Russian Defense Ministry: 2,500 schoolchildren joined ‘Youth Army’ movement in Crimea
In annexed Sevastopol, more than 2,500 students became members of the Russian military-patriotic movement Yunarmy, the press service of the Southern Military District of the Russian Defense Ministry reported on December 9.
"To date, the leader in military-patriotic education... located on the territory of the Southern Military District, is the Stavropol Krai, which has recruited about three thousand students. Second place is occupied by Sevastopol with over 2.5 thousand and third place is Dagestan with more than 1,600," the statement says.
According to the Russian Defense ministry, in 2017, more than 800 patriotic events were held and more than 22,000 young people became members of the Yunarmy (Youth Army) on the territory of the Southern Military District, including the Crimea.
In Sevastopol, the students of the branch of the Crimean Federal University also became members of the Yunarmy.
On the Yunarmy official website, it stated that the aim of the movement is "patriotic education of the new generation of Russian citizens."
Ukrainian human rights advocates have repeatedly paid attention to the paramilitary format of the upbringing of children in annexed Crimea. Psychologists note the pressure on the minds of children in modern education in Russia.