Russia Drawing Ukrainian Children Into ‘Youth Armies,’ Says Report

Russian authorities in the occupied eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk have recruited nearly 60,000 schoolchildren into youth movements in preparation for military service, a Ukrainian government resistance organization has claimed.

The National Resistance Center of Ukraine, established by Kyiv to advise civilians on resistance strategies against occupying Russian forces, has issued a report claiming that young people are being prepared to fight for Russia. 

“The Kremlin is reforging almost 60,000 children in the temporarily occupied areas of Luhansk region in the ranks of the ‘Youth Army’ and ‘Pioneers’ Movement,’” Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform quoted the report as saying.  

“They hammer into children’s minds that Ukraine is their enemy and that they are ‘Russian.’ They are told that being a Kremlin soldier is not just a norm but also an honor. They are being prepared for the future war without even being taught to think.” 

Ukrinform said official Russian statistics put the number of children from Luhansk in the ‘Youth Army’ at 5,800 but added that a further 50,000 have been recruited into another “propaganda project,” called the Pioneers’ Movement.  

Another such organization goes under the name of “Eaglets of Russia,” the news service reported.  

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