Ukraine accuses Russian propagandist of weaponizing education in occupied Crimea

The Security Service of Ukraine has accused Anna Grigoryan, the associate of the head of Russian occupation authorities in Crimea of Sergey Aksyonov, of brainwashing children and encouraging them to enlist in Russian armed forces. According to Ukraine, the suspect has been repeatedly spreading the Kremlin's propaganda narratives in schools and military camps where Russian instructors teach students of 9-11 grades how to apply combat tactics on the battlefield and use various types of firearms. After obtaining the position of deputy head of the Committee for Youth Policy in Crimea in 2022, Grigoryan has given direct instructions to school principals, ordering them to engage as many children as possible in the "Avangard" military camp that she leads, and conducted propaganda meetings with their parents. Earlier, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center revealed that Russia recruited mercenaries from the Wagner private military company to conduct propaganda lessons for Ukrainian children.

Russia recruits Wagner mercenaries to brainwash Ukrainian children from occupied territories

Wagner is known to commit a large number of war crimes in Ukraine, including killings of civilians in the city of Bucha in Kyiv Oblast. Now, members of the military organization are “educating” children in camps, where Russia takes them from temporarily occupied territories. In particular, the mercenaries were preparing the smallest ones for future service in the Russian armed forces during the “dialogues with heroes” lessons. In camps, the alleged war criminals brainwash children by distorting facts about the Russian war on Ukraine.

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