Theft of the Future: Russia is Turning Ukrainian Children into Weapons – NRC
Kyiv • UNN
The occupiers have established a network of 210 camps and 400 cadet classes for the assimilation of youth. 600,000 Ukrainian children have already been recruited into propaganda movements.
Russia has deployed a large-scale "re-education" network in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. This is reported by the National Resistance Center of the SOF of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (NRC), UNN reports.
Details
It is noted that these are not just schools, but a real conveyor belt that includes:
- 210 "patriotic" camps (from "Artek" to Grozny), where children are taught to assemble weapons;
- 400+ cadet classes that train future overseers and security forces;
- 600,000 children dragged into "Movement of the First" and "Yunarmiya" for ideological indoctrination.
As of 2026, the occupiers have spent over 10 billion rubles just to erase the memory of Ukrainian identity. Instead of literature lessons—UAV piloting courses; instead of vyshyvankas—the uniforms of the cadets of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
It is indicated that nearly 20,000 facts of child abduction have already been recorded, whom the Russians are trying to strip of their roots and turn into a mobilization resource for their army.
"The multi-level system of forced assimilation and militarization of Ukrainian children created by the Russian Federation is a documented tool of genocide aimed at the complete erasure of the national self-awareness of the younger generation. By combining ideological indoctrination in schools, military training in cadet corps, and illegal deportation under the guise of 'rehabilitation,' the enemy is flagrantly violating international law, effectively turning abducted children into a mobilization resource for its army," the NRC states.
Recall
In the Kherson region, the occupiers force students to clean memorials instead of preparing for exams. Children are being used as free labor for propaganda events leading up to May 9.