Alarm bells of ocuppied education from May 23 to June 12

General statistics of crimes in Russia: killing and maiming of children, attacks against schools and other educational institutions, admission of children to Russian camps, and the militarization of the education system of the Russian Federation.

As a result of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, 38 educational institutions were damaged, 37 children were maimed, and five children were killed (according to statistical data of the CCE “Almenda” collected from open sources).
More than 300 children’s camps in the Russian Federation will be ready to accept children, including those from the occupied Ukrainian territories.
The Russian publishing house “Education” (rus – “Prosveshcheniye“) has released updated textbooks on “Fundamentals of Life Safety” for grades 10-11 with the basics of military training.

Please read more below about the occupied regions.

Occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

Refusing to provide medical care to children without Russian citizenship; the new rector of Melitopol University from St. Petersburg; events for the “Day of Russia” in kindergartens.

A branch of the First Movement was opened in the Preslav school. In total, there are 160 branches of educational institutions in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The self-proclaimed authorities of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region will allocate 10,000 vouchers for children to Russian camps.
The so-called Melitopol State University teachers have not been paid their salaries since March.
About 100 graduates of the Zaporizhia region will take the Russian unified state exam (in Russian – EGE) in Crimea.
In Melitopol, an emergency doctor refused to hospitalize a child who did not have Russian citizenship.
The Zaporizhzhia branch of the “Victory Volunteers” youth movement launched the “Let’s support our people” campaign. Children record videos expressing support for service members of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
On June 5, the first meeting of activists of the Russian Union of Youth was held in Berdyansk. As part of the meeting, an action plan for the upcoming events was formed, and the union leader was elected.
On June 6, the new rector of the so-called Melitopol State University became Mykola Toivonen, the former vice-rector for the strategic development of the St. Petersburg State University of Economics.
On June 9, events for the so-called “Russia Day” were held in kindergartens #37 in occupied Berdyansk and #11 and #99 in Melitopol. The activities aimed to form children’s ideas about Russia as a state, fostering a sense of love for the “native land”. The children were introduced to images of symbols of Russia: a birch tree, a matryoshka, a samovar, a bear, a dove, etc.

Occupied Kherson region.

Expansion of the “Unarmy” movement; the deportation of 375 schoolchildren to camps “for rest” and orphaned children – to Sevastopol for an excursion; historical quiz in schools “I am a Russian soldier”.

Children of the Kalanchak district were initiated into the ranks of the “Unarmy.”

May 27 in the village Petrov, of the Red Guard region the second open military and sports patriotic competitions for the “VKS Cup,” Clubs, the “YUNARMY” Movement, and cadet classes of educational institutions and public organizations of the Republic of Crimea and the Kherson region were held.
On May 29, 375 schoolchildren from the Kherson region were sent to the children’s camp “Doe” (russian – “Lan’”) in Adygea.
On June 1, the so-called officers of the investigative committee of the Kherson region took orphaned children from occupied Henichesk to Sevastopol for a circus performance and a tour of the city.
On June 9, the historical quiz “I am a Russian soldier” was held in the schools of occupied Skadovsk.

Occupied Crimea.

Conducting games and military training meetings; expansion of the “Movement of the First”; children’s participation in propaganda contests.

The All-Russian military-patriotic game “Victory” regional stage was held in Simferopol, in which 25 winning teams of the municipal steps took part.
On May 24, 8 branches of the “Movement of the First” youth organization were opened in Yalta.
The patriotic competition of theatrical production “Grandchildren of Victory” was held at Priberezhne Agrarian College. Students of all colleges and technical schools of the Crimean Federal University participated.

From May 29, educational institutions of Simferopol started a 5-day training session with 10th-grade students, a component of the compulsory subject of study, “Fundamentals of Life Safety.” The main tasks of training are the formation of moral, psychological, and physical qualities of a citizen necessary for military service, patriotism education, and respect for the historical and cultural past of Russia and its armed forces

Occupied Mariupol.

Checking the students’ loyalty to the newly arrived government.

In educational institutions of Mariupol, students are forced to take a non-anonymous test on a political topic, enter data and sit in front of a single computer. They are asked to answer “Yes” or “No” to such questions as: “How do you feel about the Russian Federation?”, “Do you feel relieved listening to the Russian national anthem?” etc. Students are tested under the close supervision of teachers.

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.