Lubinets: Militarization of Ukrainian children must be recognized as crime against humanity

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has called on Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, the international community and the International Criminal Court to recognize the systematic militarization of children by the Russian occupation authorities as a crime against humanity and ensure the inevitability of punishment for those responsible.

"The militarization of Ukrainian children must be recognized as a crime against humanity! In the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, it has been going on for years and still remains unpunished. Tens of thousands of children are forced to grow up in a world of propaganda, fear and imposed military narratives. What should be their inalienable right to education is being turned into an instrument of aggression. Schools are becoming platforms for preparation for war, and cadet classes are raising obedience, not children's curiosity," he said on Telegram on Tuesday.

"I call on Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, the international community and the International Criminal Court to recognize the systematic militarization of children as a crime against humanity and ensure the inevitability of punishment for those responsible. Those who have taken away children's childhood must answer before the law," Lubinets said.

According to the Ukrainian ombudsman, since 2014, the militarization of education in the temporarily occupied territories has been covering more and more children.

"According to Yale University, since February 2022, Ukrainian children have been moved to at least 210 institutions in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. In 62% of them, children are subjected to cultural, patriotic and military propaganda, and in 19% they undergo military training, including combat exercises, parades and work with drones. This is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and a crime against Ukrainian children," he said.

The ombudsman noted that children are forced to join militarized and pseudo-patriotic organizations such as Yunarmiya, Eaglets of Russia, Voin and Zarnitsa 2.0.

"And on February 17, the so-called 'Russian Cadet Day' was marked in Luhansk region," he added.

According to him, the militarization of Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied territories is now taking new forms.

"From September 1, so-called 'Cossack classes' will be introduced for fifth-grade pupils in schools in temporarily occupied Donetsk, Makiivka, Dokuchaievsk and Mariupol as a mandatory part of the school curriculum. These are not sporadic actions by the aggressor. This is a conscious, well-thought-out policy and strategy of war," the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights said.

"At present, these actions remain without proper legal assessment. The systematic militarization of Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied territories is unprecedented in modern history. How can the world continue to remain silent in the face of this crime? Silence is complicity in a crime against children," he added.