{"id":5796,"date":"2023-12-28T08:50:53","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T06:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/almenda.org\/?p=5796"},"modified":"2024-03-18T17:29:35","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T15:29:35","slug":"dinamika-rostu-molodizhnix-ruxiv-na-okupovanix-teritoriyax-pivdnya-ukraini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/almenda.org\/en\/dinamika-rostu-molodizhnix-ruxiv-na-okupovanix-teritoriyax-pivdnya-ukraini\/","title":{"rendered":"The young people under the control: the growth dynamics of youth movements in occupied territories of the south of Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Russian-Ukrainian war has already been continuing almost 10 years. During this period, the Russian Federation actively mobilised their own ideological resources for implementation of effective propaganda both for their own citizens and for citizens of Ukraine, who stayed on the territories occupied by Russia. The Russian president Volodymyr Putin repeatedly emphasised that one of the main tasks of the Russian government is education of children and young people in the spirit of Russian patriotism. However, Russians do not limit their patriotic education by their own territory, but instead they actively teach children, who have become hostages of Russian occupation, how properly to love Russia and how honourably to die for it. One of the methods of such education is the involvement of children to youth and child movements, which actively promote favourable for Russia ideas. In this article we will tell about the results of research, which were performed by the NGO \u201cCCE \u201cAlmenda\u201d about activities of youth movements in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine identifying the administration of these movements and monitoring the growth dynamics of members, demonstrating the scales of spreading of Russian propaganda on children and young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian youth movements or revival of the \u201cSoviet Pioneer movement\u201d<\/strong><\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Russia considers itself as a successor state of the Soviet Union and actively revives traditions, which were relevant during the communism. It was perfectly clear in the Soviet Union that the process of \u201cbrainwashing\u201d and imposing of the ideology favourable for the state should be started from early childhood, when child\u2019s mind is more moldable to external influences. In order to impose spirit of collectivism, from an early age children were involved in child movements (the \u201cLittle Octobrists\u201d, the \u201cPioneer Movement\u201d etc), these actions were aimed to teach children the Soviet ideology in spirit of the collectivism and to feel as part of the \u201clarge Soviet family\u201d. Mass participation in such organizations practically came to nothing after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. But with the coming to power of V. Putin, the old traditions were begun to be revived, including involvement of Russian children and young people in different movements led by the Russian government. By 2014 such kinds of movements were the \u201cWalking Together\u201d (2000-2007) and the \u201cNashi\u201d (2005-2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, the two largest and most famous Russian youth organizations \u2013 the \u201cRussian Movement of Schoolchildren\u201d and the \u201cYoung Army\u201d \u2013 were established just after the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. In 2014 after so-called \u201cretuning\u201d of Crimea and Sevastopol \u2013 as a symbol of the \u201cRussian military greatness\u201d \u2013 the patriotic boom began in Russia that some researchers call the \u201cCrimea effect\u201d. The establishment of the two largest organizations coincides with the \u201cCrimea effect\u201d- in 2015 the Russian Movement of Schoolchildren (the RMS, 2015-2022) was established, and in 2016 the \u201cYoung Army\u201d was established. In 2022 after a full-scale invasion the \u201cRussian Movement of Schoolchildren\u201d became a part of the \u201cMovement of the First\u201d (practically new Pioneer movement), and the \u201cYoung Army\u201d is included in the chain of organizations led by the \u201cMovement of the First\u201d. The full-scale invasion and occupation of the south of Ukraine (separate parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions) became a provoking factor not only for geographical expansion of activity of these organizations, but also for establishment of new one – in particular, the \u201cYoung South\u201d that spreads Russian propaganda only in temporarily occupied territories of south of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The \u201cMovement of the First\u201d<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The largest child and youth movement in Russia and in temporarily occupied territories is the \u201cMovement of the First\u201d. According to the propaganda legend<\/a>, the \u201cMovement of the First\u201d (in Ukrainian \u2013 \u201c\u0420\u0443\u0445 \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0448\u0438\u0445\u201d) was established by initiative of Crimean schoolgirl Diana Krasovska, which supposedly asked the president of Russia V. Putin to establish all-Russian child and youth movement at the meeting of the supervisory council \u201cRussia is a Country of Opportunities\u201d. The first cell of the \u201cMovement of the First\u201d occurred at the meeting in \u201cArtek\u201d, and Minister of Education of the Russian Federation S. Kravtsov personally opened<\/a> two cells in temporarily occupied Henichesk. As of the end of 2023 the cells have been opened in every region of Russia and Ukrainian territories occupied by it, and as of December 2023 about 4.5 million children are members of this movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaders of this movement:<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Statistics:<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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