Surprisingly, Russia Gives Military Training to Children in Crimea
loading…
MOSCOW – A shocking new video from Crimea shows Russia’s attempts to recruit and indoctrinate children by forcing them through military training. Courses include martial arts lessons and gun handling classes.
Shared by Russian state media, the disturbing footage shows a boy and girl in Simferopol, the peninsula’s second largest city, racing to assemble a Kalashnikov assault rifle on their desk, according to a report from Business Insider.
When the two finished—within moments of each other—another student asked, “Who won?” Then the video cuts to a group of Crimean schoolchildren carrying rifles in what appears to be the lobby of a building.
They dropped their weapons on command, then executed a series of prearranged martial arts techniques, while shouting
RIA Novosti, a Russian media organization, reported that the students were the first to undergo such military training.
“Now, more than 60 people are engaged in martial arts, drill training, including kindergarten students and schoolchildren,” said Vladimir Konstantinov, spokesman for the Parliament of the Republic of Crimea. “The children showed great interest in the activities,” he continues.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s commissioner for human rights, confirmed the story on Telegram, according to Newsflare.
A similar basic military course will be rolled out in Russian schools later this year, Will Vernon, a senior journalist at the BBC’s Moscow news bureau, said in a tweet.
