Russia Lowers Age for Mandatory Military Training to 14 in Occupied Ukrainian Areas

From now on, training in the the so-called Volunteer Society for Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and Navy of Russia (DOSAAF) on temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine will be mandatory starting at age 14.

Previously, the minimum age for joining the organization was 18.

DOSAAF (Volunteer Society for Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and Navy of Russia) is an organization that prepares civilians for war participation.

In Mariupol, Russian occupying authorities are actively involving children in the "Yunarmiya" (Youth Army). Schoolchildren are sent to summer camps where they are trained in shooting. Additionally, educational institutions conduct "lessons of courage," which involve the militarization of children's minds, according to the Mariupol City Council.

It’s been reported earlier that Russian authorities are holding Ukrainian children from occupied Bilovodsk in the Luhansk region at a military camp near a training range in Novosibirsk region, Russia. The facility, referred to as the “Young Soldiers” camp, hosts schoolchildren aged 11 to 17, who are being subjected to military training.