Russia creates a cult of war, violence and hatred in the minds of Crimean children – human rights activists

This is reported by Interfax-Ukraine.

According to Elena Halimon, head of the service for reintegration and de-occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of the representative office of the president of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Crimean schoolchildren and students are being prepared to defend Russia with weapons in their hands.

"The occupation authorities organize numerous mass events, sports and theatrical shows, children are taught the basics of military affairs and the handling of weapons, in particular, there is propaganda of hatred and the cult of violence," Halimon said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Crimean human rights group Volodymyr Chekrygin said that the process of militarization of the educational process in Crimea begins in kindergarten and then continues in schools and higher educational institutions.

"Children look around, and I think that their parents also advise them that in the Russian Federation being a military man or an employee of any security structure is one of the most promising activities in life," the human rights activist explained.

Human rights organizations consider Natalia Honcharova, who was the minister of education for a long time, to be one of the main organizers of the process of militarization of education in the so-called Republic of Crimea.

"It was the minister who organized the system of military-patriotic education and militarization of children. It is the minister who is responsible for destroying access to the Ukrainian language," said Valentyna Potapova, head of the Educational Department of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

The list of those responsible for the process of forming a cult of violence, war and hatred in the minds of Crimean children, which was prepared by human rights defenders, also includes other officials and employees of educational institutions involved in the creation of the process of militarization of education in Crimea.

It includes, in particular, the head of the Yalta City Department of Education, Renard Kutkovsky, who organized "cadet classes" in Yalta; school principals who very actively create paramilitary children's organizations in controlled educational institutions, in particular military-patriotic circles and "Cossack" classes (director of Sevastopol School No. 32 Lenura Belyalova, former director of Simferopol academic gymnasium Valentina Lavrik, director of Simferopol school gymnasium No. 10 Natalia Treshcheva, etc.); heads of a number of "Public" military-patriotic organizations of the Crimea.

According to Olga Pyrogova, Prosecutor at the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, all offenses related to the militarization of the education process in Crimea, violations of human and child rights are documented and investigated by Ukrainian law enforcement officers.

"This (militarization process) runs contrary to the convention on the rights of the child. A child may not get prepared for war. A child must be prepared for peace. And if we are getting the children ready for war, then war will break out, and if we prepare for peace, then there will be peace. This is an axiom," human rights activist Valentyna Potapova summed up.