Putin selfies for homework: NYT reveals life inside Russia’s occupation schools

Ukrainian children in Russian-occupied territory must attend mandatory "patriotism" classes starting in first grade, The New York Times reports. They are forced to watch propaganda films portraying Russia as their savior.

Since the first days of full-scale war, Russia has abducted and brainwashed Ukrainian children to militarize them and render them into footsoldiers for the Kremlin.

One recurring homework assignment includes watching Vladimir Putin's news conferences and uploading a selfie with his face visible on the laptop screen.

These testimonies come from those who have escaped to government-controlled Ukraine

Earlier, Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab documented 210 sites exposing children to Russian nationalist curricula or military training.

They include practices that violate Russia’s treaty obligations to protect children’s identity, says Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

For some families, the pressure leaves only one option: flee, often at enormous personal risk.

Some Ukrainian families risk life and limb to flee Russian occupation and indoctrination, escaping over 1600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to Ukraine through Russia and Belarus, often partly on foot.

One teenager, Yana, has crossed the checkpoint alone, her jeans soaked after trudging through fields, forced to leave her parents behind to reach government-controlled Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian families risk life and limb to flee Russian occupation and indoctrination, escaping over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to Ukraine through Russia and Belarus, often partly on foot.

Refusal brings soldiers in balaclavas to your door

Russian occupiers have resorted to increasingly coercive measures to force Russian identity amongst Ukrainians in occupied Ukraine. Parents face similar pressure. Russian authorities have threatened to strip parental rights from those who try homeschooling or enrolling children in online Ukrainian programs.

When one teenage girl tried boycotting school by claiming illness, soldiers in balaclavas raided her apartment and arrested her stepfather. The raid ended her boycott.

Ukrainians’ accounts in the NYT article align with a June 2024 Human Rights Watch investigation showing how Russian authorities imposed the Kremlin curriculum, detaining and beating teachers who refused to comply. In occupied Kherson, one school director was held for 40 days.

Children as young as six attend weekly pro-Kremlin discussions and lessons celebrating Russian soldiers. Schools enroll students in the "Yunarmiya" military club, where they don uniforms and march.

One 17-year-old, Yana, has recalled that teachers declared on the first day that "Ukraine will not be back, so we are switching to Russian."

"My children were taught to draw tanks instead of the usual things. They were also marching in the schoolyard," says a Ukrainian mother from occupied Crimea who has two sons, aged 9 and 11.

Children as young as six attend weekly pro-Kremlin discussions and lessons celebrating Russian soldiers. Schools enroll students in the "Yunarmiya" military club, where they don uniforms and march.

“I started believing them”: the psychological toll of Russification

Some children resist. Others are drawn in.

"Russification is so pervasive and toxic that children believe in it," says Kateryna Rashevska, an international law expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights.

One 16-year-old, Danylo, spent six months in a Russian-run camp after Kherson was temporarily occupied. Every morning, he stood at attention for the Russian anthem.

"To be honest, when so many grown-ups around me were saying that Ukraine started the war, I started believing them," he says.

Approximately 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain under Russian occupation. One parent who escaped summarized the choice: "You need to be either on the same page with Russians or leave."