Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre, a unit organised by the Special Operation Forces to coordinate and inform about non-violent resistance in the occupied territories, says Russians have been actively pursuing a policy aimed at completely erasing the self-identification and national identity of an entire generation of Ukrainian children, who are currently residing in temporarily occupied territories.
According to the Centre’s recent report, all first graders attending the schools located in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region were enrolled in the so-called ‘Orlyata Rossii’ (‘Eaglets of Russia”). This is the children’s wing of the pseudo-volunteer movement ‘Dvizheniye Pervyh’ (‘Movement of the First), funded by the Kremlin. The organisation has been under Vladimir Putin’s direct supervision.
Effectively, the ‘Eaglets’ are an equivalent of the former Soviet ‘young pioneers’, a Soviet organisation intended for young people to spread propaganda and prepare future members of the Communist Party. The ‘Eaglets’ were initially established in Russia last year to instil the Russian ‘patriotic spirit’ in children of primary school age. The organisation also invites well-known Russian propagandists to participate in its activities; some of those include, for example, indoctrinating, justifying the Russian war against Ukraine and validating Russia’s actions.
Membership in the organisation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is compulsory. First graders are expected to attend various propagandistic events as part of the programme – the Russian occupation administration ensures that the Ukrainian children will be influenced from a very young age.
Additionally, Russians have been using sports as a means to ‘legalise’ the occupation and have attempted to integrate sports schools in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories into the Russian general sports school system. According to Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre, Russians have been sending coaches from Russia to the temporarily occupied territories. The idea behind this is clear – athletes from these occupied Ukrainian regions will be forced to participate in international competitions, thereby ‘legitimising’ the Russian annexation. National Resistance Centre also reported that Russians have been taking Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories to various sports events in Russia, suggesting the most talented children relocate to Russia with their parents.
