NRC: Russians ‘testing’ of Ukrainian children reflects Moscow’s genocidal intent

Russia is conducting ideological “testing” and indoctrination of Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, particularly on the Crimean Peninsula, to foster hatred towards Ukraine. 

The National Resistance Center (NRC) reported that this part and parcel of a broader campaign to erase Ukrainian national identity. 

These actions, targeting primarily ethnic Ukrainian and Crimean Tatars, represent a clear violation of international law and are indicative of a genocidal policy. 

According to the NRC, Russian occupation authorities have established “‘testing points’ for ‘migrant’ children’” to assess their loyalty to Russia and to detect any residual identification with Ukraine. 

Aimed at the populous that is not ethnically Russian, the so-called tests serve as a litmus test for ideological reeducation. 

“This is not mere propaganda — this is forced assimilation under coercion,” the NRC stated. “It is the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian and Tatar children to break their identity and replace it with a manufactured loyalty to Russia.”

Meanwhile, Russia continues to systematically “export Ukrainian children for brainwashing,” the NRC said.

More than 230 schoolchildren from the occupied territories of Donetsk region (Horlivka, Donetsk, Yenakiieve, Makiivka, and Khartsyzsk) have been sent to St. Petersburg as part of the “Cultural Map 4+85” program.

“More than 3,000 children are expected to be taken to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, and Rostov by October,” the report reads.

This so-called “cultural program” is actually a targeted effort at assimilation: promoting Russian “greatness,” spreading propaganda, severing ties with Ukraine, and preparing the children for admission to universities in Russia.

“This is not education. It is part of Russia’s genocidal policy: eradicating Ukrainian identity through children,” the NRC said.