Author

ЦГП Альменда

21.09.2023

Alarm bells of occupied education from September 1 to September 14

Statistics of children’s mutilations and damage to educational institutions; changes in school educational programs; benefits for participants of full-scale invasion in Ukraine and their children; measures that encourage obtaining a passport of the Russian Federation.

• During September 1 – 14, Russia destroyed 11 educational institutions throughout Ukraine. As a result of air attacks, six children were maimed, and two were killed.
  
• As of September 21: for the entire period from February 24, 2022, Russia damaged and destroyed 3,854 educational institutions (438 and 3,416, respectively), injured and killed 1,627 children (1,123 and 504, respectively) (according to statistical data of the CCE “Almenda” collected from open sources).
• Out-of-school lessons of Russian patriotic education, “Conversations about what is important,” are now held for school children and students of universities and colleges. Previously, these lessons were held only in schools.
• In Russia, a school career orientation course “Russia – my horizons” was introduced. Classes from this course will be held every Thursday for children in grades 6-11 throughout Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories;
• From September 1, the compulsory subject “Fundamentals of Russian Statehood” was added to higher educational institutions in Russia and the occupied territories.
• The participants of the full-scale invasion in Ukraine and their children were allowed to study for free at preparatory courses at the university.Russian youth organizations have launched the all-Russian campaign “We are citizens of Russia” for children who have reached the age of 14 and need to receive a passport from the Russian Federation. For example, after applying to the “Movement of the First” website, the child waits for a notification from the regional authorities and receives an invitation to the ceremonial presentation of the Russian passport. In addition to the handover, the child must pledge allegiance to Russia and sing the country’s national anthem.

Crimea: military at events on September 1 in schools; school diaries with propaganda material inside; theatrical performances about the so-called “special military operation”; UAV handling training.

• On September 1, the 51st Memorial Watch was accepted by the participants of “Unarmy” in Sevastopol. The Memorial Watch is an event of military education, where children armed and dressed in military uniform keep a post near the memorial monument.

• On September 1, service members of the Russian Armed Forces and representatives of the security forces of Russia were present and held classes in many schools in Crimea.

• Two hundred fifteen children (68 of whom are first-graders) of Crimea became cadets in five peninsula schools.
• In kindergartens in Sevastopol, children are told about the work of UAV operators playfully.
• The Center for Military-Patriotic Education of Russia of the Republic of Crimea held the “Young Fighter’s Course” as part of the “Saturday of an Active Yalta Citizen” project. This stage included training in handling various types of weapons, familiarization with the exhibition of search works, and acquaintance with officers of the Russian Guard. The training was conducted by military personnel from the so-called “SMO.” About 25 children took part in the event.
• A cooperation agreement was signed between the regional branch of the Sevastopol “Unarmy” and the branch of the State Fund for the Support of Participants of the so-called “SMO.”

• Pupils of the elementary school in Crimean town Krasnoperekopsk took part in an exhibition of children’s models of World War II military equipment made of cardboard and paper. Interestingly, the models have the symbols (Z V). Using these symbols, Russia attacked Ukraine and occupied many territories after February 24, 2022.

• Eight commemorative plaques to fallen soldiers of the so-called “SMO” were opened in Yalta schools.

• School diaries with propaganda material inside were distributed to all children in the occupied territories. In particular, the children received the “Diary of a Sevastopol,” which is dedicated to the “development” of the Crimean Peninsula during the ten years after the occupation.

• It is planned to open a UAV control school in Yalta. Acceptance of applications for recruitment of students to such a school is already open.
• The cadet and Cossack classes of the Crimean city of Simferopol were led to the church to demonstrate the remains of the “holy martyr”.

• In Sevastopol, a performance was shown about the events of 2014 in Donetsk and Luhansk and the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine in 2022. The titles are “The Grey Zone” and “The Lies for Salvation”. The performance was attended by the participants of the regional branch of the “Unarmy.”

• 10 children from the city of Sevastopol received a passport of the Russian Federation as part of the action “We are citizens of Russia” at an event organized by the “Movement of the First”

Donetsk region

• 166 youth soldiers of Donetsk took the oath near the Sambek Heights memorial complex. The so-called “deputy chief priest of the special military operation” “blessed” the new arrivals.

  

  

  
  

Kherson region: “Conversations about important things” with the head of the “Krympatriot Center” and representatives of the authorities of Mordovia; medal for birth in Russia; new cadet classes

• In January 2023, the “adviser on upbringing and interaction with children’s public associations” position appeared in the Kherson region within the federal program “Childhood Navigators.” The project has already involved 74 schools, five secondary vocational education institutions, and 13 thousand schoolchildren.
• In the occupied Kherson region, the presence of militaries at the September 1 school holiday was recorded.
• The head of the “Krympatriot Center” conducted an open history lesson for the children of the occupied Kherson region as part of the All-Russian action “Share your knowledge.” 
• “Krympatriot Center” is an institution that carries out the re-education and militarization of children in temporarily occupied territories. For the most part, the “history lesson” was devoted to the “achievements” of the Russian army and the succession of generations.
• The Memorial Watch “Post №1” is also carried by the children participants of “Unarmy” of Henichesk during school lessons.

Memorial Watch “Post №1”. Henichesk. Unarmy

• Medal “Born in Russia.” 4 newborns in Genichesk received an “award” from Volodymyr Saldo, the illegally declared “head of the Kherson region.”
• On September 5, the school of Lyubimovka village held a “My Country” flash mob dedicated to the “Unified Voting Day 2023”. The school’s students in grades 5-9 participated in the event.
• 34 children from Skadovsk went on a “health vacation” to Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia).
• An event for children’s drawings on the theme “I love you, Russian” was held in the kindergarten of the Ivanovo district.

• Representatives of the authorities of the Republic of Mordovia held “Conversations about what is important” with the children of the schools of the villages Kalanchak and Maxim Gorky.
• The schoolchildren of Hryhorivka village took part in a video clip as part of the all-Russian campaign “Colors of the Motherland”. A headmaster organized the video clip.
• September 13, in the village, Shchaslyvtsevo created a cadet class with the cooperation of the headmaster and the Black Sea Higher Naval School, named after P.S. Nakhimov. 20 children joined the course. There are now 4 such classes in the occupied Kherson region. About 10 cadets and Suvorov classes will be opened in the area soon.

Zaporizhzhia region: humanitarian aid for the Russian military, which children collected; a number of military and patriotic games in Berdyansk; “scientific-practical” conference in the walls of Berdyansk State Pedagogical University, captured by Russia

• Activists of the “Movement of the First” in Melitopol collected humanitarian aid for servicemen of the Russian Federation as part of the “Good is nearby” campaign.

• School No. 2 in Berdyansk was given Russian literature and textbooks with the assistance of the youth children’s center “Artek” and the “People’s Front of the Republic of Crimea.”
• In Berdyansk, the “World’s Strongest Nation” organization held a sports and patriotic game, “Guerrilla Tropes” for children.
• On September 4, a “Volunteer Youth Corps” assembly was held in Berdyansk, which included classes on military training, assembling a tent camp, and a tactical battle test.

• Children from the occupied Zaporizhia region received school diaries with propaganda material inside from the illegally declared “governor” of the Zaporizhia region, Balytskyi E.

• In the so-called “Azov State Pedagogical University,” a “scientific and practical” conference was held. The topic was “Preservation of peace and unity of the Slavic peoples in the context of integrating new subjects into the all-Russian space.”
• From September 10 to 17, the Kostyantyniv School No. 1 cadet class of the Melitopol district participated in the youth military sports game “Zarnytsia Povolzhya.” The game was held in Orenburg (Russia).

The publication was prepared by the “Centre of civil education “Almenda” as part of the “Ruined Childhood: Approaching Justice” project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the NGO “Centre of civil education “Almenda” and does not necessarily reflect the position of Civil Rights Defenders.