{"id":8411,"date":"2025-08-14T11:25:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T09:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/almenda.org\/?p=8411"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:31:00","slug":"borotba-z-terorizmom-po-rosijski-chomu-kreml-peresliduye-ditej-v-krimu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/almenda.org\/en\/borotba-z-terorizmom-po-rosijski-chomu-kreml-peresliduye-ditej-v-krimu\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian \u201cAnti-Terror\u201d Policy:\u00a0Repression\u00a0of Children and Young People in Occupied Crimea"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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 \u2013 above all for pro-Ukrainian views, but also for any form of dissatisfaction with the state\u2019s actions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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 \u2013 TOT) \u2013 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as in the so-called \u201cDPR\u201d and \u201cLPR\u201d 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<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0as \u201cextremist organisations\u201d, while Ukrainian teenagers are labelled<\/a>\u00a0\u201cextremists and terrorists\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u20132028 (hereinafter \u2013 the Comprehensive Plan) sets out specific target groups, methods and mechanisms that Russia uses for so-called \u201cprevention\u201d, in the sense of re-educating, controlling and pressuring those who disagree with the Russian authorities.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Contents of the Comprehensive Plan<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

On 30 December 2023, the Comprehensive Plan was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It became a logical continuation of Russia\u2019s 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 \u201caimed at shaping in the population, on the\u00a0basis of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, a rejection<\/a> of the ideology of terrorism and resilience to its propaganda\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u00a0of the Russian Federation (FSB) of Russia\u00a0Igor Sirotkin stated: \u201cFirst of all, it should be noted that we succeeded in building a system to protect<\/a> the population of Russia from the propaganda influence of international terrorist organisations at the federal, regional and municipal levels\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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In the photo:\u00a0<\/strong>Igor Sirotkin, Deputy Director of the FSB of Russia.\u00a0Source:\u00a0http:\/\/nac.gov.ru\/atk-v-regionah\/podvedeny-itogi-deyatelnosti-antiterroristicheskoy-komissii-v.html<\/a>, archive\u00a0https:\/\/archive.fo\/wip\/BgMkd<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The new Comprehensive Plan lists, among other things, so-called \u201cUkrainian nationalism and neo-Nazism\u201d as part of the \u201cideology of terrorism\u201d. As a result, anyone expressing a pro-Ukrainian stance is automatically categorised as \u201cdangerous\u201d, regardless of any real threat. It is particularly telling that among the target groups for preventive influence<\/a> is the \u201cpopulation of the new subjects of the Russian Federation\u201d \u2013that is, residents of the TOT \u2013 previously \u201cunder the control of the Kyiv regime\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Screenshot of the title page of the Comprehensive Plan signed by Putin. Source:\u00a0https:\/\/sanator39.gosuslugi.ru\/netcat_files\/30\/50\/Komplexnyy_Plan_PIT_RF_2024_2028.pdf?ysclid=md76hqac6p925152599<\/a>, archive\u00a0https:\/\/archive.fo\/wip\/O390A<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The implementation of the Comprehensive Plan provides for intensive \u201ceducational\u201d 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 \u201cHero\u2019s Desk\u201d, and meetings with participants of the so-called \u201cspecial military operation\u201d, in order to instil in children an \u201canti-terrorist worldview\u201d \u2013 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 \u201cdistinguished themselves\u201d in the fight against terrorism, especially against \u201cUkrainian nationalist and neo-Nazi armed groups\u201d that Russia has designated as terrorist organisations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The above-mentioned Deputy Director of the FSB of Russia, Igor Sirotkin, stated in an interview<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe 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\u201d. It was precisely to \u201cneutralise such ambitions\u201d that changes were introduced to preventive work, new target groups were identified, and the \u201ceducational influence\u201d on young people was strengthened both within school subjects and in extracurricular activities.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Comprehensive Plan provides for individual preventive measures, particularly concerning \u201cteenagers and children who have been under the influence of Ukrainian nationalist and neo-Nazi structures\u201d. Implementation of this section includes monitoring social networks, analysing children\u2019s pages, carrying out psychological assessments and conducting pedagogical observation. Sirotkin stressed<\/a>\u00a0that such measures are \u201ceffective barriers\u201d intended to prevent the \u201cmass recruitment of young people into terrorist activities by Ukrainian special services and neo-Nazi organisations\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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 \u201cOn Countering Terrorism\u201d, the Presidential Decree \u201cOn Measures to Counter Terrorism\u201d, the Concept for Countering Terrorism in the Russian Federation, the Federal Law \u201cOn Countering Extremist Activity\u201d, the Presidential Decree \u201cOn Approving the Strategy to Counter Extremism in the Russian Federation until 2025\u201d, 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How the Comprehensive Plan Is Implemented in Occupied Crimea<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In April 2024, a \u201cworking group for the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to Counter the Ideology of Terrorism in the Russian Federation for 2024\u20132028\u201d was set up in occupied<\/a> Crimea.\u00a0It was headed by Oleksii Zinchenko, head<\/a> of the so-called \u201cState Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea<\/a>\u201d. Alongside Zinchenko, the group included two other representatives of this body: Ani Hrihoryan \u2013 the so-called \u201cDeputy Head of the Committee\u201d and, at the same time, Deputy Head of the working group; and Dmytro Kolesnyk \u2013 the so-called \u201cHead of the Department for Promoting a Culture of Security in the Youth Environment of the Committee\u201d, who serves as Secretary of the working group.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The working group also includes representatives of other so-called \u201cstate bodies\u201d \u2013 the ministries of education and health, the committee on interethnic relations, and others. Its powers cover monitoring and evaluating the implementation of \u201canti-terrorist\u201d measures, assessing regional risks and coordinating actions between agencies, as well as fostering so-called \u201canti-terrorist awareness\u201d and carrying out information and propaganda campaigns.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In August 2024, the occupation authorities approved<\/a>\u00a0the \u201cAction Plan for the Implementation of the Comprehensive Plan in the Territory of the Republic of Crimea\u201d, which was updated<\/a>\u00a0in April 2025 after the previous document was no longer in effect.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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In the image:\u00a0<\/strong>logo of the so-called \u201cState Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea\u201d. Source:\u00a0https:\/\/vk.com\/gkmprk<\/a>, archive\u00a0https:\/\/archive.ph\/wip\/TJAaF<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The occupation \u201cState Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea\u201d is one of the key bodies responsible for implementing \u201cpreventive measures\u201d and reports on their execution. It organises seminars for educators and involves young people in public events, including initiatives such as \u201cDialogue among Equals\u201d with participants of the so-called \u201cspecial military operation\u201d. The committee also carries out activities aimed at fostering \u201crejection of the ideology of terrorism\u201d 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, \u201canti-terrorist themes\u201d are integrated into educational, cultural and sports activities with the participation of \u201copinion leaders, public figures, representatives of traditional religious denominations and youth organisations\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Key Figures: Zinchenko and His Deputies<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

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 <\/p>\r\n

Oleksii\u00a0Zinchenko<\/strong>\u00a0was 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 \u201cState Committee for Youth Policy of the Republic of Crimea\u201d and became one of the key figures in shaping the occupation youth policy in Crimea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For collaboration<\/strong>, in December 2024 the\u00a0Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced him in absentia<\/a> to eight years in prison<\/strong>, with a ten-year ban on holding public office and confiscation of property.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Ani Hrihoryan, the so-called \u201cDeputy Head of the State Committee for Youth Policy\u201d, has also been served with a notice of suspicion in absentia<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0for collaboration. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, she was appointed to this \u201cposition\u201d in November 2022 under the personal patronage of Aksyonov \u201cto impose Kremlin propaganda on the younger generation on a mass scale\u201d. In addition, Hrihoryan publicly calls<\/a>\u00a0on Crimean schoolchildren to prepare for war against Ukraine and to enrol in Russian military schools.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In addition to Ani Hrihoryan, Zinchenko has another deputy \u2013 Anton Starostin, a participant in the \u201cTime of Heroes\u201d personnel programme carried out on Putin\u2019s instructions. For his involvement in the so-called \u201cspecial military operation\u201d, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation under a classified decree<\/a> of the Russian president.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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In the photo<\/strong>: Anton Starostin at a \u201cDialogue among Equals\u201d event in the \u201cFortuna\u201d camp, July 2025, TOT of the AR of Crimea. Source:\u00a0https:\/\/vk.com\/wall-187993858_22084<\/a>, archive\u00a0https:\/\/archive.ph\/zNEkU<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What Does the Crimean Plan Involve? Some Figures from the Fight against So-Called \u201cUkrainian Neo-Nazism\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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 \u201ccountering the ideology of terrorism\u201d, but the focus is on:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n