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Russia’s “International Youth Center” in Paris Aims to Recruit Teenagers for Soft Power Agenda
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At the “Russian House of Science and Culture” in Paris, Russian officials have launched an “International Youth Center” aimed at recruiting citizens aged 14 to 35 from both Russia and France, Spravdi Center for Strategic Communications reported in a post on X on February 5.
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The program includes a “School Diplomacy Club” for teens aged 14-17, run in cooperation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s rebranded Soviet-era Pioneers group, the “Movement of the First.”
Participants will be invited to a youth festival in Yekaterinburg this September, Spravdi wrote.
Russians are recruiting teenagers in Western Europe into a Kremlin youth project.
— SPRAVDI — Stratcom Centre (@StratcomCentre) February 5, 2026
At the "Russian House of Science and Culture" in Paris, officials have launched an “International Youth Center” targeting Russians and French citizens aged 14–35, framed as education in… pic.twitter.com/D5DzcEH8v6
The event, which was introduced with video addresses from Russian officials, was attended by students in grades 9-11.
The speeches featured key figures such as Dmitry Polikanov from Rossotrudnichestvo , Artur Orlov, a veteran of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Kirill Rynzo, Russia’s deputy envoy to UNESCO.
Ukrainian intelligence previously reported that Russia was no longer disguising military training for children as social or educational programs, with minors now being taught to operate drones and participate in other military-related activities.
“Another example of Kremlin soft-power and political socialization aimed at minors—now targeting Western European soil,” Spravdi wrote.
Earlier, it was reported that the Russian schools were set to include drone assembly and piloting in their curriculum as part of new lessons on homeland defense and safety. Russian students would learn to assemble drones, simulate flights, and practice drone programming through specialized kits and software.
