The Russian occupation authorities are pursuing a phased military-patriotic policy aimed at indoctrinating Ukrainian youth through training and activities praising the Soviet army. According to a July 31 report by the Russian propaganda channel “Donetsk News Agency“, the patriotic organization “Poiskovoe dvizhenie Rossii“ has organized a two-week camp in the Tver region with the participation of students from the occupied Donetsk region and the Russian Far East. As part of the initiative “Patrol of Memory: Rzhev - Far East“, the young participants underwent military-patriotic training and participated in excavations of battlefields to discover the remains of Red Army soldiers. The project is funded by the Presidential Fund grants.
In the occupied territories of Ukraine, the organization actively holds events, including exhibitions and round tables, dedicated to Nazi crimes against the USSR. In October 2024, an exhibition was opened at the Museum of Military Glory in Snizhne, Donetsk region, and in February 2025, a discussion was held in occupied Lugansk dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. In early March, a funeral for a Soviet soldier was organized in occupied Nizhny Duvanka, Lugansk region.
Through these events, Moscow aims to legitimize its invasion and militarize Ukrainian youth. After one of the discussions in Snizhne, the memory of the dead Russian soldiers was honored, and a representative of the movement in Lugansk called for the preservation of the “heritage of Great Russia“. The Ukrainian Center for National Resistance defines the “Patrol of Memory“ program as a tool for indoctrination and training of future Russian citizens. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), these practices will continue in the future.
In parallel, Russian regional authorities are using summer camps to deport and indoctrinate Ukrainian children. In July and August, representatives of the Republic of Ingushetia visited the Azri camp, where children from the occupied Zaporozhye region are trained alongside Russian peers. The camp, located near the village of Ozig, Ingushetia, receives hundreds of children each summer, with the main goal of forming patriotic and civic positions consistent with Russian values.
On an economic level, a Russian company linked to oligarch Arkady Rotenberg has acquired the occupied port of Yalta in Crimea. The deal, carried out through the Chernomorskoye Razvitie holding, is part of a broader scheme to reward figures loyal to the Kremlin and to strengthen Russian economic influence on Ukrainian territories. In parallel, the occupation authorities plan to develop tourism infrastructure in the regions, including the construction of marinas and hotels, in order to expand the tourism sector.
These actions are part of the Kremlin's strategy to strengthen control over the occupied territories, economic exploitation and preparation of the younger generation for integration into the Russian political and cultural context.