Russian “Anti-Terror” Policy: Repression of Children and Young People in Occupied Crimea
At first glance, the existence of legal acts in the field of countering terrorism and extremism, including those providing for the criminal prosecution of offenders, appears entirely natural and necessary for any state governed by the rule of law. In democratic countries, such documents are aimed at preventing genuine threats, including the activities of radical groups that endanger society and the state, and at ensuring fair punishment for crimes committed.
In Russia, however, these mechanisms have long lost their original purpose and have largely turned into instruments of political repression. Under the pretext of combating terrorism and extremism, dissent is systematically persecuted – above all for pro-Ukrainian views, but also for any form of dissatisfaction with the state’s actions.
Such practices of intimidation and repression for holding pro-Ukrainian views were first applied by the Russian authorities in 2014 in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (hereinafter – TOT) – in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as in the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” under their control. After the start of the full-scale invasion, they spread to the newly occupied territories and took on an even more systematic and large-scale form: Ukrainian organisations are increasingly listed as “extremist organisations”, while Ukrainian teenagers are labelled “extremists and terrorists”.
These approaches are now openly entrenched at the state level. The new Comprehensive Plan to Counter the Ideology of Terrorism in the Russian Federation for 2024–2028 (hereinafter – the Comprehensive Plan) sets out specific target groups, methods and mechanisms that Russia uses for so-called “prevention”, in the sense of re-educating, controlling and pressuring those who disagree with the Russian authorities.
Contents of the Comprehensive Plan
On 30 December 2023, the Comprehensive Plan was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It became a logical continuation of Russia’s repressive policy, in which the fight against terrorism has been turned into a cover for ideological pressure, especially on Ukrainian citizens living in the TOT. Its implementation is said to be “aimed at shaping in the population, on the basis of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, a rejection of the ideology of terrorism and resilience to its propaganda”.
The previous plan was approved in 2018 and was in force from 2019 to 2023. Summing up the results of its implementation, Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) of Russia Igor Sirotkin stated: “First of all, it should be noted that we succeeded in building a system to protect the population of Russia from the propaganda influence of international terrorist organisations at the federal, regional and municipal levels”.
The new Comprehensive Plan lists, among other things, so-called “Ukrainian nationalism and neo-Nazism” as part of the “ideology of terrorism”. As a result, anyone expressing a pro-Ukrainian stance is automatically categorised as “dangerous”, regardless of any real threat. It is particularly telling that among the target groups for preventive influence is the “population of the new subjects of the Russian Federation” –that is, residents of the TOT – previously “under the control of the Kyiv regime”.
The implementation of the Comprehensive Plan provides for intensive “educational” work with young people who lived in Ukrainian territories before their occupation. This includes updating school programmes and producing special teaching materials that in reality distort history and portray Ukraine as a source of terrorism. The Russian authorities require schools to organise lectures, film screenings, campaigns such as the “Hero’s Desk”, and meetings with participants of the so-called “special military operation”, in order to instil in children an “anti-terrorist worldview” – in practice, rejection of everything Ukrainian. They are also expanding the practice of naming schools, streets and parks after Heroes of the Russian Federation who “distinguished themselves” in the fight against terrorism, especially against “Ukrainian nationalist and neo-Nazi armed groups” that Russia has designated as terrorist organisations.
The above-mentioned Deputy Director of the FSB of Russia, Igor Sirotkin, stated in an interview that “the Ukrainian authorities and their Western sponsors, unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, are stepping up their information and propaganda influence on our population in order to draw certain citizens into subversive and terrorist activity”. It was precisely to “neutralise such ambitions” that changes were introduced to preventive work, new target groups were identified, and the “educational influence” on young people was strengthened both within school subjects and in extracurricular activities.
The Comprehensive Plan provides for individual preventive measures, particularly concerning “teenagers and children who have been under the influence of Ukrainian nationalist and neo-Nazi structures”. Implementation of this section includes monitoring social networks, analysing children’s pages, carrying out psychological assessments and conducting pedagogical observation. Sirotkin stressed that such measures are “effective barriers” intended to prevent the “mass recruitment of young people into terrorist activities by Ukrainian special services and neo-Nazi organisations”.
In addition to the Comprehensive Plan, Russian legislation on countering terrorism and extremism includes a wide range of legal acts. These include the Federal Law “On Countering Terrorism”, the Presidential Decree “On Measures to Counter Terrorism”, the Concept for Countering Terrorism in the Russian Federation, the Federal Law “On Countering Extremist Activity”, the Presidential Decree “On Approving the Strategy to Counter Extremism in the Russian Federation until 2025”, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (in the relevant articles), and a number of others. In the context of the TOT, these documents have in practice become tools of repression against Ukrainian citizens, including children and young people.
How the Comprehensive Plan Is Implemented in Occupied Crimea
In April 2024, a “working group for the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to Counter the Ideology of Terrorism in the Russian Federation for 2024–2028” was set up in occupied Crimea. It was headed by Oleksii Zinchenko, head of the so-called “State Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea”. Alongside Zinchenko, the group included two other representatives of this body: Ani Hrihoryan – the so-called “Deputy Head of the Committee” and, at the same time, Deputy Head of the working group; and Dmytro Kolesnyk – the so-called “Head of the Department for Promoting a Culture of Security in the Youth Environment of the Committee”, who serves as Secretary of the working group.
The working group also includes representatives of other so-called “state bodies” – the ministries of education and health, the committee on interethnic relations, and others. Its powers cover monitoring and evaluating the implementation of “anti-terrorist” measures, assessing regional risks and coordinating actions between agencies, as well as fostering so-called “anti-terrorist awareness” and carrying out information and propaganda campaigns.
In August 2024, the occupation authorities approved the “Action Plan for the Implementation of the Comprehensive Plan in the Territory of the Republic of Crimea”, which was updated in April 2025 after the previous document was no longer in effect.
The occupation “State Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea” is one of the key bodies responsible for implementing “preventive measures” and reports on their execution. It organises seminars for educators and involves young people in public events, including initiatives such as “Dialogue among Equals” with participants of the so-called “special military operation”. The committee also carries out activities aimed at fostering “rejection of the ideology of terrorism” among young people, including those who arrived from the TOT of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and other parts of Ukraine, which in practice amounts to the eradication of Ukrainian identity. Within these initiatives, “anti-terrorist themes” are integrated into educational, cultural and sports activities with the participation of “opinion leaders, public figures, representatives of traditional religious denominations and youth organisations”.
Key Figures: Zinchenko and His Deputies
Oleksii Zinchenko was born on 24 February 1995 in the village of Donske, Simferopol district, AR of Crimea. In July 2022, he was appointed head of the so-called “State Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea” and became one of the key figures in shaping the occupation youth policy in Crimea.
Zinchenko is responsible for involving young people in militaristic initiatives and serves as a loyal accomplice of the Russian regime in the systematic eradication of the Ukrainian identity of children and young people.
For collaboration, in December 2024 the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced him in absentia to eight years in prison, with a ten-year ban on holding public office and confiscation of property.
Ani Hrihoryan, the so-called “Deputy Head of the State Committee for Youth Policy”, has also been served with a notice of suspicion in absentia for collaboration. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, she was appointed to this “position” in November 2022 under the personal patronage of Aksyonov “to impose Kremlin propaganda on the younger generation on a mass scale”. In addition, Hrihoryan publicly calls on Crimean schoolchildren to prepare for war against Ukraine and to enrol in Russian military schools.
In addition to Ani Hrihoryan, Zinchenko has another deputy – Anton Starostin, a participant in the “Time of Heroes” personnel programme carried out on Putin’s instructions. For his involvement in the so-called “special military operation”, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation under a classified decree of the Russian president.
What Does the Crimean Plan Involve? Some Figures from the Fight against So-Called “Ukrainian Neo-Nazism”
The plan contains 106 measures covering all areas of influence on young people: education, culture, sport, media and religion. All of this is presented as “countering the ideology of terrorism”, but the focus is on:
- Patriotic upbringing according to the Russian model;
- Promoting the image of the Russian soldier as a hero;
- Shaping an “anti-terrorist worldview”, which in practice means indoctrinating children and young people in the TOT of the AR of Crimea and persecuting them for pro-Ukrainian beliefs.
In the text of the Crimean plan, Ukrainian national values are deliberately distorted and presented as a threat linked to “terrorism” and “neo-Nazism”. This enables the occupation administration to justify measures aimed not only at addressing genuine security challenges but also at suppressing expressions of Ukrainian identity.
Under the pretext of “fighting terrorism”, young people are being militarised: activities include the “Zarnitsa” war game, military-patriotic training camps, tournaments, meetings with participants of the so-called “special military operation”, and mass events promoting the cult of war, often in the form of games and competitions.
The Crimean occupation authorities devote special attention in the plan to the total monitoring of the Internet (social networks, Telegram channels and so on) with the declared aim of detecting “destructive content”, but in reality targeting any expression of critical thinking, alternative views or Ukrainian identity.
In 2024, the so-called “State Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea” reported on additional measures to counter the spread of the “ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and neo-Nazism”, including among young people. The report also cited data on mass monitoring of Internet users and the conduct of thousands of “preventive measures” in educational institutions.
In addition, the committee reports on work with children who arrived from other TOT – the so-called “new subjects of the Russian Federation”. As of 20 June 2024, there were 819 children in this category enrolled in preschools in occupied Crimea, with another 91 on the waiting list. During the 2023/2024 academic year, 3,475 such children studied in Crimean schools, 365 in vocational education institutions and 541 in higher education institutions. All of them were subjected to “preventive measures”.
This demonstrates the occupiers’ systematic use of education to reshape children’s minds, turning them into carriers of an ideology that claims to fight “Ukrainian nationalism and neo-Nazism” but in reality justifies the war against Ukraine and destroys Ukrainian national identity.
Some Figures of the “Anti-Terrorist Campaign” in Occupied Crimea (2024)
- 500,000 accounts were checked in the first half of the year by the Internet Monitoring Centre, which is subordinate to the occupation “State Committee for Youth Policy”.
Accounts identified as containing “destructive content” were referred to the police and agencies responsible for preventive measures.
- 80 Telegram channels, 22 VKontakte communities and about 25 news outlets are kept under daily surveillanceby the local FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the occupation “Ministry of Internal Policy”.
- 11,450 lectures and talks were held in educational institutions to explain the “criminal nature of terrorist, Ukrainian nationalist and neo-Nazi organisations”.
- 293 administrative offence reports were filed over five months, including:
- 110 for the public display of Nazi symbols (in practice Ukrainian symbols, since the document refers to measures against “Ukrainian nationalism and neo-Nazism”)
- 179 for “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces
- — 4 for distributing extremist materials.
- 9 criminal cases were opened against individuals accused of committing offences on the Internet.
- 815 educational and methodological materials were updated with an emphasis on “countering the spread of the ideology of neo-Nazism by Ukrainian radical structures”.
Thus, Russia’s counter-terrorism policy in the TOT is aimed not at ensuring security but at eradicating Ukrainian identity, especially among children and young people. Through state control mechanisms, particularly educational institutions and youth organisations, behavioural models are imposed that demand loyalty to the Russian regime, service to it and rejection of Ukrainian origin. The Comprehensive Plan and its related documents have effectively legalised mass ideological indoctrination under the guise of “prevention”.
The so-called “authorities” also play a distinct role in this system, in particular the occupation “State Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea” led by Oleksii Zinchenko, which not only coordinates “anti-terrorist” activities but also oversees youth initiatives that instil in teenagers a rejection of everything Ukrainian.
The impact of this policy becomes especially dangerous in cases of resistance. If “prevention” fails to achieve results, criminal proceedings are opened against pupils, teachers or activists, accompanied by coercive administrative measures and public harassment. Although only individual cases of such incidents are available in open sources, the true scale of repression is hard to imagine given the closed nature of the system and the complete control of the information space.
Thus, schools, youth policy and state “anti-terrorist measures” in Crimea are being turned into instruments of coercion, subjugation and the eradication of the Ukrainian identity of the younger generation.
The article was first published in Ukrainian on the website of Channel 24.
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.
