April 30, 2026

Data Cutoff: 9 AM ET

Karolina Hird with Lauren Thacker

Russian officials continue to temporarily deport Ukrainian children from occupied Mariupol to its patron region St. Petersburg for cultural re-education. St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov claimed on April 27 that a group of schoolchildren from occupied Mariupol will travel to the Druzhnykh summer camp in St. Petersburg this summer. 2,000 children from occupied Mariupol attended Druzhnykh in 2025 and at least 320 children from Mariupol attended in 2024. ISW previously assessed that occupation officials utilize patronage links between Russian federal subjects and occupied Ukrainian cities to send Ukrainian children to summer camps in said patron regions. The Donetsk Oblast occupation administration is actively utilizing such patronage links to facilitate the temporary deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied Mariupol to St. Petersburg for the purpose of their indoctrination and integration into the Russian sphere of influence.

Russian military-patriotic organizations are continuing to proliferate their influence throughout occupied Ukraine, including by holding drone operation classes for children and teenagers. Deputy director for the occupied Luhansk Oblast branch of the Voin military-patriotic training center Grigory Sukhodolin told Kremlin newswire TASS on April 27 that Voin’s Luhansk branch is 100 percent staffed and that 98 percent of its staff are either active servicemembers or veterans of the war in Ukraine. Voin’s press service reported on April 22 that its branches in occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia oblasts have trained over 9,000 cadets in two years of operation. Voin stresses that its graduates leave the program with practical military skills and a “love for their homeland.” TASS reported on April 22 that the occupied Kherson Oblast-based Patriot Center recently launched a series of masterclasses for teenagers from the age of 14 and up on how to operate first-person view (FPV) drones. The Russian national “Youth and Children” project — an initiative launched under the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin in early 2025 — is implementing these drone operation courses via the Patriot Center. Voin branches and the Patriotic Center represent the solidification of Russia’s Youth-focused military-patriotic indoctrination ecosystem within occupied Ukraine.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) occupation leadership continues efforts to indoctrinate and militarize Ukrainian children in occupied Enerhodar to prepare them for future careers in the Russian nuclear industry. The ZNPP occupation administration reported on April 23 that it hosted a “Peaceful Atom” event for kindergarten students in occupied Enerhodar with support from teenage activists of the Movement of the First youth organization. During the event, ZNPP occupation director Yuri Chernichuk presented information about the ZNPP’s operations and key facilities to kindergarten-aged children. Chernichuk emphasized that children are the Russian nuclear industry’s future, and provided kindergarteners with backpacks, t-shirts, and books about the nuclear industry. Rosatom and the ZNPP’s occupation leadership regularly hold career guidance and training events for Ukrainian children and teenagers, including specialized lessons, classes, excursions, and “The Path of a Nuclear Worker” summer school program.

• Russian officials continue to temporarily deport children from occupied Mariupol to St. Petersburg for cultural indoctrination.

• Russian military-patriotic groups are expanding across occupied Ukraine, including by training youth to operate drones.

• ZNPP occupation authorities continue indoctrinating and militarizing children in occupied Enerhodar to channel them into Russia’s nuclear sector.

• Russia’s ruling United Russia party announced pro-occupation candidates for the September 2026 State Duma “elections” in occupied Ukraine.

• A major mine operator in occupied Luhansk Oblast is withholding wages and laying off workers, underscoring the instability of Russia’s extractive project in occupied Ukraine.

• Russian authorities continue detaining residents in occupied Ukraine and pursuing severe treason sentences for perceived pro-Ukrainian activity.

• Israeli and Ukrainian media report that Russia is exporting grain stolen from occupied Ukraine to Israel.

• Russian state-owned VTB Bank is expanding investment in residential construction in occupied Crimea.

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