Russian teachers who came to Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine to teach local kids under Russian education programs were detained in towns liberated during Ukraine’s offensive in the northeast, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk informed.
According to Vereshchuk, they will be tried under Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (violation of the laws and customs of war). This article provides for 8 to 12 years in jail.
“They committed a crime against our state. We have repeatedly warned Russian citizens who agreed to come to the territory of Ukraine and carry out activities prohibited by law. Of course, the punishment will be determined by the court, but there is still a certain number of Russian citizens still in our temporarily occupied territories who will definitely be punished if they do not leave our territory immediately,” said Vereshchuk.
She clarified that Russian teachers will not be considered as prisoners for exchange.
“They will not be considered prisoners of war, because they are not combatants, the Geneva Conventions do not provide for the exchange of non-prisoners of war,” Vereshchuk stressed.
In July, it became known that teachers from Russian regions, especially those with low salaries, are being recruited to indoctrinate Ukrainian children with the Russian version of history, geography and social studies, which means denying Ukraine’s right to statehood and instilling the notion of Russia as a “brotherly” nation. The teachers were offered salaries of about 190,000 rubles ($3,180).
Russia sends its teachers to occupied Ukrainian territories
