Virtual museum of Russian aggression.

Virtual museum of Russian aggression.

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Controlled propaganda center

By the order of the so-called "Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea", the "State budgetary educational institution of additional education of the Republic of Crimea – Regional center for training for military service and military and patriotic upbringing" was established. The official abbreviated name of the organization is Krympatriotcenter.

Activities of the Center are fully controlled by the occupation authorities of Crimea. According to the charter, the center is founded by the Republic of Crimea  while the so-called "Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of the Republic of Crimea" appoints its head, develops and approves the state targets for this organization.

Overall objective and core activities of the Krympatriotcenter are also detailed: "promotion of a sense of patriotism and pride for Russia among the teenagers and youth, their military and patriotic upbringing, basic defense training courses, basic military service training in educational institutions and training facilities." The organization is but a cog in the Russian education system that aims to enhance the prestige of the service in the army and law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation and to motivate the young people to join the military.

The center also happens to be the founder of the so-called "Crimean regional branch of the Yunarmiya" (the Young Army), another organization that has been promoting military propaganda among children since its inception on 09/01/2016.

The Krympatriotcenter is responsible for the general organization of military propaganda events. Meanwhile, the Young Army and other similar organizations (various tourist and cossack clubs actively emerging in the temporarily occupied Crimea) are implementing the programs prepared by the Center. In Sevastopol alone, in February 2021, the numerical strength of the Young Army was estimated at 10,000, and there are grand total of 805,000 Young Army members in the Russian Federation.


Militarized childhood in Crimea

In pursuance of the Russian programs of military and patriotic upbringing, Krympatriotcenter regularly holds events promoting a positive image of service in the Russian army. Children study the basics of military skills, get firearms training and are demonstrated military machinery.

Here they receive basic drill training accompanied by the stories of the heroic past of the Russian army and the honorable role of the defender of the state, which came into their lives uninvited in 2014. From childhood on, they are indoctrinated with a romantic image of the "defender of the Fatherland" who carries out heroic service in the ranks of the Russian army, or neutralizes enemy agents as a secret service officer. Of course, nobody would tell the children that Russia is violating the rules and customs of war, and anyone can be tortured into admitting one’s "affiliation to the Ukrainian intelligence."

Between 09/28/2016 and 10/02/2016, Krympatriotcenter convened in Saki the so called first "military and patriotic assembly in the Republic of Crimea." The event was organized jointly with the so-called "Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of the Republic of Crimea."

For 5 days, over 300 children took part in the military tactical games, taking classes in paramedical skills and mountain climbing, disassembling and assembling of assault rifle, and rope traverse building. The organizers also offered military and patriotic desk studies and arranged meetings with representatives of the special operations force Vector (Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia). The servicemen demonstrated weapons and told stories about their activities.

The second military and patriotic assembly convened a year later (09/20-09/22/2017). This time, the range of weapons was considerably bigger. The participants were lectured about the tactical and technical properties of the assault rifles, effective methods of reloading the magazine, tactical combat skills including firing from standing, kneeling and lying position, and hand grenade throwing. There were individual pneumatic weapons firing and knife throwing classes. Minors were taught how groups are expected to respond to an attack, how to make an ambush and how to seize territories and buildings with limited ammunition at hand.


Under the supervision of the Russian army

In addition to the Krympatriotcenter, other structures are gradually joining the organization of such events. For example, the Voluntary Union of Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy of the Russian Federation (DOSAAF) contributed to the Young Army Frontier event, held from June 25 to June 30, 2018 with involvement of the Young Army squads and children's militaristic organizations of Krasnogvardiyske and Simferopol raions of the Republic of Crimea. This assembly at the air force facility in the village of Gvardiyske was attended by 60 children. They lived in the barracks for six days under the supervision of the sergeants. Children were allowed to shoot a variety of small firearms: assault rifles, pistols and sniper rifles. They took tactical, combat, fire, fitness and military paramedical training courses, as well as classes in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense.

In August 2019, Krympatriotcenter held a specialized Young Army shift at the Alye Parusa Children's Health Center in Yevpatoria. For 21 days, children attended specialized classes where they took firearms training, studied the "ideologically correct" history of Russia, tactics and strategy of military operations. The Young Army soldiers were traditionally taught to understand the intricacies of the design of modern small arms, how to take diassemble and assemble the AK-74 assault rifle, how to put on a gas mask and how to navigate an obstacle course.

In September 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Young Army got together for yet another assembly with the unchanged "recreation" program for the children.

In addition to military training, Krympatriotcenter makes arrangements for the so-called military sports games involving dozens and hundreds of children. Regardless of the format of the competition, the participants are required to have skills in firearms handling and a certain level of tactical training. For example, a military sports game called Orlyonok (the eaglet) took place in March 2021 at the Yalta secondary school No. 11, where ten schools sent their teams to show off their skills in drill training, field medicine and overcoming the obstacle course.

Grand total of 40 such events have taken place in Crimea since 2016 when the Krympatriotcenter commenced its activities, including: military training of children, military sports games, the so-called lessons of patriotism, exhibitions of weapons, demonstration performances of the Russian military and so on. However, only less than half of the events were held from 2016 to 2019. After the quarantine break from March to July 2020, the Krympatriotcenter has been increasingly active.

P.S.

With the deployment of the Krympatriotcenter, almost 300,000 Crimean children became targets of militaristic propaganda. The images of the invincible Russian / Soviet / imperial army, the cult of war and weapons are becoming commonplace.

The Russian Federation is actively promoting the service in the army of the occupying state among the civilian population and, in particular, children – a practice strongly condemned by the UN General Assembly and constituting violation of Article 51 of the Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

In addition, the actions of persons associated with the organization of such propaganda are considered an element of the crime under paragraph V of Part 2 Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The UN General Assembly has repeatedly condemned the actions of the Russian Federation on militarization of children and in December 2020 called upon the Russian Federation to refrain from establishing educational institutions that provide combat training to Crimean children with the stated aim of training for military service in the Russian armed forces, to refrain from establishing combat training courses at Crimean schools and to cease efforts to formally incorporate Crimean educational institutions into the "military and patriotic" education system of the Russian Federation.

Activities of Krympatriotcenter and other similar organizations are being investigated by the prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. More specifically, the head of the Krympatriotcenter department has already been indicted for violating the laws and customs of war under Part 1 Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Materials of the criminal proceedings are being communicated to the International Criminal Court. To this end, in October 2020, the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, together with the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Crimean Human Rights Group, sent notices to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court with evidence of extensive and systematic policy of the Russian Federation to promote military service among the Crimean children.

Document

Order on the establishment of the organization

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Document

Charter of the Crimean Patriot Center

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Published on 2021-09-01

Olga Skrypnyk

The Crimean Human Rights Group

Sources

Постанова Уряду РФ від 30 грудня 2015 р № 1 493 «Про державну програму« Патріотичне виховання громадян Російської Федерації на 2016-2020 роки У Криму створено регіональне відділення Всеросійського дитячо-юнацького військово-патріотичного руху «Юнармія». Вступити в неї зможуть діти старше семи років. Положення про Кримському республіканському військово-патріотичному зльоті У Криму пройшов перший республіканський військово-патріотичний зліт Крымпатриотцентр. А мы продолжаем рассказывать о том, как проходит день участников Кримпатріотцентр. Ще трохи про локаціях на зльоті Кримпатріотцентр. Час проходження випробувань вже майже під кінець і в завершенні ми розповімо ще про двох майданчиках Кримпатріотцентр. Сьогодні учасники продовжують відчувати себе на майданчиках. А ми розповімо вам на яких саме Кримпатріотцентр. З 25 по 30 червня 2018 року відбулися військово-патріотичний збір «Юнарміский кордон» серед загонів і військово-патріотичних клубів Красногвардійського і Сімферопольського районів Республіки Крим. У Республіці Крим відбулося закриття юнармійської зміни! Юнармійська Оздоровча Зміна. Здоров'я бажаємо! В ДОЦ "Червоні вітрила" пройшла воєнізована естафета. Юнармійська оздоровча зміна Юнармія Крим. Сильні і сміливі! Конвенція про захист цивільного населення під час війни Резолюцію ГА ООН «Проблема мілітаризації Автономної Республіки Крим і міста Севастополь, а також акваторії Чорного й Азовського морів» від 7 грудня 2020 року Римський статут міжнародного кримінального суду Мілітаризація дітей в окупованому Криму: начальнику з «патріотцентру» повідомили підозру. 21.01.2021. Київ. УНН Новий навчальний рік = нова хвиля мілітаризації дітей окупованого Криму. 02.09.2020. ЦГП Альменда. Перші роки окупації Криму: вища освіта. 03.08.2020. ЦГП Альменда Росія в Криму відбирає у дітей українську ідентичність. Ірина Сєдова. 15.05.2020. Дзеркало тижня. З українців в росіян: скільки РФ варто зміна ідентичності молоді в Криму. Ірина Сєдова. 01.06.2020. Ліга.Нет Додаткова доповідь Кримської правозахисної групи про ситуацію з правами дітей в Автономній Республіці Крим та м. Севастополь у контексті окупації півострова Російською Федерацією до Комітету з прав дитини Організації Об’єднаних Націй. 26.11.2020. КПГ. Моніторинговий огляд порушень прав людини у Криму у 2020 році. Кримська правозахисна група. 27.01.2021. Моніторинговий огляд порушень прав людини у Криму у 2020 році. Кримська правозахисна група. 27.01.2021. Порушення законів та звичаїв війни: «начальнику відділу Кримпатріотцентру» повідомлено про підозру. 21.01.2021. «Російська Федерація та її окупаційна адміністрація в Криму пропагує військову службу серед громадян України, зокрема, серед дітей» - Ігор Поночовний. 01.10.2020.
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