It started in Crimea. How the Russians are preparing Ukrainian children for war against their own country

The documents of the Russian occupation authorities, which were provided by a group of Ukrainian hackers of the KibOrg group, were available to the journalists of the project "Schemes" (Radio Liberty) and media partners. Thanks to them, it was possible to investigate how "Junarmia" promotes and implements militaristic ideology in the occupied territories of Ukraine, using schools, summer camps and patriotic events, and how young Ukrainians, falling under the influence of the organization, become part of the Russian military machine and end up in the ranks of the Russian armed forces strength.

The equation for Putin

"Junarmia" was created in 2016 at the initiative of the then Minister of Defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu. Among the founders are the Organization of Veterans of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the "Voluntary Society for Aid to the Army, Aviation and Navy of Russia", the late military commander Valery Vostrotin, gymnast Svitlana Korkina (against whom Ukraine imposed sanctions), "Jedinoros" and oceanologist Artur Chilingarov (deceased in the summer of 2024), cosmonaut and member of the State Duma Valentina Terješkova (under the sanctions of the USA, EU, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand).

The organization announced that it has united 1.3 million children, that it has 89 regional headquarters, and children can join its ranks from the age of eight by filling out a questionnaire on a mobile application.

"Junarmija" does not hide that, in addition to spiritual, moral, social and intellectual development, the organization "forms a positive motivation for fulfilling the constitutional duty and prepares young men for service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".

 

In 2017, a year after the creation of the organization, "young soldiers" together with active military personnel marched in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the "Victory Parade" in Moscow.

And in 2024, in Russia's Novosibirsk, during the celebration, children from the occupied territories of Ukraine paraded - members of the "Junarma" from the Lugansk region.

According to Katerina Raševska, a lawyer at the Regional Center for Human Rights, the inclusion of children in the occupied territories in the organization is a special strategic task of the Russian authorities.

"Regarding the activities of the "Junarmija" in the occupied territories, we must understand that it was created with the special idea of militarized re-education of not only Russian, but also Ukrainian children from the occupied territories," notes Rashevska.

First was Crimea

In September 2016, half a year after its establishment, the active activities of "Junarmija" expanded to the entire territory of Crimea, as evidenced by the data of Oleh Okredek, analyst of the "Almenda" Civic Enlightenment Center.

The organization's first Crimean flight took place in Yevpatoria in November of the same year. It was reported that about a hundred children participated in it. And in January 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that the number of "young soldiers" in the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol reached 29,000.

In the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, whose office was moved to Kyiv after the occupation of the peninsula, the activity of the head of the Sevastopol branch of "Junarmija" was qualified as a "violation of the laws and customs of war". There it was explained that the accused committed a criminal offense with his actions "since propaganda aimed at ensuring the voluntary admission of the civilian population into the army is prohibited by Article 51, paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War from 1949."

Irina Sedova, expert of the Crimean Human Rights Group, agrees with this qualification.

"We believe that the actions of this organization are in violation of international humanitarian law, and the leaders of this organization are committing a war crime against the residents of Crimea, especially against children and teenagers whom they make zombies and voluntarily and forcibly recruit into the "Junarmija", said Sedova.

 

Responding to the accusations, Volodymyr Kovalenko, head of the Sevastopol headquarters of "Junarmia", stated that he treats the current government in Ukraine as illegal and that "Junarmia" has not committed any crimes.

Journalists have established that some of the Ukrainian teenagers who are members of the "Junarmia" in Crimea took up arms after the full-scale invasion of Russia in 2022. Among them is the now 23-year-old Ilja Zozulski, a native of the Crimean village of Poltavka. Now, according to the Russian media, he is a Russian artilleryman who has been awarded the Zhukov Medal.

Russian media reports on Zozulski's journey from being a member of the "Junarma" to participating in the war against Ukraine in 2023.

"Ilya's father is a soldier and since childhood he wanted to follow in his footsteps. After 2014, Russia returned to Crimea, and together with it, "Junarmija" appeared on the peninsula. Ilja went through the organization and became a mentor in it. Now he is one of 50 such members of the "Junarmija"-mentors who are fighting on the fronts of "special military operations", according to the TV report.

Speaking to the Russian media, Ilya's mother said that she is worried about her son, but understands that this is his fate. During the interview with the Russian media, the father said that Ilya is a hero. Schemes and media partners could not be reached for comment from Zozulski. He did not respond to calls and messages.

Journalists found that the Crimean branch of "Junarmija" is trying to expand its activities and recruit new members. For this purpose, special recreation programs are being developed for children in the "Artek" and "Laspi" summer camps.

The so-called "patriotic preparations" were organized in those camps in 2023 with the participation of "Junarmija". During them, the "School of Future Commanders" was held.

"This is a program aimed at educating the younger generation in patriotism, love for their homeland, the ability to act in difficult situations and the ability to manage a group of peers," said Volodymyr Kovalenko, chief of staff of the Sevastopol regional branch of the all-Russian movement "Junarmiya", reported Russian the media.

Military personnel of the Black Sea Fleet and cadets of the Black Sea Higher Naval School "P.S." were invited as lecturers in summer children's camps. Nakhimova".

It was paid for by the Russian government of Sevastopol.

"Junarmija" of the Donetsk region

In the east of Ukraine, the office of "Junarmia" appeared only after 2022, when Russia officially, albeit illegally, recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine as its territory.

 

Before that, another organization that operated in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions followed the ideas of "Junarmija" and had a similar name - "Military-patriotic movement "Young Guard-Junarmija".

In May 2019, 77 teenagers in Donetsk became the first participants of the "Young Guard - Junarmie" and swore allegiance to the DPR, the Radio Liberty Donbass.Realii project reported. The then leader of the occupation administration, Denis Pushilin, congratulated the youth of Donetsk on this event. In the same period, children from the occupied Lugansk region also took the oath.  

After the Constitutional Court of Russia in 2022 approved the recognition of the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as the territory of Russia, "Junarmia" was established there as well - its official regional branches were formed.

In 2023, the "homes" of "Junarmia" were opened in Donetsk and Lugansk - specially equipped rooms for firefighting and sports training on the territory of schools.

According to the information leaked from the documents of the DPR group, which the journalists received from the Ukrainian hackers KibOrg, the school space was given free of charge for the needs of the "Junarmija". This is foreseen by the federal initiative "Patriotic education of citizens in the Russian Federation" of the national project "Education".

The main headquarters of the organization in Moscow takes care of the problems of securing "houses" for "Junarmia".

From the Ukrainian hacker group KibOrg, journalists received a dozen school characteristics of children living in the occupied territories. According to these documents, most of them are members of "Junarmija" or participants in events of that organization.

Among them, for example, is an eighth-grade student from one of the cities occupied by Russia in the Donetsk region.

"Ivan (real name changed - original author) enrolled in school and began his education in 2014. He proved to be an active student. Learns educational material at an intermediate level. Distance learning tasks are completed on time, but not always with high quality," the School's characteristics state.

 

According to the document, "outside of school, he is involved in the public organization "Mlada garda - Junarmija".

Journalists also found evidence of the student's involvement in military activities on his hometown page on the Russian social network Vkontakte. According to reports, he participated in the 2024 Guard rally and received a bronze medal for disassembling and assembling an AK-74 assault rifle.

The young men attended classes of fire and initial military training, modern tactics and methods of conducting military operations, and they also learned the technique of managing transport on special simulators, according to the publication.

"More than three hundred schoolchildren from the Volga Federal District, the Donetsk People's Republic, and the Zaporizhia Region took the oath of loyalty to Junarmia."

As the journalists found out, some of Ivan's senior comrades from the Donetsk region are already fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

From "Junarmija" - to the war

Former students of the "Young Guard-Junarmia" from the occupied part of the Donetsk region are participating in Russia's war against Ukraine.

One of them - Stanislav Sikorski from Horlivko - is dedicated to a detailed post of the organization "Young Guard of Donbass" on the social network Vkontakte. The post says that Sikorski graduated from high school in 2018. In that year, he was both a young Guardsman and a "young army man", and after the start of the Russian invasion, he became a military officer.

"When the homeland was in danger and called on everyone to stand up for the defense of the country and the people, he, without any hesitation, came to the military checkpoint to join the ranks of the People's Militia of the DNR at that time. Joined the ranks together with thousands of students of the Donetsk People's Republic to repel the troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and nationalist battalions. From February 24, 2022, he was in the ranks of "special military operations". "He took part in the fighting in the direction of Kherson, he was on the right bank of the Dnieper," the announcement states.

Sikorski was demobilized in 2023. He defended his degree at the Horliv College of Industrial Technologies. Journalists could not get a comment from him - he did not respond to messages and calls.

Another person from the Donetsk region - Hana Lisovenko - joined the military-patriotic movement "Spartans" (one of the units of the "Young Guard-Junarmia") in 2017, when she was 17 years old. At the beginning of the invasion, Hana together with the illegal Russian military formation "Pyatnaška" visited the destroyed Mariupol.

Judging by posts on social networks, Lisovenko is currently fighting against Ukraine. He currently holds the position of drone operator in the tactical group of the military intelligence service of the Russian Federation, which is mainly made up of militants of the "DNR" group, who have been participating in the war since 2014.

Media partners of "Scheme" contacted Lisovenko. According to her assessment, a significant number of those who were with her in the "Young Guards-junarmy" are already fighting against the Ukrainian army.

"I myself was in the Junarmia, and now I serve in the army. About half of those who studied with me chose the military path. Unfortunately, many of them have already died. Some are seriously injured and cannot continue their service. This is the reality of our region," Lisovenko said.

The knowledge gained during the training, Lisovenko said, came in handy in her service: "For example, the skills of working with weapons, physical training and knowing the history we studied."

According to her, young soldiers are actively helping the Russian army.

"They are ready to help at any time. For example, they help our soldiers, send letters, candles to the front lines, even print something on 3D printers," Lisovenko said.

Offensive "Junarmija"

The activities of the "Junarmija" also extended to those Ukrainian territories that were occupied by Russian troops after the full invasion. For example, the city of Mariupol, which Russia occupied in May 2022.

Only during the summer of 2024, the headquarters of "Junarmija" in Mariupol spent seven shifts of "Junarmija" in the children's camp "Širist", located in the summer resort of Melekine on the coast of the Sea of Azov. The children were specially trained to shoot automatic weapons.

Valerij Onatski, head of the department for family and children of the occupation administration of the city of Mariupol, also joined the organization of the event in the camp. Onatski appeared in the "Scheme" investigation into the deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories to Russia.

In November 2022, the first branches of Russian patriotic education camps appeared in the conquered territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

The first "house" of the center of patriotic education "Junarmija" in the Kherson region began its work in October 2023 in occupied Heničesk in one of the schools. The "Junarmija" delegation led by Viktor Kaurov - the first deputy chief of the Main Staff came to the ceremonial opening. organizations.

Since then, various military trainings for "younger soldiers" have been organized. For example, in March 2024, a "military-patriotic master class" was held where children were told about different types of weapons and taught to provide first aid in emergency situations.

Serafim Ivanov is in charge of the headquarters of the Regional Branch of "Junarmija" in the Kherson region. He received a medal "For courage" from the so-called governor Volodymyr Saldo for allegedly "not getting lost and coming to save a stuck car from a convoy in time" during the Ukrainian attack on October 20, 2022.

 

In the Kherson region, the letters of the "Junarmye" leadership directly influence the actions of Russian administration officials, as evidenced by documents leaked from KibOrg.

Among them, the journalists saw the address of the so-called Minister of Education of the occupation authorities, Ljudmila Kovtun, to school principals. Referring to the letter from "Juniarmia", she asks them to identify and direct the participants and companions for the trip to Moscow for the all-Russian military sports game "Victory".

In the Zaporizhia region, the first activity of the regional branch "Junarmje" was held in August 2023, based on the documents of the Russian Ministry of Youth Policy of the Zaporizhia region.

Fidajil Bikbulatov manages the local headquarters. He is a 30-year-old native of Ufa and, according to Ukrainian intelligence, participates in an organized mechanism of mass kidnapping, illegal deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. It also conducts military parades and training with the Russian army for children. Children are especially taught to shoot machine guns.

 

Media partners of "Schem" contacted Fidajlo Bikbulatov. In his comment he stated:

"The opponent talks about militarization or that young soldiers are an instrument of militarization. Perhaps this is partially true, of course. We want to see them connect their lives with military service in the future. We see potential in them, we expect them to become military personnel. We train them, we work with them, we want them to become soldiers - the Ministry of Defense even gives benefits to "young soldiers" upon entry - but all this is exclusively on a voluntary basis".

Quantitative indicators for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The top management of the organization measures the success of the "Junarmija" branch especially by the number of its former trainees in the Russian army, the journalists discovered.

Junarmija, as a paramilitary organization, keeps records of its members and "houses" and evaluates the activities of its regional branches. One of the important criteria is the number of "younger soldiers" mobilized into the Russian army.

According to the leaked data, in October 2024, Viktor Kaurov, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of "Junarmija" sent letters to the regional units about holding the mandatory annual "competition inspection". They discuss what the winning headquarters will determine after evaluating the submitted documents. In particular, certificates confirming point 15 ("Implementation of key indicators of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation").

We are talking about two parameters. The first is "the number of young soldiers who were called for emergency help and entered military colleges", the second is "the number of young soldiers who entered military training centers".

Katerina Rashevska, a lawyer at the Regional Center for Human Rights, says: "Russia has no desire for any peace, for any peace negotiations. It just takes a certain amount of time to train this reserve, to grow it and release it, like cannon fodder, to fight either against Ukraine or against someone else."

Journalists sent a request to the main headquarters of "Junarmija" located in Moscow. By the time of publication of the text, no answers were received.