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Putin’s Family War Games Are Now in Full Swing
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
What began as a Kremlin-backed “patriotic” family initiative has grown into nationwide military-style competitions where children as young as 11 train alongside their parents, handle weapons, practice battlefield skills, and are coached by veterans of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Russia has expanded its military-style youth training into entire households, bringing parents and children together for nationwide war games that include shooting, grenade throwing, drone operations, and tactical exercises.
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According to The Barents Observer on October 6, families from nearly every Russian region are taking part in the “Family Zarnitsa” competition, a Kremlin-backed initiative promoted as a way to strengthen “traditional values” and ties between generations.
Teams consist of two adults and two children aged 11 or older. Participants wear military-style uniforms and compete in exercises including grenade throwing, dismantling and reassembling Kalashnikov assault rifles, marksmanship, tactical field operations, first aid, and evacuating simulated casualties.
The training grounds are designed to resemble combat environments, while each family is assigned a coach who is a veteran of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The project was formally presented in early 2025 by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivilova and was later backed by Vladimir Putin.
“Today, the ‘Family Zarnitsa’ project brings families together, strengthens the bond between generations, and integrates veterans of the Special Military Operation into a system of mentoring and patriotic education for young people,” Tsivilova said, using Russia’s official term for its war against Ukraine.
The competition is organized by several Kremlin-linked groups involved in the militarization of Russian youth, including Yunarmiya, VOIN, and Movement of the First, alongside the state-run Defenders of the Fatherland fund.
Russia has spent years expanding military and patriotic education among children and teenagers through organizations such as Yunarmiya and VOIN, whose combined membership now reaches hundreds of thousands of young Russians.
After regional qualification rounds, successful families advance to a national final. One of this year’s participants was the Maksimenko family from Zaozersk, a closed naval town on Russia’s Kola Peninsula.
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The family defeated teams from Pechenga, Lovozero, and Murmansk before reaching the national final in Volgograd, where it finished 10th among 89 teams.
Yevgeniya Maksimenko, the family’s mother, said the competition included drones, mines, shooting, grenades, radio communications, and first aid, but described teamwork as its main lesson.
“We’ve become a REAL team. There are no ‘mums,’ ‘dads,’ or ‘kids’ here,” she wrote on social media.
Maksimenko has also been active in Russia’s ruling United Russia party. In 2025, she received an award from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for her work with the party’s women’s movement. Her eldest daughter, Liza, is a member of the VOIN military youth organization in Murmansk.
Earlier, in March 2025, Putin ordered the nationwide launch of “Family Zarnitsa,” a military-patriotic competition for parents and children proposed by Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivilyova. The initiative was designed to combine physical challenges with patriotic education and activities focused on Russian history and culture.
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