Russia is hunting Ukrainian children. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (46) sends teenagers from the annexed territories to re-education camps. There, young people from Donetsk and Luhansk must learn to use weapons or to march in rank and file.
Now he wants to expand his children’s army, reports “Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty”. There are already plans to open at least ten more camps in Russian territories.
Train today, compete next year
There is a clear plan behind this: “They are 16 or 17 years old today, so theoretically they could volunteer in a year or two. In the meantime, they receive military training,” explains Chechen human rights activist Abubakar Jangulbayev (30). Such paramilitary children’s camps have existed in Chechnya since 2017.
Chechen leader Kadyrov is known for his brutality. He doesn’t even stop at his own children. He sent his sons Achmat, Eli (15) and Adam (14) to battle. After a few days they returned with some prisoners of war – much to their father’s delight. “The result was another captured position, a disbanded enemy detachment and six Ukrainian prisoners of war,” he wrote on Telegram.
The Russian state program « Teenagers of Russia » is used, among other things, to recruit young people. It teaches children between the ages of 12 and 17 values of a spiritual, cultural, patriotic or aesthetic nature. At the heart of this is Maria Lwova-Belowa (38), the Commissioner for Children’s Rights to the President of the Russian Federation. The Russian was heavily criticized several times during the war. She is accused of the kidnapping and forced mediation of Ukrainian children. In the US it is on the sanctions list.
“About 250,000 children recruited by armies”
The history of children’s armies around the world is long. As early as World War II, adolescents were abused as soldiers by the Nazis. According to the children’s organization “Terre des hommes”, about 250,000 children in more than 20 countries around the world are recruited and used by armed groups and armies. And that for decades.
More than 8,000 children, many of them girls, have been recruited by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria since 2009, and some have been forced to blow themselves up as suicide bombers. Something similar is happening in Colombia, India, Cameroon and Syria. (no)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
