Factories for the production of young soldiers for Russia

School in the occupied territories has become the first stage of preparation for military service
The Russian occupation of the Ukrainian territories is accompanied not only by physical destruction, but also by a systemic transformation of the consciousness of the younger generation. Experts from the Eastern Group for Human Rights and the Institute for Strategic Studies and Security in the report “Education in the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine” tell us how this machine for the militarization of children works and what awaits Ukraine after de-occupation.
“School in the occupied territories has become the first stage of preparation for military service. It is no longer an educational institution, but a mobilization transporter,” explains Pavlo Lisyansky, a human rights activist, Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science and Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Security.
According to him, since 2022, Russia has introduced a comprehensive system of military-patriotic education in the occupied territories, which includes all levels of education – from kindergarten to university. The central element was the introduction of a mandatory subject called “Fundamentals of Homeland Security and Defense,” where schoolchildren are taught to disassemble assault rifles, operate drones, and provide first aid on the battlefield.
“We have recorded that more than 500,000 Ukrainian children have already undergone one form or another of military training in the occupied territories. This is not just a number—these are future soldiers who are being trained for new wars,” Lisyanski emphasizes.
The Cossack Corps and the “Warrior” Centers: The Infrastructure of Militarization
Specialized military institutions occupy a special place in the system. In the occupied Luhansk Oblast, there are three Cossack cadet corps—in Luhansk, Alchevsk, and Starobilsk. In Donetsk, there is a cadet corps named after the liquidated “DNR” leader Zakharchenko, where even eight-year-olds take the oath. A branch of the Nakhimov Naval Academy for 560 students is being prepared in Mariupol.
"The Cossack corps are not just military schools. They are ideological factories where children are taught that they are soldiers of an Orthodox state, called to fight against the West," says Vera Jastrebova, a lawyer and director of the Eastern Human Rights Group.
According to her, in these institutions, military training is combined with religious indoctrination. Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church regularly hold prayers, consecrate weapons and flags, forming in children the image of an “Orthodox warrior” – a defender of “holy Russia”.
In parallel, a network of “Warrior” centers is being developed – special training camps for the “military-political elite”. A large training camp is being built in Mariupol on the site of the former children’s camp “Orlyatko”. Branches are already operating in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson (camp in the village of Horli) and Berdyansk.
“75 percent of the instructors of the “Warrior” center are participants in the so-called “special military operation”. They pass on to children not only military skills, but also combat experience of killing Ukrainians”, emphasizes Jastrebova.
Repression and control: school as prison
In parallel with militarization, there is complete control over loyalty. So-called “ideological advisors” have appeared in schools - curators who monitor the political reliability of students and teachers. They organize phone checks, encourage reports and transmit information to the FSB.
“In Melitopol, schoolchildren are forced to hand over their phones along with passwords. Those who refuse are threatened with detention,” Lysyansky cites as an example.
According to human rights activists, in 2023 alone, 263 “unreliable” teenagers were registered in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, 16 of whom were declared “extremists”. In 2024, at least 63 teenagers in the occupied part of Donetsk were sent for forced psychiatric treatment as “extremists” - in fact, methods of penal psychiatry are used.
A tragic example was the fate of 16-year-old Tigran Oganesyan and Nikita Khanganov from Berdyansk: in the summer of 2023, they were shot without trial on charges of preparing sabotage on the railway.
“This is not education, but cognitive occupation. Children are being deprived of their right to their own identity, turning them into tools of the regime,” notes Yastrebova.
Three teenagers in the occupied part of the Donetsk region were sent to forced psychiatric treatment as “extremists”.
Teachers were also subjected to repression. In 2025, the school director Serhiy Serdyuk from Komish-Zori was deported with his family from the Russian Federation - he was banned from entering for 40 years, and his daughter - for 50 years for refusing to implement the Russian curriculum. Teachers who resist are searched, beaten, and even subjected to electric shocks.

Propaganda through educational materials
Schools use textbooks with meaningful titles: "Rules of Life in War (SVO)", "Dialogue on the Mission of SVO". Children are involved in games such as "Trial of Ukrainian Nazis", where schoolchildren play the roles of "prosecutors" and "judges" over imaginary "enemies".
"These materials are used to introduce the political ideology of militarized authoritarianism, in which freedom of speech is replaced by "informational vigilance", and public control by denunciations", explains Lisyanski.
The scale of such a humanitarian catastrophe is staggering. 6,265 children study in cadet classes in occupied Crimea. More than 15,000 schoolchildren in Crimea are included in the "Yunarmiya". In total, tens of thousands of children in the occupied territories have undergone various forms of military-patriotic organization. In the summer of 2023, 80,000 Ukrainian children were taken to paramilitary camps in Crimea and Russia. Due to the deportation of children, the “Yunarmiya” has come under international sanctions.
At the same time, a demographic crisis is being recorded: the number of students in the occupied territories is rapidly decreasing due to the outflow of population, and the Kherson region lacks 450 teachers.
The financing of this machine is growing exponentially. If in 2020 Russia allocated 350 million rubles for “patriotic education”, then in 2024 it will be 45.85 billion, and for 2025 it is planned to reach 66.63 billion.
“These are not just budget figures. These are investments in the future war. The Kremlin is preparing a generation that will become the basis of a new invasion army in 5-10 years,” warns Lisyansky.
Psychological consequences
Experts warn: the consequences of such “education” will be catastrophic. Children develop a distorted picture of the world, where war is the norm, violence is a virtue, and Ukraine is the enemy.
"We are already seeing cases where 18-year-old boys who went through the 'Yunarmiya' voluntarily go to the front and die. One young man from Donetsk died two weeks after joining the Russian army after four years in the 'Yunarmiya'," says Jastrebova.
An illustrative case of Crimean schoolboy Bogdan: after 2014, he was bullied for five years because of his Ukrainian language and identity. The boy hid the bullying from his parents and spoke about his experiences only after he found himself in the safety of controlled territory.
Psychologists warn of mass trauma. Children who grew up in an atmosphere of militarism and fear suffer from anxiety, depression and increased aggressiveness. Their moral development is distorted – cruelty towards “enemies” is perceived as the norm.
“A whole generation is growing up with distorted emotional development, where instead of trust and humanism, fear, hatred or fanatical loyalty to the regime is instilled,” concludes Lysyansky.

What to do?
Experts emphasize: Ukraine must already prepare for major work with children after the territories occupied by Russia are liberated. Programs of deindoctrination, psychological rehabilitation and the restoration of Ukrainian identity are needed.
"After the de-occupation, we will face hard work with hundreds of thousands of washed-up children. This will be no less important than the physical restoration of the territory," Jastrebova believes.
Human Rights Watch activists have already documented severe violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and demand the admission of independent observers to schools in the occupied territories.
At the same time, Ukrainian experts record every case of militarization and repression. Everyone involved – from the "ideological advisors" to the director of the cadet corps - must be held accountable.
"What is happening is a war crime. The use of children for military purposes, forced identity change, psychological violence - all of this violates international law. And we will achieve justice," assures Lisjanski.
Russia is not only waging a war for territories - it is waging a war for the future. And if we don't understand the scale of this threat now, in a generation we will have millions of people for whom the war against Ukraine is a sacred duty, something that has been drilled into their heads since childhood.