russia prepares teenagers in the TOT for participation in Its “elections”
russia has launched a propaganda campaign among teenagers in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast as part of preparations for the state duma “elections” scheduled for September 2026. One of its elements is the contest “our choice is russia!” for children aged 14–18.
▫️Participants are encouraged to create drawings, slogans, and digital content in support of russia. While presented as an innocent creative activity for entertainment, it is in fact a targeted ideological influence operation.
▫️Through such initiatives, russia instills in teenagers the idea of the “belonging” of occupied territories to the russian federation and seeks to shape their loyalty in advance as future voters, so that they produce outcomes desired by the kremlin during elections.
Notably, such initiatives are organized by the kremlin-backed youth movement “movement of the first,” which systematically promotes the militarization of children both in russia and in the temporarily occupied territories.
