Crimean Kids With Kalashnikovs: Critics Warn Of Growing Emphasis On 'Patriotic' Education

A young participant carries a toy gun in Sevastopol, Crimea, during the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, observed on May 9.

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. 

Children in Sevastopol wear the orange and black ribbon of St. George, a Russian military symbol. 

Children wait to place flowers by the eternal flame in a park named after cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in Simferopol, Crimea.

Kids wear replicas of Soviet military uniforms during a performance titled "We are the heirs of victory" on April 19 in Sevastopol.

A woman helps a child aim a weapon during an exhibition of Russian military equipment in Sevastopol on April 12. 

A child looks through the sights of a grenade launcher at an exhibition of Syrian weapons in Sevastopol on April 3.

School children in Yalta join the ranks of the Russian military-patriotic youth movement Yunarmiya, which is funded through the Defense Ministry. 

A girl receives a beret as part of her Yunarmiya uniform. 

Young members of a military-patriotic club perform during an event in Yevpatoria, western Crimea, marking Defenders of the Fatherland Day on February 23.

Students demonstrate their aim during Defenders of the Fatherland Day in Yevpatoria.

New recruits are sworn in to Yunarmiya in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on October 27, 2018.

A boy holds a weapon at a military exhibition during for new recruits of Yunarmiya in Sevastopol.

A young Crimean girl wears military-type clothes during a Victory Day celebration in Sevastopol on May 9, 2018.

An exhibition of weapons in Sevastopol during Russian Navy Day on July 29, 2018

A young girl's cap reads "Thank you, Grandfather" at Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol on May 9, 2018.