Militarization and Russification of Ukrainian children: Russian education official Omelchuk to stand trial, Kravchenko says
The Prosecutor General’s Office has sent to court an indictment against Andrii Omelchuk, who is suspected of organizing the forced Russification of education and the militarization of Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories.
This was reported on Telegram by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, Censor.NET reports.
Education must not be an instrument of war. But Russia has made it exactly that.
An attempt to change the consciousness of Ukrainian children
The Prosecutor General’s Office has sent to court an indictment against Russia’s Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Andrii Omelchuk. He is considered one of the key organizers of the systematic destruction of Ukrainian education in temporarily occupied territories.
He is charged with complicity in changing the boundaries of Ukraine’s territory and state border. But in essence, this is about something else.
Under his supervision, Ukrainian schools and universities were forcibly switched to Russian standards: re-registration of institutions, replacement of curricula, and the displacement of the Ukrainian language, history and culture.
"We see how education is systematically being turned into a tool of assimilation and militarization of children in the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions," Kravchenko stressed.
Militarization of children in temporarily occupied territories
- Through so-called "re-education" camps and paramilitary movements such as Yunarmiya, Movement of the First and Warrior, children are subjected to ideological indoctrination, trained in weapons handling, and forced to swear allegiance to the aggressor state.
- This is not about education. It is about preparation for war.
- According to Russia’s plans, by 2030, the number of participants in such movements is expected to increase by 250,000 annually, including through 1.6 million children living under occupation. Some of them are directly prepared for service in the Russian armed forces.
- From 2019 to 2025, at least 6,000 Ukrainian children were recruited into Yunarmiya. There are known cases when, after reaching adulthood, they fought against their own state.
The Prosecutor General added that these actions are classified as war crimes.
Suspicions against other perpetrators
Juvenile prosecutors have already served suspicion notices to 18 members of an organized group involved in these processes. In total, there are 30 suspects in this category, two of whom have already been convicted.
"I am convinced that everyone who tries to take away a child’s identity and turn them into a weapon will be held accountable. This is not only about the law. It is about the future of the country. And this is not the end. We continue our work," Kravchenko stressed.
