Youth from Yakutia and pro-Putin slogans: how Russia brainwashes Ukrainian youth living under occupation

Russia’s occupational administrations are bringing more and more Russians to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine according to the National Resistance Center (NRC). Recently, the invaders brought students from Yakutia in the Russian Far East to indoctrinate their Ukrainian peers.

“In Dokuchaev in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk oblast, the Russians staged a ‘concert of friendship with Yakutia’. To do this, the occupational administration of the region brought a delegation from the Arctic State Institute of Culture from Yakutsk, Russia, to the city,” according to the report. 

The Russians forced local youth to take part in organizing a joint concert with the youth from Yakutia. During the concert, standard Russian narratives about the children belonging to “one nation” and Russia’s “war of liberation” were repeated, according to the NRC.

The NRC also reported that Russian occupational administrations received orders to engage Ukrainian schoolchildren in campaigning ahead of the pseudo-presidential elections in Russia. 

“According to our underground [sources], Ukrainian schoolchildren in the temporarily occupied territories of eastern and southern Ukraine are to be engaged in campaigning during the ‘elections’ of the president of the Russian Federation. In particular, as part of preparations for pseudo-elections, the Russian leadership is introducing a program called ‘My family elects the president. We’re for a great Russia!’,” NRC reported.

As part of the “program”, Ukrainian students will draw pictures of polling stations and maps of Russia, create “ballots”, come up with their own slogans for Putin, participate in propaganda “shows” and hand out campaign materials.

“It should be noted that all the organizers of the so-called elections, the propagandists responsible for the war, will be held accountable for their actions and for working with the occupiers. After all, Russia does not guarantee their safety, because they are only considered a resource by the Kremlin,” the center emphasized.