Juvenile prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General have notified eight Ukrainian citizens of suspicion for facilitating the operations of the Russian military movement “Yunarmiya” in the temporarily occupied territories, including in the Kherson region.
This was reported on the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
They are suspected of violating the laws and customs of war, committed by several persons (Part 1 of Art. 438; Part 3 of Art. 28 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the investigation, only during the period from 2019 to 2025 approximately 6 thousand Ukrainian children aged 6 to 18 were involved in the “Yunarmiya” movement. Cases have already been recorded where, after reaching adulthood, children who had undergone such training joined the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces and took part in hostilities against Ukraine.
The investigation established that in 2016, at the initiative of the then Russian Minister of Defense, an all‑Russian children’s and youth military‑patriotic movement “Yunarmiya” was created, the activities of which were later extended to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, as well as Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Under the cover of the so‑called patriotic education, children were drawn into military training and their loyalty to Russia was cultivated. Children were taught weapons handling, conducted tactical exercises, military marches and oaths of allegiance to the Russian Federation.
Note that according to the BBC, the Russian “Yunarmiya” recruited at least 413 children from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region.
Recall that in May 2025 Ukrainian law enforcement officers announced suspicion against the head of the “Yunarmiya” headquarters that the occupiers established on the left bank of the Kherson region, Serafim Ivanov.