Putin plans to draft in one million of his ‘youth army’ and recruit 50,000 orphans to fight in Ukraine

The Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to draft in one million new recruits to his Yunarmia known as the “youth army” into Ukraine.

It is highly likely that many are already on the front line in Ukraine fighting, but this is impossible to clarify currently.

A controversial Russian children ombudsman, Anna Kuznetsova, who is backing Putin’s plans, can potentially recruitment of up to 50,000 orphans.

Putin set up the Yunarmia in 2015 which was the brainchild of the Ministry of Defence and they recruit children between the ages of eight and 18 and in the first two years more than 270,000 were recruited.

Ryska patriotiska, indoktrinerande ungdomsprogrammet Yunarmia (som bl a headhuntar gängbarn). Lära sig döda med glädje och ”Liquidation of the consequences of extraordinary situations”

Princip dobrovolno-prinuditelnyj (voluntary-mandatory)

RU är orwellskt och läser inte Orwell. pic.twitter.com/S7yzm6iQGZ

— Astrid Traung (@akmtra) March 7, 2022

Putin’s youth army are trained in firearms which includes Kalashikov assualt rifles, parachuting, hand to hand combat, martial arts, pathfinding, first aid and arms drills.

In 2021, Russia invested £47m on the military, according to an LSE report, and then expanded his Yunarmia, a youth organisation supported and funded by Russia’s Defence Ministry.

Reportedly, Putin was planning to amass one million young recruits ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2 in 2020.

4-genç Ruslara disiplin aşılamak ve onları kötü alışkanlıklardan uzak tutmak için kurulduğunu iddia etti.

YunArmia’da 8 yaşındaki çocuklara askeri tatbikat, silah kullanımına dair eğitim, güreş teknikleri ve paraşütle atlama öğretiliyor. pic.twitter.com/sRaVJiZMcp

— halil spinnermann (@horumcek03) March 5, 2022

Expert Alexander Gezalov told the MailOnline in 2018, he said, “Nobody is left to protect orphans if the children’s ombudsmen are pushing them into military units.

“They should be dealing with completely different matters.”

During the Soviet era, orphans were recruited to the military and KGB and Psychologist Nikolay Scherbakov claimed: “This idea is unprofessional and immoral.”

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHRPG) have claimed that some 4,000 children were recruited into Russia’s youth army in 2021.

According to KHRPG, the overall number of “soldiers” in the organisation is thought to be around 29,000 children which are divided into 874 units.

Russia’s Defence Ministry says the youth army, “Take part in patriotic and educational events, aimed at retaining memory of the feats and military traditions of older generations; memorable events and dates in the history of Russia, the Black Sea Fleet and the Southern Military District.”