Russian occupiers are preparing school-age children for war in the Ukrainian province of Luhansk Oblast, with a group of children being sworn in as part of a military unit, according to Ukrainian media.
A total of 30 schoolchildren were solemnly sworn in and initiated into a military-patriotic group named Young Guard in Bilovodsk, a settlement of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported on the story, attributing it to Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk Oblast Regional Military Administration on August 22. Haidai shared the information in a Telegram channel.
“Did they understand the future consequences of what happened? That’s unlikely. Parents, or rather mothers, perhaps… But they still allowed their children to attend the event and observed the absurdity that ultimately leads to death,” Haidai was quoted as saying.
A group of children at an oath-taking ceremony in the village of Novoderkul in eastern Ukraine, August 20, 2022. Photo: lug-info.com
The ceremony reportedly took place on the 225th anniversary of the constitution of the village of Novoderkul, where the Bilovodsk settlement is located.
The official also claimed that there are reports of incidents in Luhansk, where children aged 14 to 18 years are abducted by Russian invaders and kept in custody, sometimes longer than the usual 72-hour detentions.
The detained children are kept until a male relative — the father or an older brother of the child — arrives to confirm their identity. The father or brother is then asked to make a choice whether they are willing to go to the front themselves or would rather send the child in question.
