Raising Citizen-Soldiers in Donbas: Russia's Role in Promoting Patriotic Education Programmes in the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples’ Republics

This article examines the role of Russian officials, servicemen, veterans, and paramilitary organisations in coordinating patriotic education programmes in the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples’ Republics (DNR/LNR) since 2014. Three complementary objectives underpin these programmes: first, indoctrinating youth to a worldview which promotes cultural assimilation into Russian society and denigrates Ukrainian statehood and identity; second, shoring up de facto authorities’ legitimacy by glorifying the DNR/LNR as fully-fledged states requiring protection from Ukraine and destined to be ‘reunited’ with Russia; third, building a training and recruitment mechanism to fill the ranks of ‘republican’ but also Russian military and security structures.