Tournament with games, exercises and visits to military installations. Children aged 9 and 10 are “doctors” and teenagers aged 11 to 14 learn to shoot guns. A study says that more than half of the events in the country’s schools address topics such as death and self-sacrifice.
Four in the morning. Sirens ring and gunshots echo everywhere. Teenagers aged 13 or 14, in military uniforms and armed with rifles, run out of tents. Some return fire, while others, crouched down, run to help the injured, who are also school children. They bandage them, put them on stretchers and try to transport them to a safe place under crossfire.
The video can be found on the Instagram account of “Patriots of Belarus”:
The “Patriots” were founded as a social organization in December 2020, shortly after the crackdown on protests against the fraudulent presidential election results in Belarus.
“Promoting respect and pride in the national symbols of the Republic of Belarus” and “preserving the sovereignty and independence of the State” are the stated objectives on its website.
The “Patriots” organize a militaristic tournament, the “Challenge”. When participating in these maneuvers, 9th and 10th grade students from across the country experience an atmosphere similar to that of the military.
Through war games, exercises, visits to military units and oath ceremoniesthe regime of strongman Alexander Lukashenko is apparently preparing schoolchildren for a “hot” war on the side of Russia. This is the conclusion reached by the authors of the study “Children Without a Future: The Militarization of Childhood in Belarus”.
Regime survival strategy
The militarization of children in Belarus is, according to the study, a “regime survival strategy”.
The study was produced by BelPolan association of former security officials, and by the People’s Anti-Crisis Administration (NAU). Both organizations were founded by critics of Lukashenko and operate in exile.
As Pavel Latushko, head of the NAU, explains, after the 2020 protests in the country, a “systematic effort to cultivate a new generation of loyal citizens” began. The background to this is also the shortage of personnel in Lukashenko’s security forces, because young people no longer want to work in the state’s repressive bodies. Therefore, the regime decided to “specifically train future security forces”.
In 2022, another motive became evident: those in Belarus for a possible war alongside Russia against Ukraine. A significant part of these measures is the militarization of minors, enshrined, among other things, in a “Program for the Patriotic Education of the Population for 2022-2025” administered by the State.
The study authors note that more than half of all school events today are related to themes such as war, death and self-sacrifice. Students regularly visit military bases and security agencies, where they come into contact with weapons and military equipment.
“What a powerful tank!”
“I want to try being a soldier”; “I want to test my resistance”; “I want to experience something new,” teenagers told Belarusian Ministry of Defense TV when asked why they took part in the “Challenge” tournament.
More than 35 thousand students participate in these war games every year. Children aged 9 and 10 take on the roles of “pioneers” and “doctors”. Teenagers aged 11 to 14 learn to shoot weapons. In the next phase, in games with names like “Eagle Cub”, some teenagers even participate in exercises in which a tank drives over people in trenches. The goal is to teach young people not to fear gunshots, explosions and blood, says Matvey Kupreychik, from BelPol.
In the TV report, the children seem excited.
“In the armored personnel carrier there was more adrenaline; it was faster. But the tank was much more exciting. What armor! What a powerful tank! I want to become a tank driver at the military academy. This is my biggest dream”, says a boy.
“The ‘Desafio’ tournament strengthened me mentally. There are rules and orders you have to follow, whether you like it or not. You can learn a lot from the tournament,” says another participant.
Soviet practices
War games are nothing new in Belarus. They were already common during the Soviet era. Another tradition from this past is the use of military instructors who teach the basic military training in schools.
These functions have been reintroduced in all educational institutions in Belarus. Most of these instructors are former members of the security forces.
“Militarization is intensified by intensive ideological indoctrination. School textbooks are regularly rewritten to align with the political agenda of those in power. School administrators and education authorities are required to report systematically to the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” write BelPol and NAU.
So far, the military-patriotic teaching was introduced in 220 schools across the countryattended by approximately 4 thousand students. Another 1,800 young people are enrolled in nine cadet schools. Several educational institutions offer drone pilot courses. In these courses, children and teenagers between 12 and 17 years old learn to operate FPV drones, designed to destroy enemy equipment and troops. During school holidays, children and teenagers are invited to militarized camps. In the 2023/24 academic year, more than 57 thousand young people participated in this activity.
Funds for the militarization of school-age children, officially called “military-patriotic education”, come from the state budget, foundations and voluntary or mandatory donations from organizations and companies in the country. Part of the funding is provided by the Presidential Sports Club, headed by Dmitry Lukashenko, one of the country’s leader’s sons.
“Militarization undermines the educational system”
“The state achieves its goal of militarizing children, in part, by giving, upon admission to universities, preferential treatment to graduates of military-patriotic courses and military schools, as well as members of militarist associations,” says Matvey Kupreychik, adding that families whose children perform well in military training also receive financial incentives.
“Mass militarization is undermining the education system and destroying the values of humanism and critical thinking. Children are growing up with a distorted worldview, in which violence and subjugation are the norm, and where a cult of personality develops and consolidates”, says Pavel Latushko.
According to the study’s authors, what is currently happening in Belarus violates the country’s international obligations to protect children’s rights. This infringes on freedom of opinion and belief, as well as the protection of children against exploitation, propaganda and participation in hostilities.
