Persons involved in militarization and indoctrination of children in the TOT of Ukraine are in new EU sanctions list
On December 18, the Council of the European Union adopted the 12th package of economic and individual restrictive measures against Russia due to its aggressive war against Ukraine.
This EU sanctions list includes 61 individuals and 86 organizations. Among them, nine persons and three organizations are consistently mentioned in our reports and monitoring efforts on the militarization and indoctrination of children and youth in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
These individuals are directly implicated in the Russification of children, the destruction of Ukrainian identity, and the imposition of militarization in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
So, who are these “heroes”?
Dmitry Polkovnikov.
Director of Crimea Patriot Centre (also known as «Krympatriotcentr») since 1 March 2022. The Center’s work is aimed at “improving military-patriotic education and preparing young people for military service”.
The Centre provides military training for children in illegally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol. He was involved in organising Russian military and patriotic camps for children from the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula. Under his leadership, the CrimeaPatriotCenter actively promotes the imposition of Russian identity on Ukrainian children, openly advocates the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and deliberately spreads the idea that the territory of Crimea is part of the Russian Federation.
Sergiy Gavrylchyk.
Head of the regional headquarters of Yunarmiya of the Republic of Crimea; a member of the “United Russia” party.
The All-Russia “Young Army” Military Patriotic Social Movement (Yunarmiya) is a Russian paramilitary organisation. In his capacity as the regional Head of Yunarmiya, he organises activities that promote military training and preparation of youth for military service in the Russian Army. He is also the head of the department of pre-conscription training, military sports games and competitions at the Crimea Patriot Centre.
Ludmila Ermakova.
Director of the State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Crimea “Solnechnaya Tavrika”, which includes various sanatoriums, boarding houses, health and sports complexes, including the “Luchistyi” boarding house (Yevpatoriya), sanatoriums “Mriya” and “Druzhba” (Yevpatoriya), and others.
In her capacity as the Director of “Solnechnaya Tavrika”, she is implementing and maintaining policies in the camps/sanatoriums in which deported children from Ukraine are “re-educated”. Moreover, she has received various honorary titles and certificates from the Russian Government for her work in illegally annexed Crimea.
Olena Shapurova.
Russian-appointed “Minister of the Ministry of Education and Science of Zaporizhia region”.
She enacted re-education policies of Ukrainian children in the Russian-occupied region of Zaporizhzhia, diminishing Ukrainian-language classes and increasing the number of Russian classes, including promoting Russian culture and civic- education classes.
Yulia Klymenko.
Leader of “Yug Molodoy” movement; Chairperson of the regional wing of the “Young Guard” of President Putin’s “United Russia” party.
In her capacity as the leader of the “Yug Molodoy” movement, she collaborates with the occupying Russian authorities, promotes pro-Russian narratives, and aims to impose Russian culture on children and youth by actively engaging and leading projects that portray the occupied areas of Ukraine as part of the Russian Federation. She also supported the referendum on annexation of the Zaporizhzhia region by the Russian Federation.
Nazariy Domanin.
Chairman of the Council of the Regional Branch of “Movement of the First” of the Kherson Region.
In his position, he is responsible for implementing policies and ideas that support Russian annexation of the occupied territories of Ukraine. The “Movement of the First” was established in Russia with the backing and under the supervision of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The organisation, using its own television and radio broadcasting capabilities, aims to carry forward the traditions of the Soviet pioneers and actively contribute to the patriotic upbringing of Russian society as well as developing anti-Ukrainian sentiments in children from the territories illegally occupied by the Russian Federation.
Serafim Ivanov.
The press secretary in the organisation “Volunteer Squad”, which is involved in patriotic education of the youth. He is also Head of the regional headquarters of Yunarmiya VVPOD in the Kherson region.
He took an active part in the militarisation of Ukrainian children in the occupied Kherson region. He also spread pro-Russian sentiments and anti-Ukrainian narratives through Yunarmiya and encouraged children to join the organisation, highlighting the military training as one of the advantages. Therefore, Serafim Ivanov is supporting and implementing actions and policies which undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Furthermore, he is associated with Yunarmiya, a Russian paramilitary organisation.
Alyona Trokai.
Leader of the “Movement of the First” in the Zaporizhzhia region. The “Movement of the First” was established in Russia with the backing and under the supervision of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
The organisation, using its own television and radio broadcasting capabilities, aims to carry forward the traditions of the Soviet pioneers and actively contribute to the patriotic upbringing of Russian society as well as developing anti-Ukrainian sentiments in children from the territories illegally occupied by the Russian Federation. In her position as the leader of the “Movement of the First” in the Zaporizhzhia region, Alyona Trokai began activities that aim to support the Russian military and in general the Russian Federation propaganda. She is also undertaking activities aimed at the “militarisation” of education and encouraging the acquisition of Russian passports. On 30 April 2023, Alyona Trokai received a Russian state award, presented by the First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Sergey Kiriyenko.
Andrey Falaleev
Former rector of the Vernadsky Crimean Federal University.
On 4 March 2022, following the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Andrey Falaleev, in his capacity as the rector of the University, signed a letter supporting the actions of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. During Andrey Falaleev’s leadership at Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, an event called «Our Support to the Armed Forces of the Russian Ministry of Defence Participating in the Special Military Operation» took place. The main objective of the event was to share stories of the heroes of the special military operation and explore alternative ways to support the servicemen involved.
Additionally, the sanctions list comprises three organizations that implement Russia’s policy of indoctrination and militarization of children and youth in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
1. International Scientific and Educational Society “Znanie”
“Znanie” is a Russian educational and propagandist organisation, which was created by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation. ”Znani” organises mass events across the territory of the Russian Federation, during which it endorses Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and spreads pro-Kremlin disinformation and propaganda about the war. It also held meetings for the personnel of the National Guard (Rosgvardiya) and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. “Znanie” holds public events in the illegally annexed Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, promoting the war and false narratives about the purported Russian character of the annexed Ukrainian regions. Furthermore, it is involved in the Russification process of the local Ukrainian population.
2. All-Russian Public Movement “Voluntery Pobedy”.
The All-Russian Public Movement “Volunteers of Victory” is a Russian government-funded organisation that aims to «popularise Russia’s modern achievements». The organisation organises pro-Russian «victory day parades» in the occupied territories of Ukraine and Russia, as well as rallies in support of Russian soldiers contributing to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Moreover, the «Volunteers of Victory» movement has been directly involved in Russia’s re-education efforts by recruiting children in the occupied territories of Ukraine to join their pro-Russian movement. The organisation is under control of Rosmolodezh, the federal youth agency of the Russian Federation, and its patriotic education division, Rospatriotcenter. The “Volunteers of Victory” movement receives funding through Russian presidential grants.
3. Crimea Patriot Centre (“KrymPatriotCentre”).
Crimea Patriot Centre is an organisation based in illegally annexed Crimea, with the main objective to provide schoolchildren in Crimea with a military-patriotic education in order to prepare them for service in Russia’s Armed Forces. The Crimea Patriot Centre cooperates with the All-Russia “Young Army” Military Patriotic Social Movement (Yunarmiya) to organise events and programmes for schoolchildren in support of the Russian Army and in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Those programmes have the aim of teaching children to use weapons. The centre also disseminates propaganda related to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, glorifying soldiers who have participated in this. The Crimea Patriot Centre operates with the support of and financing by the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and without the consent of the Ukrainian government.
The inclusion of these individuals and organizations in the new EU sanctions package sends a powerful signal that those involved in the re-education, Russification of children, and their militarization for Russia’s imperialist plans will be held accountable. All these violations will be widely publicized.
