With an eye to the future, officials in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are waging a campaign of “patriotic education” aimed at reaching the hearts and minds of those most susceptible to ideological persuasion: children.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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Iryna Matviyishyn: How Russia militarizes kids in Donbas and Crimea
This photo taken on May 26, 2016 shows children in red caps and ties, inspired by the Soviet Pioneers movement, taking part in a meeting of the youth movement "Patriot" in the outskirts of Donetsk. Youth movements are only one example among many of this infatuation with the Soviet past. A least a dozen of them are now listed in the self-proclaimed statelet with the center in Donetsk.