UKRAINE: Russification at any cost in occupied Ukraine with children even physically punished for speaking Ukrainian
Russia is intent on eradicating the Ukrainian language and all aspects of Ukrainian identity, with young Ukrainians a particular target
By Halya Coynash
Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (04.11.2024) – Russia’s policy of russification on newly seized Ukrainian territory is being carried out more aggressively and at accelerated pace, according to a recent Radio Svoboda report, with the aim being to eradicate the Ukrainian language and all aspects of Ukrainian identity. Although sources living under occupation cannot be identified for safety reasons and the information cannot be independently verified, the methods are largely the same as those earlier applied in occupied Crimea and Donbas.
A standard lie that Russia has used since 2014 to try to justify its armed aggression against Ukraine has been the claim that Russians and Russian speakers were being subjected to intimidation or even persecution. In fact, wherever Russia has seized control, it is Ukrainian speakers and the Ukrainian language itself that have come under attack. Efforts to eradicate education in Ukrainian began immediately in occupied Crimea, and within five years (at the latest), there were no schools offering education in Ukrainian. In the Russian proxy ‘Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics’, the Ukrainian language was systematically eliminated from all areas of life (details here and here)
Russia was still pretending back in 2014, and largely hid behind paramilitary formations in occupied Crimea, or its proxy ‘republics’, rather than wielding open terror against those viewed as ‘too pro-Ukrainian’.
Essentially all pretence was dropped on 24 February 2022, with the methods of coercion and terror applied including abductions, torture and enforced disappearances of Ukrainian civilians, as well as extremely aggressive measures to force Ukrainians to take Russian citizenship.
According to Stanislav Zakharevych, Head of the Sophiivka Village Military Administration (Zaporizhzhia oblast), the Russian invaders immediately set about changing names (mainly back to those used before Ukraine’s decommunization). He says that there is also pressure on people to stop them using Ukrainian, with such cases both in the educational sphere, and in day-to-day life.
“In the summer of 2024, parents were directly told that they would be well-advised to not ask for Ukrainian language classes. They were forced to write statements claiming that their children’s native language is Russian and that there’s no need to learn Ukrainian. Therefore, in most schools, Ukrainian language is not taught at all.”
There have also been cases where teachers, many of whom have been brought in from the Russian Federation, have used physical force, smacking children for speaking Ukrainian or ‘surzhyk’ (Ukrainian which has been heavily influenced by Russian), and telling them to speak Russian.
Nor is this only in schools, Zakharevych says, pointing out that this is an area where people are multilingual, with some speaking not only Ukrainian and Russian, but also Bulgarian. There have been cases where in shops, for example, those using Ukrainian (or surzhyk) have been told by the invaders to speak Russian.
As reported, very many parents in occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblast tried to avoid sending their children to ‘school’, where they would be subjected to virulent Russian war propaganda, etc. That, however, has become increasingly difficult, with parents threatened with being stripped of their parental rights if their children do not attend school. There are worse measures also, with adults and children being seized and having their telephones searched for any apps indicating that the children are also studying according to the Ukrainian curriculum.
Ivan Fedorov, the elected Mayor of currently occupied Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia oblast) recently spoke of how Moscow is particularly focusing on brainwashing young people. This is clear from the new ‘textbooks’ reported here, with their totally distorted account, especially of Ukrainian and Russian history and the events around Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Fedorov explained that teachers are being brought in from Russia to push this narrative; to circulate propaganda; and to encourage children to join various militarized youth formations (like ‘Yunarmia’, or Russia’s ‘Youth army’; ‘Movement of the First’, etc). Pressure and persecution are increasing, with the situation particularly terrifying for young lads, since Russia is using forced passportization as a method of registering such boys, especially 16- and 17-year-olds, with this putting them in danger of conscription or mobilization into the Russian army.
Apparently Russian propaganda media and Telegram channels assert that ‘passportization’ is voluntary. This is evidently untrue. In some cases, brutally primitive methods are used. Zakharevych explains, for example, that in villages, the Russians simply block all access to and from the village and then go door to door, ensuring ‘passportization’.
He stresses that many pensioners had tried to hold out and not take Russian citizenship, but were left with no choice when the invaders refused healthcare without Russian citizenship. As reported, this includes such vital medication as insulin, without which a person will die. Homeowners are threatened with losing their property if they have not ‘reregistered’ them according to Russian legislation, something they can only do if they have a Russian passport. Parents cannot register their children in school without one parent having Russian citizenship, and, as mentioned, risk having their children taken away if they do not send them to be brainwashed in Russian controlled ‘schools’. The list of methods used is long, and Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre reports that from 1 January 2024, Ukrainians on occupied territory will lose any rights without Russian citizenship.
It should also not be forgotten that any demonstration of pro-Ukrainian views, with this probably including insistence on speaking Ukrainian, could result in a person being abducted, accused of ‘spying for Ukraine’, or other forms of persecution.
Photo posted by Ivan Fedorov / School under Russian occupation. Education replaced by propaganda