Children carrying guns and flags or wearing Soviet-style uniforms have become a common sight at Victory Day parades and other events in Russian-controlled Crimea. Russian and Ukrainian human rights activists have warned that such displays point to a growing trend of promoting Russian patriotism among kids on the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Alongside public events, many schools offer paramilitary classes, and children from age 8 are invited to enroll in Yunarmiya, a Russian patriotic youth movement.
Crimean Kids With Kalashnikovs: Critics Warn Of Growing Emphasis On 'Patriotic' Education
- By RFE/RL
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A young participant carries a toy gun in Sevastopol, Crimea, during the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, observed on May 9.
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The annual Immortal Regiment march is held in Russian towns and cities, as well as in Russian-controlled Crimea, to honor those who died in World War II. Critics say the Kremlin hijacked the event after it began as a grassroots movement in 2012.
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Children in Sevastopol wear the orange and black ribbon of St. George, a Russian military symbol.
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Children wait to place flowers by the eternal flame in a park named after cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in Simferopol, Crimea.
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Kids wear replicas of Soviet military uniforms during a performance titled "We are the heirs of victory" on April 19 in Sevastopol.
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A woman helps a child aim a weapon during an exhibition of Russian military equipment in Sevastopol on April 12.
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A child looks through the sights of a grenade launcher at an exhibition of Syrian weapons in Sevastopol on April 3.
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School children in Yalta join the ranks of the Russian military-patriotic youth movement Yunarmiya, which is funded through the Defense Ministry.
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A girl receives a beret as part of her Yunarmiya uniform.
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Young members of a military-patriotic club perform during an event in Yevpatoria, western Crimea, marking Defenders of the Fatherland Day on February 23.
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Students demonstrate their aim during Defenders of the Fatherland Day in Yevpatoria.
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New recruits are sworn in to Yunarmiya in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on October 27, 2018.
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A boy holds a weapon at a military exhibition during for new recruits of Yunarmiya in Sevastopol.
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A young Crimean girl wears military-type clothes during a Victory Day celebration in Sevastopol on May 9, 2018.
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An exhibition of weapons in Sevastopol during Russian Navy Day on July 29, 2018
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A young girl's cap reads "Thank you, Grandfather" at Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol on May 9, 2018.
