operations, and tactical training. At the same time, they were subjected to an ideological indoctrination program: visits to Mamayev Kurgan, “patriotic” ceremonies, and museum-based war propaganda. Children are deliberately being conditioned to view war as the norm and the path to development.
According to CNS sources, participants were selected through schools and lyceums under administrative pressure. School administrators were given quotas for the number of children, and parents were effectively left with no alternative—participation was presented as a “mandatory recommendation.” In several cases, families were directly warned of potential problems with payments, social assistance, and school evaluations if they refused.
Separately, the involvement of the office of the occupying governor of Kherson Oblast, Vladimir Saldo, has been documented; he publicly supports such trips and uses them as part of his own propaganda campaign. According to the CNS, it is through his office that logistics, lists of children, and coordination with Russian military-patriotic centers are managed.
Earlier, the CNS reported that the occupying authorities are systematically transporting children from the temporarily occupied territories to the Russian Federation with the aim of assimilating them. In particular, more than 400 minors from the Zaporizhzhia region were sent to the Yaroslavl region under the guise of “tourist exchanges.” And a group of schoolchildren from Shakhtarsk was taken to Sakhalin for a “university exchange.”
In fact, this constitutes the organized removal of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories to the territory of the aggressor state for the purpose of their ideological indoctrination and military socialization. This is a direct violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits the involvement of children from occupied territories in military programs and war propaganda. The occupying authorities are deliberately targeting an age group that is not yet capable of critically assessing events, and are turning “educational trips” into a tool for recruiting loyalty.
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