March 26, 2026

Data Cutoff: March 25, 2 PM ET

Karolina Hird

Russian authorities temporarily deported a group of Ukrainian children from frontline areas of occupied Zaporizhia Oblast to the Republic of Karelia for a propaganda trip. Zaporizhia Oblast occupation head Yevgeny Balitsky reported on March 23 that his administration, with support from Kremlin-appointed Commissioner on Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova and leadership of the Republic of Karelia, sent children from occupied frontline areas in the Vasylivka and Kamianka-Dniprovska raions to Karelia. Balitsky claimed that the purpose of the trip is to acquaint children with Russia’s “natural wealth and cultural diversity” and to teach children about Russian history. The Republic of Karelia is a patron region for occupied Vasylivka Raion. ISW has previously reported on how Russian regions use patronage ties with occupied areas of Ukraine to facilitate the deportation of children to camps or programs in the patron region.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD)-run Nakhimov Naval School is positioning itself as a central hub for training youth in occupied Ukraine on how to develop and operate combat drones. Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Minister of Industry and Trade Gurgen Malkhasyan stated on March 23 that the occupied Mariupol-based branch of the Nakhimov Naval School discussed the development of unmanned systems and technologies and identified the need to create a drone training program for youth in occupied Donetsk Oblast in order to “reduce the personnel shortage” in the drone field. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the opening of the Mariupol Nakhimov Naval School in March 2023, and it opened in 2024 and has since accepted hundreds of children and youth for its military training programs. Nakhimov naval schools have robust educational infrastructure that facilitates the militarization of children by preparing them for future service in the Russian military. The increasing focus on drone programs at institutions such as Nakhimov mirrors the Russian military’s wider shift towards integrating unmanned systems into its military education and service apparatus. ISW has reported at length on other Russian efforts to institute drone development, production, and operation programs in schools and other youth-focused spaces in occupied Ukraine.

• Russian authorities temporarily deported a group of Ukrainian children from frontline areas of occupied Zaporizhia Oblast to the Republic of Karelia for a propaganda trip.

• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD)-run Nakhimov Naval School is positioning itself as a central hub for training youth in occupied Ukraine on how to develop and operate combat drones.

• A Russian military court sentenced three Ukrainian teenagers to extensive prison sentences on likely fabricated terrorism charges.

• Russian majority state-owned VTB Bank is using mobile banking services to expand further into occupied Ukraine.

• Russia is planning to construct a road connecting much of occupied Ukraine to incentivize increased investment into occupied Ukraine and further the forced physical integration of these areas into Russia.

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