About 5,000 children remain in the occupied Kherson region and are forced to study under the Russian system

About 5,000 schoolchildren continue to remain in the part of Kherson region controlled by Russian troops, forced to study under propaganda educational programmes.

This was stated by the deputy head of the Kherson Regional State Administration, Volodymyr Kliutsevskyi, in a commentary to NikVesti.

At a native language festival held in Mykolaiv on 21 February, the official showed copies of books that Russians brought to the Right Bank back in the summer of 2022. The Russian system was not implemented, and the occupation authorities left the textbooks in Kherson schools.

Almost all propaganda literature from Russia was eliminated. Photo: NikVesti

Almost all propaganda literature from Russia was eliminated. Photo: NikVesti

This literature was printed exclusively for schoolchildren in the occupied territories.

«There are now 32 communities on the temporarily occupied Left Bank out of 49 that are part of the Kherson region. A lot of children have left, but about 5,000 children are now in the occupied territory with their families. They are forced to go to their native schools under pressure, where Russian curricula are being implemented. These books have a linguocidal context, where information about the history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian language is distorted and falsely presented to the minds of children. This literature was brought to the Kherson region in 2022 to introduce Russian education in the occupied territories from 1 September,» said Volodymyr Kliutsevskyi.

At the same time, he says that some children continue to study under the Ukrainian curriculum in a distance format.

«There are children who continue to study in Ukrainian schools in a remote format. They complete assignments under Ukrainian programmes. Such children are in danger, but they do not want to lose their knowledge,» the official added.

Read also: «It was dangerous to call lessons like in a Ukrainian school». How children were taught in the occupied Mykolaiv region.