Analytical report «The ‘Crimea scenario’: how the Russian Federation is destroying the Ukrainian identity of children in the occupied territories»»
February 24, 2023 marks one year since the moment of announcement by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin of the so-called “Special Military Operation” (hereinafter – SMO) with the ostensible goal of “demilitarization” and “de-Nazification of Ukraine”.
In this way the Russian Federation continued its aggressive policy against Ukraine, which began in 2014 with the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (hereinafter – Crimea) and establishment of control over separate parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the guise of the so-called “people’s republics”.
Since 2014, the occupation authorities of Crimea and the administration of the So-called Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” (which are actually controlled by the central power of the Russian Federation) have performed systematical destruction of Ukrainian education and raising sense of loyalty towards the Russian Federation in the territories controlled by them.
The situation in the occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was similar to Crimea, but with key differences. Crimea was immediately “included” in the Russian Federation, and during all 9 years of occupation the top leadership of the Russian Federation emphasized the fact that Crimea belonged to the Russian Federation.
Conversely, the situation with the separate parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was completely different – until 2022, the Russian Federation persistently denied any influence on the leadership of the so-called quasi-republics, which is why the legal regime in the given territories can be best characterized as a “juridical Wild West” – a mixture of the Ukrainian and the Russian legislation with a touch of creative rulemaking of the so-called republics.
This also applies to the educational policy in the mentioned territories, where the main goal was also the destruction of the Ukrainian educational system, but this process took place under the “hybrid” scheme and was significantly different from the “Crimean scenario”, details of which will be revealed in the first section of this report.
The «Crimean scenario» of the destruction of Ukrainian education is currently being implemented in the Russian Federation-controlled territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions since 2022.
The experts of the CCE “Almenda” analyzed the situation with the use of education for militarization, destruction of Ukrainian identity and formation of the loyal attitude towards military actions and military crimes, committed by the Russian Federation in the occupied territories of Ukraine from February to December, 2022, which became the subject matter of this report.
The following questions are considered in the analytical report:
- Crimean scenario of destruction of Ukrainian education
- Implementation of the “Crimean scenario” in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions
- The year 2022 and education in the occupied Crimea
- Indoctrination and cultural genocide in the context of identity destruction
Analytical report “«The ‘Crimea scenario’: how the Russian Federation is destroying the Ukrainian identity of children in the occupied territories»” was produced within the project «EU Emergency Support for Civil Society», implemented by ISAR Ednannia with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of CCE “Almenda” and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union
