Russian-installed authorities check students' phones in occupied Crimea
Occupation authorities in Crimea are checking students' phones in schools for content and settings that may indicate a pro-Ukrainian position, the Center for Countering Disinformation reported on Oct. 7.
"Activists of Ukrainian movements in the temporarily occupied territories report that in schools in Crimea, representatives of the occupation administration together with Russian military personnel are checking children's mobile phones — searching for banned apps, VPN services, and even the Ukrainian language in the settings," the center said.
Under Russian occupation, Ukrainian children have faced violence and the threat of being removed from their own parents. More than half of Ukrainian children under Russian occupation have been subjected to indoctrination, while some reported torture and sexual violence, according to a Sept. 11 report by Save Ukraine and War Child U.K.
"Such 'raids' are another tool of total control and ideological pressure. The occupiers seek to eradicate any manifestations of Ukrainian identity. Checking schoolchildren's phones is not 'concern for security,' but a systematic attempt to intimidate children and impose loyalty to the Russian regime," the center said.
Russian occupation authorities may subject students and their families to additional checks and request to speak with parents if even a Ukrainian keyboard is found on a child's phone.
"Such actions are part of the policy of Russification and the destruction of Ukrainian culture in temporarily occupied territories," the center said.
Russia has used measures, including filtration camps, to surveil and control Ukrainian civilians as Moscow works to strengthen its grip on Ukraine's occupied territories.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their role in the abduction of Ukrainian children from occupied territories.
Russian occupation authorities in Ukraine have created an online directory of Ukrainian children who are offered up for adoption, sorted based on physical traits like eye or hair color, a head of a Ukrainian NGO said on Aug. 6, denouncing the practice as child trafficking.
"Parents of some of them were killed by occupation authorities, others were simply issued Russian identification documents to legitimize their abduction," Mykola Kuleba, CEO of the Save Ukraine organization, said.
Kateryna Hodunova
