Children carrying guns and flags or wearing Soviet-style uniforms have become a common sight at Victory Day parades and other events in Russian-controlled Crimea. Russian and Ukrainian human rights activists have warned that such displays point to a growing trend of promoting Russian patriotism among kids on the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Alongside public events, many schools offer paramilitary classes, and children from age 8 are invited to enroll in Yunarmiya, a Russian patriotic youth movement.
Crimean Kids With Kalashnikovs: Critics Warn Of Growing Emphasis On 'Patriotic' Education
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A young participant carries a toy gun in Sevastopol, Crimea, during the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, observed on May 9.
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The annual Immortal Regiment march is held in Russian towns and cities, as well as in Russian-controlled Crimea, to honor those who died in World War II. Critics say the Kremlin hijacked the event after it began as a grassroots movement in 2012.
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Children in Sevastopol wear the orange and black ribbon of St. George, a Russian military symbol.
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Children wait to place flowers by the eternal flame in a park named after cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in Simferopol, Crimea.