Russia Recruits Ukrainian Children as Soldiers

Russia has recruited almost 60,000 Ukrainian children of the Luhansk region into youth organizations that prepare them for war, Ukrinform reported on Monday, citing a report by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine.

The findings:

• These children are being forcibly recruited from Russia-occupied areas of the Luhansk region.
• They are being brainwashed to believe they are Russian and that it is an honor to fight for Russia.
• Organizations such as YouthArmy and Pioneers’ Movement were created by Russian authorities to militarize young people through propaganda.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of kidnapping children and “Russifying” them has been extensively documented and even boasted about on the Kremlin’s official website.

This act constitutes genocide as defined by Article ii, Clause “e” of the Geneva Conventions. It also constitutes a war crime as defined by the International Criminal Court.

Only the beginning: Russia will not be pacified with the territory it has claimed. It is making provisions to continue its brutal aggression by raising up a lethal army of stolen children who now pledge allegiance to Russia.

Russia will not relent until it has warred its way to becoming a formidable military giant.

To understand more about where these tactics are leading, read “Not Just for Land.”