8 leaders of "Yunarmia" headquarters received suspicions for the militarization of Ukrainian children in the occupation
Kyiv • UNN
Eight leaders of the territorial headquarters of "Yunarmia" in the occupied territory of Donetsk region have been notified of suspicion. They are accused of militarizing Ukrainian children.
Eight members of an organized group – leaders of the "Yunarmia" territorial headquarters in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk region – have been notified of suspicion for the militarization of Ukrainian children in the occupied territories, the Prosecutor General's Office announced on Friday, UNN reports.
Details
According to the prosecutor's office, Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region have been systematically prepared for war for six years. They were deliberately drawn into the military system of the aggressor state through, as the agency stated, propaganda, pseudo-patriotic events, and promises of "social benefits" and career prospects in the Russian armed forces.
"From 2019 to 2025 alone, about 6,000 Ukrainian children aged 6 to 18 were involved in the 'Yunarmia' movement. Cases have been recorded where, after reaching adulthood, children who underwent such training joined the ranks of the Russian armed forces and participated in hostilities against Ukraine," the report states.
Juvenile prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office notified eight citizens of Ukraine, who, as part of an organized group, ensured the functioning of this system in the temporarily occupied territory, of suspicion. Their actions are qualified under Part 3 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
As noted by the prosecutor's office, in 2016, at the initiative of the then Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the all-Russian children's and youth military-patriotic movement "Yunarmia" was created, whose activities were subsequently extended to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, as well as Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
"Under the guise of 'patriotic education,' minors were involved in military training and had loyalty to the aggressor state instilled in them. Children were taught how to handle weapons, conducted tactical exercises, military marches, and oaths of allegiance to the Russian Federation. At the same time, active propaganda of service in the Russian army was carried out, which was presented as a socially beneficial and promising path," the report states.
According to the strategy for the development of patriotic education in the Russian Federation, at least 10 percent of new recruits to the Russian armed forces each year must come from among the "Yunarmia" pupils. "This confirms that the movement was used as a tool for preparing a mobilization reserve," the prosecutor's office emphasized.
"During 2019-2025, eight leaders of the territorial headquarters of the 'Yunarmia' of the so-called 'DPR' coordinated the movement's activities in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region, ensuring the mass involvement of Ukrainian children in military-patriotic events and propaganda of service in the Russian armed forces," the prosecutor's office indicated.
The National Police clarified that the leaders of all cells of the pro-Russian organization "Yunarmia" in Donetsk region have now been notified of suspicion.
"Currently, the leaders of the territorial headquarters in Donetsk, Horlivka, Amvrosiivka, Snizhne, Komsomolske, Zhdanivka, Yenakiieve, and Debaltseve have been exposed. Taking into account previously announced suspicions, all leaders of 'Yunarmia' cells in Donetsk region currently have the status of suspects within the framework of a single criminal proceeding," the police indicated.
In addition, it is reported that it was established that on March 15, 2022, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation issued order No. 132 regarding the involvement of "Yunarmia" members in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine to replenish the losses of the Russian army.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its report of March 1, 2024, emphasized the need to stop the policy of politicization and militarization of children in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Yanina Tertychna, Head of the Department for the Protection of Children's Interests and Combating Domestic Violence at the Prosecutor General's Office, noted:
The militarization of children is part of Russia's deliberate policy to eradicate Ukrainian identity, and therefore, individuals involved in militarization through propaganda of service in the army of the occupying state will bear criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.
Addition
As indicated by the prosecutor's office, in October 2025, an organized group consisting of the head of the regional headquarters of the "Yunarmia" of the "DPR" and six heads of territorial headquarters, who carried out the militarization of Ukrainian children through propaganda of service in the Russian armed forces, and also produced and disseminated materials that justified and denied the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, was established based on these same facts.