As
I had post a blog post on Child Soldiers of Novorossiya, I will now post information about child soldiers in
Donetsk. I got the information from Vice News.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://news.vice.com/article/putins-teenage-army-inside-donetsks-youth-warrior-training-camps?utm_source=vicenewsfb
Putin's Teenage Army: Inside Donetsk's Youth Warrior Training Camps
June
8, 2015 |
Amvrosievka
is a small sleepy town in eastern Ukraine around 40 miles from Donetsk and only
12 miles from the Russian border. Yet the conflict that has been raging in this
region for the last year has come close to Amvrosievka only once, on June 15,
2014. Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia rebels continue to blame each
other as to who was responsible for the shelling that night.
Since
then, most locals here have only found out about the world through Russian TV.
But they have also seen military vehicles travel through on their way to the
frontlines — vehicles they also believe come from Russia.
VICE
News traveled to Amvrosievka to meet children in a patriotic youth club that we
first encountered on a Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) anniversary parade
earlier this year, where they were marching, dressed in paratrooper uniforms,
and waving a large DPR flag.
They
have been trained in fighting with knives, hand-to-hand combat, and how to
operate guns at the local school in Amvrosievka for the last five years. And
they invited us as to see them participate in a regional competition called
"Future Warrior."
The
idea of these subjects on a school curriculum might seem strange to Westerners,
but in Ukraine and Russia it is just heritage from a former reality. During the
Soviet Union years, every citizen was supposed to be "prepared" for a
nuclear attack and able to protect the motherland if was needed.
Over
the past 25 years, the patriotic lessons have slowly disappeared, but it seems
like the conflict in eastern Ukraine has given them a new lease of life.
Many
things have changed since Amvrosievka became a part of the self-proclaimed DPR
last year, the school principle told VICE News. "We always felt more
Russian, it only makes things easier now," she said, smiling to me,
knowing that I'm Russian.
I
asked about education in the Ukrainian language, but she turned away and said
that none of the parents wanted their children to study in Ukrainian.
"We've also done away with Ukrainian geography lessons, and teach instead
the geography of Donbass," she said. Is that limited to the current
DNR-controlled territory, I asked. She smiled: "It is our real borders,
the whole region as it used to be!"
Oleg
Alexandrovich, the youth club trainer and a Soviet army
veteran who served in Afghanistan, met VICE News in front of the school.
Oleg founded the club in Amvrosievka with his wife Nataliya five
years ago — when the motherland was still Ukraine.
"Of
course our main goal is to instill an idea of patriotism in our children,
because it is necessary for the young generation," said Nataliya, who
used to be a history teacher. "The young generation must be brought up
using heroic examples. Every human story is a great example! Around 150 people
have been through our club in five years, [and] many of them became
soldiers," she added with pride.
A
song was played at the club. "What is a Soviet paratrooper? A Soviet
paratrooper is power, beauty, and honor!" it went. The children showed off
their military prowess as Nataliya continued, displaying a
colorful book full of pictures of soldiers holding babies, hugging their wives,
and receiving flowers from the happy people around them. I asked if there
is a danger of romanticizing war, especially now, when the streets of Donbass
are full of soldiers and guns.
She
seemed confused. "We needed patriotism always. Not only now. Love for
your motherland always existed and always will exist. It is a holy thing we are
doing!"
And
yet, I questioned, the children were previously taught be
patriotic to Ukraine. "Oh yes…" said Nataliya, with
disappointment. After a thoughtful pause, she continued: "Some of the
children who we used to teach are now serving the army of Russian
Federation. We are proud of our former pupils. Their military careers make us
feel we do not live for nothing, we have a continuing generation."
Before
we left Amvrosievka, Nataliya showed us a video she and
Oleg made with the children. In some of the footage they are all standing
with flowers near a local Holodomor monument, dedicated to the man-made
famine of the Ukrainian nation in 1932-33, which Russia has never fully
accepted. I asked Nataliya how she would explain the probable
disappearance of the Holodomor from future history books.
"Russian
text books have a little bit about it," Nataliya replied.
"I know not everything is great, but we are moving in the right
direction," she said, before changing the subject.
The All-Girl Soldier
Club: Child Warriors of Donetsk
June 5, 2015 |
Once
a relic of the Soviet era, patriotic youth clubs in the Donetsk region of Ukraine
are gaining new popularity, offering military training to their members. As
young people practice assembling guns, marching, and military drills, a strong
sense of allegiance flows through the ranks, with some members holding high
aspirations of joining the Russian Federation army.
Up
to 15 of these clubs compete in the annual Future Warrior Contest held in a
local military academy, which is judged by the academy's members and former
Russian military. The contestants battle each other in displays of military
prowess, vying for the prize of a visit to a training camp near Moscow.
VICE
News follows the Vityaz Squad as they compete against other patriotic youth
clubs at the Future Warrior Contest in Donetsk.
The
All-Girl Soldier Club: Child Warriors of Donetsk
Published on Jun 4, 2015
Once
a relic of the Soviet era, patriotic youth clubs in the Donetsk region of
Ukraine are gaining new popularity, offering military training to their
members. As young people practice assembling guns, marching, and military
drills, a strong sense of allegiance flows through the ranks, with some members
holding high aspirations of joining the Russian Federation army.
Up to 15 of these clubs compete in the annual Future Warrior Contest held in a local military academy, which is judged by the academy's members and former Russian military. The contestants battle each other in displays of military prowess, vying for the prize of a visit to a training camp near Moscow.
Up to 15 of these clubs compete in the annual Future Warrior Contest held in a local military academy, which is judged by the academy's members and former Russian military. The contestants battle each other in displays of military prowess, vying for the prize of a visit to a training camp near Moscow.
VICE News follows the Vityaz Squad as they compete against other patriotic youth clubs at the Future Warrior Contest in Donetsk.
Watch "On The Line: Simon Ostrovsky Discusses the Latest From Russia and Ukraine" - http://bit.ly/1JtjPqu
Read "Beauty Amid the Chaos: The Donetsk Opera Offers Relief to a City in the Grip of War" - http://bit.ly/1MpzVBs
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VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vJPL6PYDTM
& https://news.vice.com/video/the-all-girl-soldier-club-child-warriors-of-donetsk
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