Putin horror as Russia spends £500m on military training for children

Vladimir Putin has been accused of spending £500 million to construct facilities to train children for war over the last five years. Independent outlet Vot Tak reports that the Russian state has developed a sprawling estate of 147 centres known as Avangard to enable compulsory military training to school-aged children.

Vot Tak’s analysis found that budgets from 39 regions, including annexed Crimea, have allocated at least 36.5 billion rubles, or around £363 million, to Avangard centres. The most expensive single facility is at Patriot Park, a military-themed complex, where construction and upkeep have totalled 13.6 billion rubles, equivalent to roughly £136 million. Russia also runs a separate network of military-patriotic training sites under the name Voin.

According to Vot Tak, they are active across 17 Russian regions and in four occupied areas of Ukraine.

The outlet reported that, unlike the Avangard centres, Voin is paid for directly by Moscow through the federal budget. More than 15 billion rubles, around £149 million, has already been spent building and maintaining the sites.

The training became compulsory for Russian pupils on September 1, 2023, when schools introduced a new subject called Fundamentals of Security and Defence of the Motherland.

Under the programme, pupils in the tenth grade spend five days at the camps, while those in the eighth grade spend three days there.

The children are reportedly made to wear military uniforms, take part in drills, practice shooting, handle weapons and learn how to use drones.

Some pupils who went through the camps told Vot Tak they were later targeted by recruiters from the armed forces and security services. Others said they were pushed towards applying to military academies.

It comes as a US-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was due to expire on Monday, with both sides accusing each other of breaching the 72-hour arrangement.

Meanwhile, American and European officials considered how they might steer the warring countries into further talks.

Ukrainian authorities said on Monday that Russian drones, bombs and artillery shelling struck civilian areas of the north-eastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson regions, killing at least two people and wounding seven others, including a 14-year-old boy.

Russia’s Defence Ministry on Sunday accused Kyiv of committing more than 1,000 ceasefire violations, state media reported.

Similar ceasefires announced since Russia invaded its neighbour more than four years ago have also failed to stop the fighting, and US-led diplomatic efforts over the past year have come to nothing.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said data from Nasa observations indicated military activities decreased but did not stop after US President Donald Trump announced last Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had accepted his request for a ceasefire running from Saturday until Monday.

The move was meant to mark Victory Day, the Russian celebration marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The ISW noted late on Sunday that “ceasefires without explicit enforcement mechanisms, credible monitoring, and defined dispute resolution processes are unlikely to hold”.

Mr Trump had said there would also be an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war.

Mr Zelensky said the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side is being prepared.

There are no signs that the two sides are ready to budge from their key negotiating positions, however.

Mr Putin wants all of the Donbas region, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, even though his army has not completely captured it, but Mr Zelensky will not surrender it.

Mr Zelensky has offered a ceasefire and a face-to-face meeting with Mr Putin, which the Russian leader has ruled out until a negotiated settlement is almost finalised.