Russian kindergarten students are receiving military training in schools, say U.K. officials

More than 100 kindergartens across Russia have begun receiving military cadet training for young children since the start of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022, British officials said.

Preschool children in Russia are being taught how to march, handle firearms and practice hand-to-hand combat “in a playful manner.” They are also being introduced to military veterans who fought in Ukraine in an effort to promote patriotism, raise awareness of military basics, and serve as “early career guidance,” U.K. officials said Saturday, citing independent Russian media outlets.

Some of the Russian student groups are associated with specific units, such as the police or border guards, while others are affiliated with Yumarmiya, the Russian defense ministry’s youth group.

“Cadet groups in kindergartens also reportedly form part of plans for a law on cadet education, currently under development,” U.K. military officials wrote on social media platform X in their latest assessment of the battlefield in Ukraine.

The rapid increase in the number of military cadet programs throughout Russia, including those meant for the youngest students, is part of the continuing militarization of the Russian education system. Along with increasing ideological indoctrination of children, it is likely meant to perpetuate “aggressive, expansionist Russian nationalism in the longer term,” British officials said.