The kremlin Is Systemically Militarizing russian Childhood

russia is preparing for further militarization of children and youth, no longer masking military training as social and educational initiatives. The next step is the announcement of the intention to include drone control in the standards of the all-russian GTO (from the russian Gotov k Trudu i Oborone – Ready for Labor and Defense – Transl.) complex – a program formally positioned as a system of physical education for the population.

In parallel, the federal government has announced the development of a new system of indicators for “strengthening the health and physical development of children”, with a separate emphasis on preparation for military service. Thus, the criteria for physical development are effectively linked to future fitness for the army, blurring the line between health improvement and military mobilization.

Separately, russian officials have announced plans to expand state regulation of military-sports training for children, having equated it with educational activities. This means the formalization and legitimization of military-oriented practices among minors with the involvement of state institutions.

Such decisions are part of a broader strategy to militarize russia’s society and systemically involve children in war-related training. Under the guise of “physical education”, the state is increasingly building infrastructure for the early development in children of skills relevant to combat operations.

At the regional level, this process is taking on overtly demonstrative forms. Militarization has even spread to New Year’s events: children are taken for rides on military vehicles, allowed to shoot firearms, while “father frost” arrives to visit the children in a tank. Symbols of war are being fully integrated into children’s lives, normalizing violence and the army as part of everyday life from an early age.