Monitoring report “Universal Soldier” (August 2022)
Russia continues to carry out war propaganda through the education and militarization of children in the occupied Crimea and the newly occupied Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
Monitoring report “Universal Soldier” for August 2022 explores the following questions:
- militarization of children on the occupied territories;
- involvement of children in actions aimed at supporting the so-called “special operation” in Ukraine;
- destruction of Ukrainian identity;
- assimilation of the population of the occupied territories;
- destruction of the Ukrainian education system.
The main trends in the militarization and Russification of education in the occupied Ukrainian territories in August
- preparation of educational institutions and educational programs for the new academic year.
The school program in the occupied territories includes the weekly classes “Conversations on important matters“, which should take place every Monday in all schools. The classes are designed to promote the patriotic upbringing of children and the de facto formation of Russian identity in Ukrainian children and the spread of Russian propaganda narratives; - lack of a sufficient number of teachers in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
In order to solve the problem, the occupation authorities continued to resort to threats, intimidation and even kidnapping of educators who refuse to teach according to Russian standards, as well as involving teachers from the territory of the Russian Federation; - continued destruction of Ukrainian identity through camps and other measures.
For example, excursions for children from Energodar to Veliky Novgorod and the recording of the video «We are together, we are Russians» on August 12 in Sevastopol.
Read even more about the actions of the Russian occupation authorities, which are aimed at destroying the Ukrainian nation as such and creating motivation for children from the occupied territories to voluntarily join the armed forces of the Russian Federation, in the report.
The monitoring was prepared by the Center of Civic Education “Almenda” within the framework of the project “Chronicles of the Ruined Childhood”. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as part of the Transition Promotion Program. The views expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
