Inside a Ukrainian nationalist camp where kids are trained to kill Russian invaders

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Inside a Ukrainian nationalist camp where kids are trained to kill Russian invaders

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Associated Press

The campers, some clad in combat fatigues, carefully aim their assault rifles. Their instructor offers advice: Don’t think of your target as a human being.

So when these boys and girls shoot, they will shoot to kill.

Hidden in a forest in western Ukraine, they are at a summer camp called the "Temper of will," which was created by the country's radical nationalist Svoboda party.

The nationalists have been accused of violence and racism, and this summer camp endorses white nationalistic rhetoric against LGBT rights and Muslims.

Nationalists have played a central, volunteer role in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia — and they have maintained links with the government.

Earlier this year, Ukraine's Ministry of Youth and Sports earmarked 4 million hryvnias (about $150,000) to fund some of the youth camps among the dozens built by the nationalists. The purpose, according to the ministry, is “national patriotic education.”

The "Temper of will" camp has two purposes: to train children to defend their country from Russians and their sympathizers — and to spread nationalist ideology.

Here's what it looks like inside.

Most of the children at the camp were in their teens, but some were as young as 8 years old.

Associated Press

Mykhailo, 18, the oldest of the campers, said the training was necessary.

Associated Press

“Every moment things can go wrong in our country. And one has to be ready for it,” he said. “That’s why I came to this camp. To study how to protect myself and my loved ones.”

“We never aim guns at people,” instructor Yuri “Chornota” Cherkashin told the kids. “But we don’t count separatists, little green men, occupiers from Moscow as human beings, so we can and should aim at them.”

Associated Press

Cherkashin is a veteran of the fight against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine; he was wounded in combat and later came to lead Sokil, or Falcon, the youth wing of the Svoboda party.

 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• 'Good luck, guys': 17 Russian jets buzzed a British destroyer and left a threatening message earlier this year
• Ukraine says Russia may be preparing to launch a large-scale ground invasion
• What we know about the 3 Ukrainian naval vessels that Russia just fired upon and seized

SEE ALSO: Meet the Ukrainian children who no longer fear bombs and bullets after more than 3 years of war

SEE ALSO: What we know about the 3 Ukrainian naval vessels that Russia just fired upon and seized

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November 27, 2018 at 11:30AM