>>518906100
>Cadet groups have opened in kindergartens in at least 26 regions of Russia. Preschoolers are being taught hand-to-hand combat and firearms training.
>This is terrifying and disgusting on so many levels. And this will remain a problem for years and decades to come.
>▪ Special cadet groups based in kindergartens have appeared in at least 57 districts across 26 Russian regions, according to calculations by Verstka media. Most of them were opened after 2022.

▪ Some kindergartens cooperate with organizations such as the Movement of the First, Rosmolodezh (Federal Youth Agency), Yunarmiya (Youth Army), school-based cadet classes, universities with military departments, EMERCOM, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, traffic police, or military units. Others create cadet groups on the initiative of teachers or directors. They publish guidelines and detailed lesson plans for cadet training on educational websites so that colleagues in other kindergartens can use them.

▪ In summer 2025, Russian authorities announced a law introducing unified rules for cadet education across all regions. It aims to prepare a “personnel elite for military and state service” and will also apply to preschoolers.

▪ "I see nothing wrong with preparing children for service starting from kindergarten," said Andrey Sheikin, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building.

>part 2