Report reveals number of Ukrainian children studying in temporarily occupied territories
www.pravda.com.ua
Thu, 03 Apr 2025 16:28:23 +0300
Approximately 1.6 million children live in territories temporarily occupied by Russia, accounting for nearly one in five Ukrainian schoolchildren.
Source a report by the Almeda Centre for Civic Education the centres head, Mariia Sulianina, during the presentation of an appropriate study Details Sulianina noted that the information on the number of children remaining in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine is approximate.
As a result, the organisations experts rely on data from the Russian Federation and the occupation authorities for their calculations.
The analytical report indicates that, as of 2025, an estimated 16 of Ukrainian schoolage children are studying in the occupied territories.
Sulianina noted that children in the occupied regions are systematically subjected to pressure, a situation confirmed by data from 2014.
She added that the problem is only getting worse year by year.
Experts noted that Russias policy towards children in the occupied territories follows several patterns, particularly the eradication of everything Ukrainian.
For example, the situation regarding the teaching of the Ukrainian language has worsened in Crimea.
While in 2014 all schoolchildren studied Ukrainian, now only 0.5 of them do, according to the occupation authorities.
Similar trends are observed in other regions occupied by the Russian Federation.
The methodology is limited because we rely on data from the occupation authorities.
When we verify this information, we see that there is no real access to the language.
In fact, even those figures are likely even lower, she explained.
Sulianina noted that the Russian authorities are also implementing the militarisation of education in the temporarily occupied territories.
An example of this policy is the opening of cadet classes, which are appearing across all the occupied territories.
The number of such classes is as follows Crimea 260 classes Luhansk Oblast 86 Zaporizhzhia Oblast 13 Kherson Oblast 9 Donetsk Oblast unknowThe peculiarity of cadet classes in occupation schools is that students are trained for the military from the first grade.
They are being given only one trajectory for the future they have to become either military personnel or part of the security forces of the Russian Federation, Sulianina added.
Experts at the Almeda Centre believe that the number of cadet classes will likely continue to rise this year, particularly as 2025 has been designated as the Defender of the Fatherland year in Russia.
Moreover, Russian authorities are actively expanding their youth policy, which includes initiatives and organisations aimed at Russifying Ukrainian children.
The Centre highlighted a significant increase in funding for these activities.
In 2014, RUB 0.71 billion approx.
US8.4 million was allocated for youth policy, whereas this year, the figure has soared to RUB 70.9 billion roughly US842 million.
According to occupation administrations, the number of Ukrainian children involved in the Yunarmiya movement has surged by thousands in recent years.
Its essential for us to pay attention to this so that we can bring the perpetrators to justice, implement an appropriate response from Ukraine, ensure reintegration processes and childrens access to Ukrainian education.
It also helps to show who is responsible for the policy of identity destruction, said Sulianina.
Background Earlier, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, reported that nearly 600,000 children live in the temporarily occupied territories.
Among them, those wishing to study in Ukrainian educational institutions face systematic pressure.
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