1.6 million children may remain in Russian occupation – Almenda human rights advocates

An estimated 1.6 million children may remain in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian forces, as presented during the unveiling of an analytical report titled “Russia’s Policy on the Destruction of Children’s Identity in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine: 2024 Summary” at the “Ukraine” media centre.

Data on the number of children reflects the situation as of October 2024. Of the total, 590,000 are already studying in institutions that have been illegally transitioned to teaching according to Russian standards.

Only 197 children are studying Ukrainian in the temporarily occupied Crimea. In contrast, in 2013–2014, there were over 12,000 such students. The only school in Crimea where Ukrainian was supposed to be officially taught does not do so.

Researchers were unable to find precise data on access to education in Ukrainian in the Russian-occupied territories of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Kherson regions. However, it is known that the Russians announced the transition of education to Russian, and Ukrainian was only allowed to be taught as a “native” or “optional” subject for a few hours a week.

Furthermore, a network of so-called cadet classes is actively developing in the occupied territories, through which the Russians are militarising minors. Last year alone, the official number of such classes in the occupied peninsula increased by a quarter, reaching 260.

Image: A girl in the temporarily occupied Crimea learns to use weapons. Photo: Reuters

There are no precise data for other occupied territories, including the Donetsk Oblast. In the Luhansk region, 86 such classes operate, 13 in the occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia region, and 9 in the Kherson region.

Human rights advocates suggest that the militarisation of childhood under Russian occupation will only intensify in 2025. One reason is that Russian authorities have officially declared this year the “Year of the Defender of the Fatherland”.

By way of background, every fifth child in Ukraine has lost a close relative or friend due to the war.

In over three years, Russian forces have killed more than 600 children, with the primary cause of child deaths being weapons with a wide area of effect.

Image: Cover photo: Reuters