Putin pumps record funds into ‘Youth Army’ to indoctrinate Ukrainian children for war against their own country

Russia’s militarized youth organization “Young Army” (Yunarmiya) will receive record-high funding this year, according to Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre (NRC) — and much of that funding is being used to target children in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

Established in 2016 by Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Yunarmiya promotes so-called “patriotic education,” weapons training, and ideological loyalty to the Kremlin. But in occupied Ukrainian territories, it takes on a more sinister role: recruiting and indoctrinating Ukrainian children to serve the Russian regime — even against their own nation.

Children as young as eight are drawn into the organization, often through coercive or “voluntary-compulsory” methods.

They are trained not just in military discipline and weapons use, but also in the ideology of the so-called “Russian world,” with the aim of turning them into future tools of Russian military aggression.

“This year, Yunarmiya is receiving over 1 billion rubles ($10.8 million) — twice the amount allocated last year,” the NRC reported. “This isn’t funding for education — it’s money to brainwash children and prepare them for war.”

The NRC warns that the Kremlin is actively working to erase Ukrainian identity among the youth in occupied territories, grooming them to become loyal “Putin soldiers” who may one day be used to fight against their own communities and country.