Children are systematically being militarized in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts temporarily occupied by Russia. This was stated on Facebook by authorized representative of the Verkhovna Rada for human rights Lyudmyla Denisova.
"Occupation administrations are changing the speciality of secondary educational institutions into military and Cossack cadet corps, introducing a component based on the principles of propaganda of ideology aimed at forming a constant negative attitude towards Ukraine, as well as imposing certain principles of confession. 33 cadet classes, where subjects of military training and Russian Orthodoxy are intensively studied, and schoolchildren are required to wear military cadet uniforms", - Denisova wrote.
She stressed that such actions by the occupiers violate the rights of children, enshrined in article 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides for the preservation of one's identity, including citizenship, name and family ties and does not allow unlawful interference, as well as in article 29 of the Convention, according to which the education of a child should be aimed at preparing the child for a conscious life in a free society in the spirit of understanding, peace and tolerance.
"To protect the rights of children, I turned to the Chairperson of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine with a request to promote the observance of the rights of children living in the territory not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and to prevent children from being drawn into the armed conflict", - the Ombudsman noted.