For years, the Russian Federation has been creating numerous youth movements in the occupied territories of Ukraine to indoctrinate and militarize children. Recently, journalist Andriy Tsaplienko published a video of children in military uniforms chanting “Akhmat is Power” and “Allahu Akbar”. According to him, the video was filmed in the temporarily occupied territory of Ichkeria (Chechnya). This “children’s camp” is a continuation of Russia’s systematic efforts to involve children from the occupied territories in military training, reports osintflow.com
Although most studies focus on the Yunarmiya and Rukh Pervykh movements, this is not the first time that members of the Akhmat formation have been involved in the militarization of Ukrainian children. In the year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the so-called “University of Special Forces” in occupied Ichkeria received about 200 teenagers from the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This step was taken with the personal consent of the Russian Ombudsman for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova under the auspices of the federal program “Teenagers of Russia”.
In February 2023, the opening of the Akhmat Friendship Academy camp was announced, which caused a lot of discussion. The main argument of the organizers was to promote “true Russian values among the younger generation.” According to Dmitry Kuznetsov, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, the children who will undergo “intensive, serious and close to army training” will become assistant counselors at the camp in the future. It is planned to involve military personnel of the large Akhmat and other “worthy people” as counselors.
Among those who supported the idea of creating the project were writer Zakhar Prilepin, producer Yusup Bakhshiyev, and Major General Apti Alaudinov. Russian media and propagandists claim that the change was funded by the regional public foundation named after Russian hero Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov.
However, the official website of the Akhmat Friendship Academy states that the project is being implemented with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, the only operator of state support for non-governmental organizations in Russia since April 2017. The grant application was submitted by the autonomous non-profit organization “Center for Humanitarian and Cultural Initiatives “Rassvet” with a total project funding of more than 6 million rubles.
The purpose of the camp is to test new forms of patriotic education for teenagers in order to create a new movement, the Akhmat Children’s Academy of Peoples’ Friendship, with the active participation of children from families of participants in the so-called “special military operation.” Among the program’s features, it is stated that teenagers who have shown particular talents will take special courses from the Wagner Center’s programmers and the school of military journalists led by military blogger Roman Alekhin.
As of 2024, the former members of the private military company Wagner were incorporated into Akhmat. During the announcement of the recruitment of participants for the first shift of the Akhmat Friendship Academy, the location of the camp was not disclosed. It was probably the children’s health camp “Lesni Zori” in the occupied Luhansk region.
The main organizer of the project was Dmitry Kuznetsov, a member of the Russian State Duma. The idea of creating the camp was supported by well-known Russian cultural figures and military commanders, which indicates a high level of government support for this initiative.
The militarization of children in the occupied territories of Ukraine is a gross violation of international law and the rights of the child. The use of military formations to indoctrinate the younger generation is aimed at creating a population loyal to the Russian authorities and training future participants in military conflicts. The Ukrainian authorities and the international community should pay attention to these dangerous trends and take measures to protect the rights of children in the occupied territories.
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