It is 4 o'clock in the morning. There are sirens wailing, and gunfire can be heard everywhere. Teenagers aged 13 to 14, dressed in military uniforms and armed with rifles, run out of tents. Some return the fire, while others crouch down and run over to wounded schoolchildren. They bandage them, place them on stretchers and try to get them to safety.

This is from a video that can be found on the "Patriots of Belarus" Instagram account. The "Patriots" are a social organization that was founded in December 2020, in the wake of the crackdown on the mass protests that erupted after the disputed presidential election of the same year. On the organization's website it describes its goals as promoting "respect and pride in the state symbols of the Republic of Belarus" and preserving the state's sovereignty and independence.

The video documents a "challenge" organized by the Patriots, which allows 9th and 10th grade students from all over Belarus to experience first-hand what it is like to be in the military.

'Militarization of childhood in Belarus'

According to the authors of a report called "Children without a future: the militarization of childhood in Belarus," Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is using war games, maneuvers and swearing-in ceremonies to prepare schoolchildren for a "hot" war. The authors argue that the militarization of children is "a strategy for the regime's survival."

The report was compiled by the Association of Former BELPOL Officers and the National Anti-Crisis Management (NAU), which were both founded by critics of Lukashenko and operate in exile. As Pavel Latushko, former minister of culture and the founder of NAU, explained, there has been a "systematic" approach to educate "a new generation of loyal citizens" since 2020.

He said that one of the reasons for this was that there was a shortage of personnel in the Belarusian security forces as young people did not want to work for repressive state organs. So the Lukashenko regime decided to focus systematically on training future members of the security forces.

From 2022, there has been another reason, which is that Belarus is preparing to fight in a possible war alongside Russia. A key part of measures being taken is the militarization of minors, which was enshrined in a state program for the "patriotic education of the population for 2022 to 2025."

In their report, the authors note that in today's Belarus, more than half of school activities are related to the themes of war, death and self-sacrifice. Schoolchildren visit military bases and are introduced to weapons on a regular basis.

Children taught to not fear explosions and blood

"I want to try my hand at being a soldier," "I want to test my resilience," "I want to experience something new," were some of the answers given by teenagers on the Belarusian Defensive Ministry's TV channel when asked why they were participating in the "challenge."

More than 35,000 schoolchildren take part in such war games every year. Nine- and 10-year-olds take on the roles of "pioneers" and "medics," while 11 to 14-year-olds learn how to shoot. The older students take part in exercises, with names such as "Young Eagle," which can involve a tank driving over people in trenches. Matvei Kupreychik from BELPOL said that the idea was to teach young people to not be afraid of gunshots, explosions or blood.

The children featured in the television report come across as enthusiastic: "There was more adrenaline in the armored personnel carrier, it was faster," says one boy. "But it was much more exciting in the tank. What armor! What a powerful tank! I want to train as a tank driver at the military academy. That's my big dream!"

One girl says that the "challenge" has strengthened her mentally: "There are rules and orders that you have to follow, whether you want to or not. You can learn a lot."

Harking back to Soviet military traditions

War games are nothing new in Belarus; they were already widespread during the Soviet era, when military instructors taught the basics of training in schools. This tradition has been reintroduced throughout Belarus. Most of the instructors are former members of the security forces.

"Militarization is being reinforced by intensive ideological indoctrination. Textbooks are regularly rewritten to reflect the political agenda of those in power. School administrators and education authorities are forced to report systematically to the public prosecutor's office," say BELPOL and NAU in their report.

So far, military and patriotic training has been introduced in 220 Belarusian schools, which are attended by around 4,000 students. Another 1,800 young people have enrolled in nine cadet schools. Several educational institutions are teaching the use of FPV (first-person view) drones and how to attack and destroy an enemy's equipment. Children are being encouraged to attend military camps during their vacations. More than 57,000 took part in military camps in the school year 2023/24.

The funds for this "military-patriotic education" are from the state budget as well as Belarusian foundations and companies, such as the Presidential Sports Club, which is run by Dmitri Lukashenko, one of the Belarusian leader's sons.

Kupreychik said that the state was partly achieving its goal of militarizing children by giving preference to graduates of "military-patriotic" courses and cadet schools, as well as members of military associations, when it came to university enrollment. There are also financial incentives for families whose children perform well in military training.

Undermining of education system and children's rights

"Mass militarization is undermining the education system and destroying the values of humanism and critical thinking," said Latushko. "Children are growing up with a distorted worldview, in which violence and subjugation are considered the norm and in which a cult of personality is developing and becoming entrenched."

The authors of the report argue that what is happening in Belarus today is a violation of the country's international obligations to safeguard children's rights, which include the protection from propaganda, exploitation and participation in war.

This article was originally published in Russian.