The Russian charity fund “Country for Children“ continues to systematically transfer Ukrainian children to Russia through the youth program “The Next Day“. On September 8, the organization announced the beginning of a new shift and presented the stories of two girls from the occupied Gorlovka (Donetsk region) and Melitopol (Zaporozhye region), reports News.bg.
The program is sponsored by “Aeroflot“ and includes 100 teenagers from occupied Ukraine, accommodated in the sanatorium and dormitory “Birch Grove“ near Moscow.
Although the fund presents it as an initiative for “social and psychological adaptation“, international analyses define it as a tool for Russification and building loyalty to the Russian state.
On September 10, Russian Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov visited the occupied Donetsk region and met with the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin. Kravtsov said that over 32,000 children from the region have participated in Russian summer programs - health, sports, entertainment camps and “university shifts“, where Ukrainian teenagers study in Russian secondary schools. According to data from April 2025, about 53,000 Ukrainian children are expected to be included in similar initiatives both in the occupied territories and in Russia. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISW) assesses this practice as illegal deportation, the goal of which is assimilation and imposition of Russian identity and values.
In parallel, the state nuclear concern „Rosatom“ is expanding its presence in the occupied Zaporizhia region, opening „Atomic Classes“ in schools in Melitopol - part of a total of eight in the region. Children wear uniforms, hold Russian flags and study subjects emphasizing the values of „Rosatom“. The program aims not only to train future specialists in the nuclear field, but also to educate generations loyal to the Kremlin. These classes also include elements of militarization and patriotic education.
Russian youth organizations such as „Yunarmiya“ and the „Patriot“ center organize military training for children in occupied Maryanivka. There, children learn to assemble and disassemble assault rifles, master tactical medicine, military engineering, and study Russian history. Over 32,000 children participate in such programs, which prepare future candidates for service in the Russian army.
In Mariupol, the occupation administration has begun distributing housing for people who lost their homes during the Russian siege. They are being provided primarily to citizens loyal to the regime, in order to strengthen support for and dependence on the occupation authorities.
Russian occupation courts in Crimea are intensifying repression against religious communities. Jehovah's Witnesses, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and Muslim communities are particularly persecuted. On September 8, a resident of Dzhankoy was sentenced to six years in prison for belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses - an act perceived as part of a strategy to impose control and propaganda for the superiority of the Russian system.
A 100-meter television tower was built in occupied Berdyansk, which will broadcast content for 16 radio stations. Additionally, "Russian World" satellite dishes are being installed, which limit the population's access to media sources only from Russia.
All of these actions - from educational and social programs to military training and media propaganda - represent a systemic strategy for Russification, militarization, and control over Ukrainian children and youth in the occupied territories.