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The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) sponsored the temporary transfer of schoolchildren from occupied Ukraine to visit Russian military infrastructure at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Oblast. The Russian MoD reported on April 16 that cadets from the Nakhimov naval schools in occupied Mariupol and Sevastopol visited the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, toured the cosmodrome’s launch pad, and watched the launch of a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle. The Russian military uses the Plesetsk Cosmodrome for the launch of nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), rockets, and satellites. Russian MoD-run Nakhimov naval academies have become a critical instrument for the systematic militarization and indoctrination of Ukrainian children aged 10 to 13 in occupied areas, including the Mariupol Nakhimov Naval Academy, which opened in 2024 under the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin. These academies also prepare Ukrainian children for future service in the Russian military. Trips to visit prominent Russian military infrastructure within Russia support Moscow’s wider campaign to raise a generation of Ukrainian children to support and have an interest in the Russian armed forces.
A recent investigation by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) identified an additional 45 Ukrainian children who Russia has forcibly transferred or deported since 2022. Europol reported that 40 investigators from 18 countries convened for a “hackathon” online investigative session on April 16 and 17, during which investigators were able to discover information about 45 Ukrainian children, including transportation routes of their forced relocations, individuals involved in their deportations, and facilities that the children have been brought to. Europol transmitted all relevant information to Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine has to date confirmed the forced transfer or deportation of 20,570 children, which includes those who Russia has forcibly transferred within Ukrainian borders or deported to Russia. The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (YHRL) reported in 2025 that it was actively tracking 35,000 forcibly transferred and deported Ukrainian children.
Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec appears to be increasingly involved in the militarization of Ukrainian youth via its subsidiaries. Rostec’s press service reported on April 10 that its subsidiary Technodinamika Holding plans to start drone operation courses for schoolchildren at the Artek International Children’s Camp in occupied Crimea throughout April. Technodinamika will implement the “First Height” educational track, which will teach teenagers aged 13 to 17 how to pilot the Pioneer first-person view (FPV) quadcopter drone, as well as other courses on chemical engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, and prototyping. Teenagers will learn how to operate both drone simulators and real drones. Russia is increasingly using Artek as a central hub for the militarization of Ukrainian children, and the United States Department of State sanctioned Artek in August 2023 for placing children in “patriotic re-education programs” and preventing them from returning to their families. Rostec’s involvement in forced transfer and militarization programs via Technodinamika reflects the larger role that Russian state-owned corporations are playing in Russia’s occupation policy vis-à-vis Ukrainian youth.
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