The “University sessions” Program as a Tool Continuing to Erase the Ukrainian Identity of Children from Occupied Territories
Almost immediately after the commencement of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the RF) began active psychological influence operations on the population of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as TOT). The occupying authorities have particularly focused on children and youth, the most vulnerable segment of the population, whose future they attempt to shape according to Russian ideological narratives. For this purpose, both direct and covert mechanisms of propaganda, indoctrination, and Russification are employed. One of the most extensive tools in this process is the “University Shifts” program. While this program may initially appear to be an educational or career orientation initiative, it is, in fact, a carefully planned mechanism for systematically influencing the worldview, identity, and civic consciousness of children from the TOT. Its implementation violates the norms of international humanitarian law and exhibits signs of forced assimilation.
What is the “University sessions” program?
The “University sessions” program is a unified educational and career guidance initiative implemented by the Russian government in the summer of 2022, following a personal directive from Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was launched as a pilot project for children from the occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Participants of the “University sessions” are children aged 12–17 (later the minimum age was raised to 14), who are taken to Russian university campuses for ten-day sessions as part of the program. The organizers of the “University sessions” include the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Enlightenment of the Russian Federation, with the participation of Rosmolodezh, the Znanie Society, and the “Movement of the First” initiative.
The stated formal objective of conducting the “University sessions” is career guidance and familiarization with the opportunities of Russian higher educational institutions (hereinafter referred to as HEIs), as well as the formation of Russian identity. In reality, the aim is to impose Russian identity on children from the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) by displacing their Ukrainian identity, fostering loyalty and patriotism towards the aggressor country, and creating a distorted perception of Ukraine as an allegedly “Nazi” and “hostile” state. Additionally, through key executors, Russian higher educational institutions encourage Ukrainian children to enroll in them with the prospect of permanent residence in Russia. This, in turn, is part of a long-term strategy aimed at altering the demographic composition of the population in the TOT.
The achievement of the goal is accomplished through the development of change programs, which include invariant and variable components, divided into six mandatory modules: educational, cultural-patriotic, supra-professional, sports, excursion, and recreational. However, a mandatory condition of the program is a patriotic focus (author’s note – in the specified context, towards the Russian Federation), which runs as a red thread through all the activities of the “University sessions”.
After the first pilot phase in June 2022, the “remarkable effect” of the program on children’s consciousness was reported directly to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. This indicates that the program contributes to achieving the desired results for Russia—”strengthening the sense of belonging to Russia”, “realizing oneself as part of the Russian people” and “enhancing patriotic feelings towards Russia” among Ukrainian children. In reality, this means the destruction of Ukrainian civic and national identity.
Having highly evaluated the results of the pilot version of the project in 2022, V. Putin, in his instructions to the Russian State Council, mandates the continuation of the “University sessions” on a permanent basis, forming a program of civil-patriotic and socially beneficial youth tourism, which includes the aforementioned project.
Research on Potential Threats to the “University sessions” Program
In 2024, the Center for Civic Education “Almenda” conducted a study on the use of the “University sessions” program as a tool for the eradication of Ukrainian identity and the indoctrination of children and youth from the temporarily occupied territories. The study identified potential threats of the program’s continuation. As an instrument of policy for the forced integration of children and youth from the temporarily occupied territories into the legal and cultural space of the Russian Federation, the program is systematically aimed at:
- the destruction of Ukrainian identity – through lectures with propagandistic content, Russian symbols, narratives about “unity of peoples,” and distortion of Ukraine’s history;
- indoctrination – through glorification of the Russian Federation, discrediting Ukraine as an allegedly “Nazi” state, and imposing Russian civic identity;
- demographic change in the temporarily occupied territories – through the displacement of the Ukrainian population via “educational migration,” effectively encouraging the settlement of children from the temporarily occupied territories in Russia;
- institutional legitimization of occupation – the establishment of a system of interaction between the temporarily occupied territories and Russian higher education institutions, the signing of cooperation agreements, and the integration of the temporarily occupied territories into the Russian educational space.
It is particularly alarming that the participation of children in the program occurs without the consent of the state of Ukraine, which directly contradicts the norms of international law. There are known cases where orphans or children from orphanages were taken to the Russian Federation without the legal consent of their lawful guardians, which effectively constitutes forcible transfer, prohibited by Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
It is worth noting that the participants of the program (i.e., children from the temporarily occupied territories) are in a state of vulnerability: they are deprived of access to alternative Ukrainian education, forced to study according to Russian standards, and required to obtain Russian passports to continue their education and receive social services. This creates a closed loop in which a child cannot obtain an educational certificate or medical assistance without the passport of the occupying country.
In addition to humanitarian and legal violations, the participation of children in the “University sessions” program contradicts the basic provisions of Articles 8, 29, and 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legal qualification of these actions may include violations of the Hague Regulations (1907, Article 43), the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949, Article 50), and customary norms of international humanitarian law.
We detailed the program in our analytical report, “The ‘University sessions’ Program as the instrument for the destruction of Ukrainian identity and the indoctrination of children and youth from the temporarily occupied territories,” which is available at the following link.
Have the violations been ceased?
Given the seriousness of the violations committed by the Russian Federation within the framework of the “University sessions” program, as well as the broad participation of various entities, including Russian higher education institutions that continue active international activities, Ukrainian civil society organizations and the academic community have signed a joint Statement calling for the complete dissolution of all relations with Russian universities involved in indoctrination of children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
At that time, the official websites of some Russian universities involved in the “University sessions” initiative indicated ongoing cooperation with international partners, including educational institutions and organizations from the European Union, the USA, Asia, China, Japan, and Turkey, as well as the continuation of student mobility programs like Erasmus+.
However, the “University sessions” program has not only continued but is expanding each year. Statistics and facts:
- In 2022 — 10,611 children from the temporarily occupied territories participated. The project was implemented by 42 higher education institutions from 27 regions of the Russian Federation, of which 30 were pedagogical universities.
- In 2023 — there are 10,900 children involved, with 81 universities from 47 regions of the Russian Federation participating, over 50 of which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
- In 2024 — approximately 15,000 children, with 90 universities. The geographical coverage extends from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok (virtually the entire territory of the Russian Federation).
- In 2025 — over 16,000 children. Involvement of 116 higher education institutions.
Project implementation costs — 150 million rubles (~1.8 million USD).
On April 14, 2025, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated at a government meeting that the project is significant for fostering a loyal young generation from the new territories. He noted that the President of the Russian Federation assessed this initiative as successful in integrating children from the temporarily occupied territories into the culture and traditions of the Russian Federation.
Season of “University sessions” 2025
On June 6, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation announced the start of the fourth season of the “University sessions” project for over 16,000 children, including those from the occupied territories of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. The 2025 season will consist of 9 sessions, running from June to September.
As in previous years (beginning in 2023), part of the 10-day program sessions is conducted on a competitive basis for members of the “Movement of the First.” Among the participants in the sessions in 2025 are 3,000 children who have passed such a competitive selection. Notably, the organizers emphasize the de facto prohibition on declining participation in the “University sessions”, referring to section 7.2 of the Procedure for Organizing and Conducting the Competitive Selection of Educational and Tourist Programs “University sessions”, which states that “Refusal to participate… entails the forfeiture of rights to participate in the Program in subsequent years”.
The initial transfers have already commenced to universities across the entire territory of the Russian Federation, including Rostov-on-Don, Kostroma, Arkhangelsk, Tambov, Nalchik, Ryazan, and Moscow.
This year, as part of the program, a special segment dedicated to the “80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War” will be integrated, presented in the context of Russian propagandist interpretation. Specifically, it includes a lecture by the “Znanie” society on the topic “Serving the Motherland: From Generation to Generation“. This lecture draws direct parallels between the events of World War II and the so-called “special military operation” (hereafter referred to as SMO), aimed at glorifying the participants in the war against Ukraine. Participants are indoctrinated with the narrative that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is allegedly a necessary response to external threats to Russia’s national security, including NATO expansion and “radical Ukrainian nationalism,” and aims at the “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine,” as well as the “protection” of the Russian-speaking population in the Donbas, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Additionally, the lecture includes a discussion on the types of weapons necessary for victory.
The first participants of the “University sessions” program in 2025 were children from the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region:
- Children who are participants in the “Movement of the First” have been taken to the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to the “Artek” camp, where they became participants in the specialized “University Shift” program.
- 80 schoolchildren were taken to the Russian Federation to the Derzhavin Tambov State University, where, according to the organizers, the children will be able to determine their future career choices.
- 55 children have been transported to the Chuvash State University named after I.N. Ulianov (over 1700 km away from the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region), where they will participate in events including a themed evening titled “Being with Russia”/”I am a Citizen of My Country”.
- 39 high school students were taken to the Dagestan State Technical University. Over ten days, the children were immersed in “student life” and introduced to the local culture, aimed at integrating Ukrainian children into the Russian educational and cultural space.
- 41 schoolchildren were taken to the Oryol region of the Russian Federation, where, according to the organizers, the Oryol State University named after I.S. Turgenev “opened up prospects for professional and personal development”.
- Students from the so-called “Melitopol College of Transport and Service” were taken to the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia. There, among other activities, they visited the mobile museum “Victory Train,” an exhibition dedicated to the events of World War II as interpreted by Russian historical propaganda. The exhibition emphasizes the heroization of the Soviet army and the crimes of Nazism, which is used to instill loyalty to Russian historical narratives in Ukrainian children and to justify the current Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Is the Autonomous Republic of Crimea involved?
In the first session of the “University sessions” program in 2025, there is no information regarding the participation of higher education institutions from the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is quite likely that they will be involved in subsequent sessions of the program, considering the activity of Crimean institutions in previous years. For instance, in 2024, the so-called Crimean Federal University named after V.I. Vernadsky (hereinafter referred to as CFU) was the organizer of the “University sessions”, where approximately 200 children from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region were relocated.
As part of the “University sessions” program, KFU imposed the “mission, values, and directions of work of the ‘Movement of the First'” on children from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region. A separate element included meetings of children with veterans of the so-called Special Military Operation (SMO), who openly supported the necessity of conducting the so-called SMO and shared their military training experiences. According to the so-called director of the “Pre-University Center of KFU named after V.I.Vernadsky,” Vsevolod Tubaltsev, it is very important for children to communicate with “veterans,” as this represents the “continuity” of generations.
Such events involving Russian military personnel are intended to glorify them in the eyes of children, justify the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine, and place the blame for it on the Ukrainian side.
Despite the lack of confirmation regarding the participation of higher education institutions from the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the first session of 2025, previous experience indicates that Crimean educational institutions have actively engaged in the program and played a significant role in its implementation, particularly through the promotion of Russian ideological narratives among children from the temporarily occupied territories.
Weak response = program scaling
The “University sessions” program is part of the Russian Federation’s policy aimed at eradicating Ukrainian national identity and indoctrinating children from the temporarily occupied territories. Under the guise of a career guidance initiative, a large-scale campaign is being implemented to cultivate loyalty to the occupying country among children, impose Russian identity, and integrate children into the educational and cultural space of the Russian Federation with the long-term goal of altering the demographic composition in the temporarily occupied territories.
Despite numerous violations of international humanitarian law, the program was not only not terminated but was significantly expanded. One of the key reasons for this was that the international community failed to fully isolate Russian universities academically, which are direct executors of propaganda tools and ideological influence on Ukrainian children.
The preservation of certain international academic connections, the participation of individual Russian universities in exchange programs such as Erasmus+, and the absence of clear sanction decisions have allowed for the expansion of the scope and geography of the “University sessions” program.
An uncompromising response from Ukraine’s international partners is necessary—complete cessation of cooperation with universities participating in the “University sessions” program or any other initiatives that exhibit signs of violating international law norms in the context of the war against Ukraine.
Material was prepared by the Center for Civic Education “Almenda” within the framework of the project “Defending Identity: Protecting Ukrainian Children in Occupied Territories”. The content of this document is the sole responsibility of the Public Organization “Center for Civic Education “Almenda” and does not necessarily reflect the position of Civil Rights Defenders.
