by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia is forcing children in occupied areas of Ukraine to prepare for war through expanded military training in schools as mounting battlefield losses fuel efforts to replenish its armed forces, rights groups say.

Beginning September 1, basic military training within the school subject Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland will reportedly increase from about 20 percent to roughly half of teaching time for students in grades 6 through 11.

According to the Eastern Human Rights Group, the curriculum includes instruction on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), engineering, and mandatory military training camps.

“The focus on children and youth has a fairly pragmatic goal – forming a future mobilization reserve, both in terms of skills and worldview,” the group said.

It warned that “in a controlled information environment, a child can be indoctrinated for years with a cult of war, military service, ‘heroic death,’ and unconditional service to the state.”

MILITARY EDUCATION EXPANDS

In occupied Donetsk, Russian-installed authorities have approved a 10-year plan running through 2036 to institutionalize what they call “military-patriotic education,” while similar programs are expanding in the Kherson and Luhansk regions.

Rights groups say both boys and girls are being recruited into Russian-backed youth organizations and military-style activities, significantly widening Russia’s potential future mobilization base.

The allegations echo a recent Human Rights Watch report, which concluded that Russian occupation authorities are forcing Ukrainian children into a school system designed to suppress their national identity, promote Kremlin narratives, and channel boys toward future military service.

The organization said Ukrainian-language education has largely been eliminated in occupied territories, while students face pressure to obtain Russian passports, attend pro-Kremlin lessons, and join militarized youth organizations.

Children and parents who secretly follow the Ukrainian curriculum online reportedly risk surveillance, home searches, intimidation, and punishment.

IDENTITY UNDER THREAT

“Russia is using schools to teach Ukrainian children loyalty to the Kremlin, glorify the Russian invasion, and prepare them to go to war against their own people,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.

Independent experts appointed under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also concluded that Russia has systematically militarized and indoctrinated Ukrainian children in occupied territories, describing the policy as a coordinated effort violating international humanitarian law and children’s rights.

Moscow has defended its education policies in occupied territories as part of integrating what it calls Russia’s “new regions,” rejecting Western accusations of indoctrination.

The expanded military training comes as Moscow struggles to replace the large numbers of troops killed or wounded on the front lines of a war now in its fifth year.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that 400,000 to 450,000 Russian troops have been killed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, out of about 1.4 million total casualties—including those killed, wounded, or missing.

MOUNTING WAR LOSSES

Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, have suffered an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 fatalities, with total casualties ranging between 525,000 and 625,000 over the same period, CSIS said.

“Russian fatalities in Ukraine are more than four times greater than all U.S. fatalities in all wars combined since World War II,” the think tank noted, adding that the ratio of Russian to Ukrainian casualties likely rose to about eight to one during the first half of this year.

Russia has also faced international condemnation over the deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied territories.

The European Commission says that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, more than 20,500 Ukrainian children have been unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred to Russia and Russian-occupied territories. Many, it said, have been forced to change their identities, placed for adoption, and granted Russian citizenship.

Despite international efforts, only just over 2,100 children have been returned to Ukraine, while the fate of tens of thousands of others remains unknown, the Commission said.

DEPORTATIONS CONDEMNED

“The European Union is committed to ensuring that every Ukrainian child that was unlawfully taken by Russia returns home,” the Commission stressed.

In 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of the alleged war crimes of unlawfully deporting and transferring Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia.

They are among at least six Russian officials sought by the ICC.

Moscow has rejected the allegations and denied committing any war crimes in Ukraine.

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