Children in occupied Crimea are forced to sew clothes and produce drone parts for the Russian military

Children in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories are being compelled to manufacture goods for the Russian army during vocational training classes, with no possibility of opting out, as revealed by human rights advocate Maria Sulyalina, Head of the Centre of Civil Education “Almenda”, during the First Crimea Week in Brussels, Belgium.

Photo: Open sources

Sulyalina explained that vocational training is mandatory for all schoolchildren under Russian education law. Consequently, parents cannot influence whether their children engage in such labour activities during their studies.

“This means that during vocational lessons, children can be involved in preparing various types of goods for the Russian army. And we have already documented cases in Crimea where children were involved in preparing parts for drones, other Russian weapons, and sewing clothes for Russian soldiers. These are Ukrainian children, occupied by these very soldiers,” Sulyalina elaborated.

She stressed that this represents a significant component of destroying national identity, permeating the entire education system that Russians are implementing in the occupied territories.

Following the full-scale invasion, the Russians have significantly intensified propaganda in the occupied territories of Ukraine through the education system.

Specifically, Russian textbooks, which the occupiers immediately replaced Ukrainian books with in schools, emphasise that Ukraine does not exist as an independent state.

Read also: From 2014 to 2023, only 4% of Crimean children received Ukrainian education documents (in Ukrainian)

Among other things, the occupiers are creating various types of military-patriotic camps and conducting numerous military-patriotic events where children, in essence, acquire military skills. An increasing number of children are participating in these activities.