There is a draft version of the translation. We will edit it and publish pdf as soon as possible :)

Introduction

The unprovoked Russian aggression continuing since 2014 has brought to Ukraine irreparable harm. Killings of thousands of citizens, tremendous damage, destruction of entire economic sectors, reducing to dust cities and villages, change in the population structure through deportation of Ukrainian people and relocation of Russian people to the seized regions, occupation and annexation — those are many actions, among others, taken by the Russian Federation to eradicate all things Ukrainian. At the same time, aggression is also used in a less noticeable but no less critical field of culture. 

Citizens of Ukraine who found themselves under the occupation now witness highly intense Russian “soft power” when they try to win over their “hearts and minds”. The tactic has been around since the second half of the 20th century. It has often been used by states that felt a lack of impact from the “hard power” for effective control of the seized territories. During the anti-British national liberation war in Malaysia (Malayan Emergency), a British Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer said: “The shooting side of the business is only 25% of the trouble. And the other 75% es in getting the people of this country behind us. The answer lies not in pouring more soldiers into the jungle but in the hearts and minds of people”. 

In order to get support from local people, occupiers utilize various methods: most often, they start with providing for basic humanitarian needs (bring food, water, offer various social welfare payments, etc.). That is how the U.S. Army used to win over the hearts and minds of Vietnamese peasants during the Vietnam war. However, according to a researcher of the occupation and insurgent governance, Zachariah Mampilly, occupiers “cannot effectively wage the war by putting a gun to each civilian’s head, whereas the monetary remuneration cannot ensure an absolute loyalty of people to the new government.” Therefore, when most basic needs are provided for people, the government (especially when the occupied people are ethnically and culturally close) tries to combine their ideology and views with the attitudes of the subdued population, thus gaining their consent for their governance. Russia went even further, and they try to convince people in Ukraine’s occupied territories that their Ukrainian identity had never been genuine but rather a distorted image of the “true”, i.e. Russian nation. 

Russia’s intentions to build a shared cultural and social space with the occupied regions and to blur the identity of their residents is a way to commit genocide. According to the report of the National Institute for Strategic Research, the EU, NATO, and the ICC “define cultural heritage as a critical factor, among others, to maintain and strengthen identity and unity of any state and the European community at large.” At the same time, in the territories temporarily occupied since 2014 and in the areas occupied after February, 24, 2022, Russian authorities “takes structural and comprehensive actions to destroy material and non-material cultural heritage, thus destroying the foundations of Ukrainian identity of the people from those territories.” After all, according to the paper’s authors, such Russia’s actions in Ukraine can be qualified as “cultural cleansing,” “war crime in the form of destroying cultural heritage” and a sign of genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Since 2014, Ukrainian researchers, public activists and scholars have usually avoided any detailed analysis of actions taken by the Russian Federation targeting the destruction of Ukrainian identity in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. However, today, when about 20% of Ukraine’s territory is under the occupation, and Russia launches large scale de-Ukrainization in all seized territories, we cannot stand aside. The simplest step to take would be to document the episodes occurring in the TOTs, and outline RF’s approach to destroying all things Ukrainian. This report is the first attempt to provide the most detailed overview possible for the cultural policy of the occupying government in the so-called LPR and DPR. Moreover, we intend to describe the “Crimean scenario” of cultural occupation which is currently under way in the seized parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.

1. From The “Donbass People” To The “Russian People”: Cultural Policy Of The Occupiers In The So-Called LPR And DPR 

In the first part of this report, the authors focused on methods that the Russian occupation authorities used to create a Russian cultural space in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. In this section, we have not considered russia’s policy in the occupied Crimea since the so-called DPR and LPR have had a very different pathway of cultural occupation. It implied the development of local identity of a resident of the “Republic”. Crimean scenario of the cultural occupation is described in more detail in the section about the temporarily occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. 

Cultural policy of the Russian Federation in the so-called DPR and LPR was analyzed based on 10,835 posts on the page of the “Ministry of Culture of the DPR” in the social media of “VKontakte”. Some of those posts have been deleted now, making the actual current number of posts on the page lower. In addition, we accounted for the posts from the “Ministry of Culture of LPR” in “VKontakte” but the public communication from this “Ministry” started much later and was less regular. Besides, to collect the data about the early years of the occupation (2014-2015), we used the publications by local, national, and international mass media.

1.1. 2014: Occupational Rule Taking Root

In the spring of 2014, when Russian mercenaries and local pro-Russian activists seized power in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, conducted their referenda, and declared independence of the so-called “people’s republics,” it did not take long to establish new authorities in the new “states.” The new governments also included “Ministries of Culture” with the mandate “to develop public policy and legal regulation in the field of culture and art.” At the same time, the “DPR Ministry of Culture” (established on May, 16, 2014, Yurii Lekstutes was appointed its head on May, 19, 2014) was supposed to focus on culture-related aspects exclusively. On the other hand, the “Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Religion of the LPR” (established on May, 27, 2014, with the Minister appointed on the same day, Lesia Lapteva) was given a much broader mandate. 

In 2014, governments of the so-called DPR and LPR had a rather weak impact on the cultural domain in the newly created “republics.” One of the reasons for such a passive flow of work was related to the undefined “state” borders that have been changing almost every day as the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to resume control over the occupied territories. At the same time, the status of the “republics” was uncertain, and support from the Russian Federation focused on providing separatists with weapons and basic supplies through the so-called “humanitarian convoys.” Therefore, the development of the cultural field was not a priority for the self-proclaimed local administrations or for their curators in Moscow.

As a result, cultural life in the occupied parts of Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts was decaying. By the end of 2014, in the so-called DPR alone, the shelling damaged about 30 culture facilities, such as the Donetsk Local History museum and Donetsk National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. Moreover, some culture facilities suffered from Russian mercenaries and local separatists. For example, the Center of Modern Industrial Culture which the Isolation Ukrainian Foundation previously managed was seized and plundered by the DPR gunmen. The Isolation building was later made into a torture chamber, and a well-known Ukrainian author and journalist, Stanislav Aseyev, was a prisoner there. 

On the other hand, many culture actors left the occupied Donbass and relocated to the Ukrainian government-controlled territory. Those who stayed behind in the “republics” had to either quit their work in culture, or continue working free of charge. In particular, the “DPR authorities” issued an ultimatum to the theater administrations: they either had to resume their operations or their premises would be expropriated. In October 2014, employees of the Donetsk Theater said that “for the time being, they were performing free of charge to see whether they could attract any audiences.” In the so-called LPR, the situation was no better. The “republic” only hosted guest appearances of the little-known performers, and there were hardly any cultural events, but people were attending as they had no alternatives. According to the theater columnist, Yana Viktorova, one could have an impression that “the only performers who came on tours seemed to be not welcome anywhere else anymore. Some actors who were making their final spurt before retirement. In any case, no normal performer could be lured to come.” Many culture events were compulsory: students and budget-funded employees were made to attend the philharmonic or exhibitions.

In October, 2014, culture policy in the temporarily occupied territories started getting a more visible profile. Initially, certain representatives of Russian culture rushed in to revive cultural life in TOTs. Josef Kobzon was one of the first to visit the occupied Donbass. Along with the song and dance ensemble of the Russian Interior Ministry, they organized a big concert to support a local headman, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, before the rigged elections in the so-called DPR. Later, Kobzon also held a concert in Luhansk. People even were given early leaves from work to get to the concert which was free of charge. 

Some Russian actors were also spotted visiting TOTs, such as Mikhail Porechenkov, who came to Donetsk airport and shot at the locations of Ukrainian soldiers, Aleksandr Bashirov, Ivan Okhlobystin, and others. Anna Netrebko, an opera singer, has never come to the occupied regions of Ukraine, but she donated at least RUB 1 mln to rebuild the Opera Theater in Donetsk and forwarded the money directly to a notorious Oleh Tsariov. Also. In November, 2014, first interviews by the “Ministers of Culture” came out where they emphasized they were negotiating about tours of Russian performers in the TOTs (in particular, they announced that the Moscow circus might come for the New Year festivities). In parallel, in Russia, they also started promoting “artists of Donbass.” In November, in Smolensk, an exhibition was held of a Donetsk photographer sponsored by local party cell of “United Russia.” However, all those events were sporadic and not very popular, they were rarely initiated by the authorities from the pseudo-republics.

In late 2014, changes have taken place among the leadership of the occupation authorities: on December 7, the “DPR Minister of Culture,” Yurii Lekstutes lost his post. He was arrested and sent “to the basements” (that is how prisons are called in the TOTs). Now, Aleksandr Paretskiy became the “acting Minister of Culture.” He was a performer of Donetsk Philharmonic. The “Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Religion of LPR” was disbanded, to be replaced by a new “Ministry of Culture” managed by Oksana Kokotkina. The previous “Minister,” Lesia Lapteva, was later accused of embezzlement of humanitarian assistance and stealing the seal from the Ministry she used to manage.

In addition, the occupation administrations also started integrating the field of education with the RF. For this purpose, they created “Ministries of Education and Science” which in September 2014 established control over schools and universities and later also replaced the headmasters and rectors. It is typical that when the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine made a decision to relocate the Donetsk National University to Vinnytsia, several hundreds of lecturers and students walked out to protest and demanding that the University stay operating in the “DPR”. 

Heads of the so-called “Ministries,” along with the heads of the occupation administrations were actively visiting schools where they promised to renovate the buildings affected by the shelling, handed out humanitarian and financial assistance to local “refugees” and teachers. Reconstruction of schools was done by local citizens and by Russian charities. According to the “Minister of Education and Science of the DPR,” Igor Kostenko, a humanitarian battalion Novorossiya actively participated in the effort and was supported by Ekaterina Gubareva. 

Despite the intentions to start an academic year in September, the “Ministries of Education of the republics” postponed the start to October because of active hostilities, understaffing, and underfinancing. In an interview dated September, 29, 2014, the “Minister of Education,” Kostenok, emphasized that the “DPR” did not yet have the capacity to publish textbooks to follow the new curriculum. He asked local parents to “dins the textbooks they used to have at school.” Later, through “patronage” programs (such as “the schools of St. Petersburg to the schools of Donbass”), Russian cities (Tomsk, Velikiy Novgorod, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, a.o.) brought dozens of thousands of their textbooks to TOTs. 

When the school year started on October, 1, the “republics” restructured their curricula after Russian fashion. During the “international educational conferences” and “video conferences on education,” officials from the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” decided to implement a transition of teaching methods to Russian education standards, and introduce the annual “unified state exam” (Rus. – единый государственный экзамен, ЕГЭ) from summer 2015. Moreover, “refugees from Donbass” were guaranteed equal entry criteria to Russian schools, and university applicants from TOTs in Donetsk and Luhansk regions were granted preferences to enter Russian Universities. In December, 2014, the “Ministry of Education and Science of DPR” had a consulting meeting on drafting the “law on education” that had to be based on the respective legal framework of the RF.

Besides, the occupiers were actively incorporating “patriotic education” for children. In November 2014, the occupation administrations had a dedicated meeting, and in July 2015, they adopted a legal framework for the “patriotic education.” In “DPR,” they adopted a “concept for the patriotic education of children and students.” In “LPR,” they passed the “law on the system of patriotic education of citizen.” 

However, before the “legal framework” was adopted, the “pseudo-republics” had actively had such events for children. For example, the “MES of DPR” supported teachers from Donetsk schools in conducting the so-called “lessons of courage” about the deeds of Soviet soldiers during the Second World war, and “lessons of security and civil defense.” Among other things, children were made to contact with Russian military: they performed in hospitals before the wounded gunmen and sent them support letters or humanitarian aid.

Furthermore, schoolchildren had to actively participate in culture events, such as stage plays adapted from Russian literature, readings of Russian poetry, exhibitions of art pieces, etc. “Patriotic education” was also enforced through sports events, mostly tournaments. During one such competition, the “Minister of education and science,” Kostenok, awarded to the winners the cups allegedly made of “Ukrainian shells” that the AFU used to “shell the DPR.” Students from Donetsk and Luhansk regions were offered public lectures by heads of occupation administrations and Russian cultural and political figures, such as Aleksandr Zakharchenko, Aleksandr Prokhanov, Oleg Izamylov. Students could participate in the debate on social and political topics (e.g., about the right of nations to self-determination) or join the youth leagues of Russian NGOs (such as “Izborskiy Club,” a conservative think tank led by A. Prokhanov).

1.2. 2015: Institutionalization of Culture Policy of the Occupation Authorities

In 2015, a gradual institutionalization of culture policy of the puppet republics started. In fact, Minsk Agreements had a critical impact on the process since they regulated the front and allowed the occupation administrations to institute effective control over the seized territories. In addition, the political situation also stabilized in the “republics”: the “Minister of Culture” was replaced only in the so-called “DPR” — in November, 2015, Mikhail Zheltiakov was appointed, who has held office until this day. 

In September, 2015, the “LPR Parliament” passed a law “On Culture” that instituted control of the “new government” over all culture facilities in the “republic” and determined new rules for their operations. In the so-called “DPR,” a similar law was adopted several months later, in January 2016. The then head of the “Ministry of Culture of DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, in his statement to a local TV channel, said that the “adoption of the Law is the first fruit in establishing proper functioning of culture facilities in the Republic,” and “thanks to the new Law and to the support to culture from the DPR leaders and Russian partners, culture facilities will receive new prospects and would be able to get a ‘second wind’.” Later, the “republics” received also other legal acts to regulate cultural life. 

In addition, a month after signing the Minsk Agreements, in March 2015, the so-called “Ministry of Culture of DPR” created their own website and public profiles in social media of ”VKontakte” and ”Twitter” that have been used ever since for consistent communication with TOTs residents. The “Ministry of Culture of LPR” had such pages a year later, in November 2016.

The important “facilitators” to the occupation administrations are local offices of Russian funds and organizations that have long functioned in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. In particular, they are the information and cultural centers present in Ukraine since 1998, when our state signed with the RF and agreement on their establishment. In particular, there has been some boost in activities of the Fund with a relatable name “Russian World.” Its objective has been to focus on “soft” promotion of the Russian cultural, religious, and ideological impacts. On their website, the Fund often covers their activities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. they describe the Russification effort, burning of Ukrainian textbooks, and assist in the deportation of Ukrainian people. 

For the most part, the Fund has operated through the “Centers of Russian Culture and Literature.” One of them has functioned since 2009 at the premises of the Gorky Library in Luhansk, another one operated in Luhansk Pedagogical University, two more centers acted in Donetsk, and one in Horlivka. The Fund issued grants to implement projects promoting and studying Russian language and culture, and conducted various events, such as the overt propaganda exhibition on the “Unsubdued Donbass 1943–2014.” In addition, the Fund also organizes “cultural exchange programs” between the temporarily occupied territories and the RF: in 2015, Gorky Library director, the Minister of Culture of the so-called “LPR,” Oksana Kokotkina, and the Minister of Culture of the so-called “DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, traveled to Suzdal to attend a forum of the “IX Russian World Assembly” organized by the Fund. 

A real trend in the TOTs were the shows given by performers from the Russian Federation. They included celebrities known before for the support to the so-called “L/DPR” Josef Kobzon and Yuliia Chycherina, and less popular theatrical companies, music bands, film directors, circus performers, a.o. Moreover, Russian authors brought their books to the “republics” to present. They mostly had some relatable titles, such as ”How Shal Russia Win Over America,” ”Ukraine. Chaos and Revolution — the Weapon of Dollar,” and ”Anti-Maydan: the History of Genocide of the People of the South-East of Ukraine.” The “Ministry of Culture of DPR” was especially proud of hosting in Donetsk a “U.S. singer” of Ukrainian origin, Valentyna Lisitsyna. RF was mostly toured by Donetsk and Luhansk theaters, but there were also some exhibitions of local artists. Russia also actively supported cultural life in the “republics” with some sort of “humanitarian assistance.” They donated some musical instruments to local philharmonics, and books to libraries. According to the “Ministry of Culture of DPR”, in 2015, the secondary library of the “republic” received about 170 new publications. At the same time, in the same year, “almost 189,000 documents were withdrawn from libraries” (possibly, due to partial ideological discrepancy). Eventually, the “Ministries of Culture” speak of the need to continue developing cultural bonds with the RF.

The communication of local authorities early in the year was mostly about announcing events, especially for children. However, shortly after creating the communication channels in social media, the “Ministries” started building the narratives that were further shared in their posts. For the most part, they are common Russian statements to celebrate the Soviet Union, the victory in the “Great Patriotic” war, a.o. 

At the same time, officials of the so-called “L/DPR” started sharing a super-important narrative about the total difference of their approaches and ideologies from the “Ukrainian Nazism.” For example, the “Ministry of Culture of DPR” has multiple times declared that “Ukrainian people forgot their history, disrespected the memory of their ancestors who had won the Fascists in the Great Patriotic war,” while the goal of the “DPR” institutions was to preserve the “history and memory about the feats of their forefathers” and other “cultural and historical values of Donbass.” 

Furthermore, the “Ministries” and other authorities of the “republics” presented Ukraine’s actions in a negative light, especially in how Ukraine protected its cultural space when it banned entry to Russian and some Western artists, banned the propaganda Russian films, decommunization, etc. At the same time, the “republics,” at least in their official communications from the Ministry, tried to show they were the stronghold of acceptance, tolerance, and multiculturalism. According to the “Ministry of Culture of DPR,” “our multinational land has always shown the readiness to listen and hear the alternative positions, and to reach for compromise, at the same time not betraying our own venues and resolving contentious issues without any harm to ourselves and those around us.” In this regard, in 2015, many events were dedicated to culture exchanges (especially among schoolchildren), and a major part of public communications of the “Ministries” was about congratulating various national and religious groups on the occasion of different holidays. However, it did not prevent the “republican” governments from promoting Russian culture: they organized concerts to celebrate Tchaikovsky birthday, readings of Esenin works, and “Russian ball dance parties” for children.

1.3. 2016: A “Year of Reading” and Lawmaking

After the “parliaments” of the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” passed the laws regulating culture at large, the governments of the “republics” continued developing detailed rules for its specific fields. Thus, in 2016, the “Ministry of Culture of DPR,” jointly with the “union of culture workers of DPR” drafted the laws “On Protection of Cultural Heritage,” “On Museums and Museum Affairs,” “On Theaters and Theater Affairs,” “On The Freedom of Religion and Religious Associations,” etc. Their adoption contributed to the final institutionalization of culture policy and, therefore, to more efficient performance of “Ministries” and other institutions.

In addition, in 2016, the occupation “authorities” began shaping the identity of local residents. As the “Minister of Culture” of the so-called “DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, repeatedly mentioned, “culture is primarily about ideology,” whereas “a club, a library, a museum, a theater is the only place… where universal and cultural values, and love for the Homeland are raised.” 

First of all, the occupiers tried to create an impression among local residents that they belonged to the so-called "people of Donbass" and were citizens of the so-called “L/DPR.” To do this, a number of new cultural events and artifacts were created in the occupied regions. For example, a new holiday was introduced, the Republic Day, which is celebrated on the days when the “referendums on independence” took place: on May 11 — in the so-called “DPR,” and on May 12 — in the so-called “LPR.” In 2016, the holiday was accompanied by processions, award ceremonies for cultural actors, a concert of Russian performers, and fireworks. In addition, during these days, the “politicians” and “government officials” of the “republics” talked a lot about the peculiarities of the “people of Donbass” and the building of “real fair states.” 

In an attempt to create a local identity, the occupation authorities relied on stories about the culture and history of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as about “terrible crimes committed by the Kiev regime.” Thus, in 2016, the “Ministry of Culture of DPR” launched the project “The War in Donbass: The People’s Chronicle,” which provided for “the collection of memories of the Republic residents about their experiences in the context of the 2014–2016 hostilities, with the subsequent printed publication of the same name.” The book came out in 2017. The “ministry” published some recollections on their page in the social network “Vkontakte,” and also actively encouraged children to take part in the project. Artifacts of local identity also appeared in physical space: the "Walk of Fame" was created in Donetsk, which was supposed to “commemorate those who died in the battles for the freedom and independence of Donbas.”

The new identity of the “people of Donbas” is largely built on the history of the region during World War II. The “ministries” reminded readers about the developments in the so-called “L/DPR” territories in 1941–1945, and also told about the local military members who fought on the side of the USSR. “Day of Liberation of Donbas From Nazi Invaders” (September 8) became one of the key holidays. Also, the “authorities” remind residents about the events of the Second World War through the restoration of monuments. For example, they restored a monument to the employees of the Tochmash plant who died during the “Great Patriotic War.” 

It is noteworthy that the identity of the “citizen of L/DPR” allowed the occupiers to loudly declare that the “people of Donbas” was not a national but rather a multicultural and diverse community where a representative of any nationality could feel free. Because of this, most of the public communication of the “ministries” is devoted to the events of various national communities: the celebration of the International Day of the Roma people, the literary evening of the Belarusian association “Neman,” the celebration of the Greek holiday “Everything is mine here, and I come from here,” etc. However, it did not impede the “ministries” from talking about Orthodox holidays much more actively and promoting the Russian Orthodox Church among their readers.

Although the identity building of a “citizen of L/DPR” was a priority for the occupiers, the pages of the “ministries” were no less active in promoting Russian identity. Thus, in a post with condolences due to the fall of the Russian TU-154 in December 2016, Aleksandr Zakharchenko said that “hardships help consolidate the Russian people, we get the primeval and saving instincts of mutual assistance.” The “leaders of the republics” congratulated the Russian people on the “Day of Russia” and “Day of National Unity,” they attended round tables with eloquent names “Donbass is an outpost of the Russian world.” There, they discussed how “Donbass will become one of the foundations of Russian statehood,” went to the Russian Federation to the “X Assembly of the Russian World” where they talked with their Russian colleagues. On the other hand, Russian officials, in particular, First Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Aristarkhov, and State Duma Deputy, Sergei Shargunov, also visited the so-called “L/DPR” in 2016.

In addition, the occupation “authorities” actively promoted the Russian language. In 2016, the so-called “L/DPR” celebrated the International Mother Language Day (although the mother tongue was exclusively Russian), and also held the “Russian Language Weeks” because the language “has become the basis, the foundation for the growth, development and communication... of the multinational people of Donbas.” The so-called “DPR” declared 2016 the “Year of Reading”: local residents were strongly encouraged to go to libraries. They organized the readings of Pushkin's poems in different languages, and distributed Russian books to children and adults.

The occupation “authorities” and their leaders in Moscow clearly realized that working with children would ensure their long-term and successful rooting of the necessary narratives. Although previously, the “republics” also had many events for children, in 2016, their number and variety have grown significantly. They include contests for children, when the winning art pieces would be sent to exhibitions in the RF, shows of the Russian circus followed by the distribution of presents to children, festival of the Russian books for children, etc. Schoolchildren were encouraged to continue their studies in Russian educational establishments and participate in Russian contests. Children were taken away to “recreational procedures” to Moscow region, and talented young people were taken to excursions to Moscow. 

The pseudo republics also focused on the military patriotic education — it was called “one of the priority areas in the development of education.” It is about the campaigns shared with the RF on “Let’s read to children about the war,” patriotic projects “Lesser Homeland” exploring culture and traditions of Donbas, “Lessons of Courage” with stories about the “perished defenders of Donbas,” the token relay “Victory Flag” when flags were transferred from school to school, training camps of the youth “Labour Units,” etc. Moreover, the occupation “authorities” seemed to be afraid of the possibility of underground movements among Ukrainian children as in 2016, they conducted lectures for young people and round tables for educators on the “inadmissibility of the ideology of extremism and terrorism.” 

In 2016, Russian influence was more than distribution of books. The “republics” actively hosted Russian film screenings, exhibitions of tapestries and paintings of Russian authors, concerts of Russian bands and musicians, and presentations of books by Russian propagandists, such as Zakhar Prilepin. It is illustrative that according to the acting “Minister of Culture of DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, Russian performers touring in the “republics” worked free of charge, pursuing the “noble ideas”. In addition, the culture actors from the so-called “L/DPR” were invited to perform in the RF: the folk Greek ensemble “Panair” participated in a festival in Taganrog, “Donbas Opera” had their shows in Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar, “Luhansk Ukrainian Theater” performed at the festival in Moscow. 

Furthermore, in 2016, Russian theaters, museums, and other culture institutions started institutionalizing the cooperation with the culture institutions of the so-called “L/DPR”: “Donetsk Art Museum” started cooperating with the “Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War” in Moscow, museums from Saint-Petersburg transferred to Donetsk culture institutions some “unique books”, readers of the “Krupska Donetsk Library” were granted access to the database of dissertations from the “Russian State Library,” music schools received new music instruments, culture departments received sports equipment, etc. Moreover, the culture actors from the so-called “L/DPR” were many times awarded by Russian high officials with various certificates of merit and medals, such as by programs under the auspices of the president of the Russian Federation. Members of the culture community from the “republics” also studied and exchanged experience with their Russian colleagues. In their posts, the “ministries” directly stated they were trying to strengthen cooperation with “Russian colleagues,” such as from the regions, and discover “new horizons” in cultural exchange with the RF because it would “help Russia and Donbas sustain the common cultural space.”

An important part of the communication of the "ministries" in 2016 were attempts to prove to their “citizens” that the life of the “republics” fit in the international cultural space. To that end, the performances of the Moscow circus company, which includes artists from around the world, were presented as a “large-scale tours of artists from Europe, Africa, America, and Asia,” the arrival of Victoria Tsyganova with an Italian sound engineer — as a visit of representatives of culture of the highest international level, etc. Similarly, Russian festivals, where the so-called “L/DPR” cultural institutions participated, were described as “international”.

Ukraine was presented by the “ministries” as an anti-humane and irrational formation. Thus, the acting “Minister of Culture of DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, said that Ukraine was “jealous of us, as we keep developing rather than destroying monuments,” that is why “the best way to convince the Ukrainian ‘opponents’ is to show the results of our work.” The pages of the “ministries” also posted news claiming that Ukraine “cancelled Father Frost in line with combating the Communist symbols,” that they introduced penalties for carrying St.George’s ribbons to fill in the budget, and the priests of the Kyiv Patriarchate were accused of encouraging “to destroy everyone attending the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.” There were also posts about the “crimes of Ukro-Nazis”: about the Memorial Day in Donetsk to commemorate the perished in “Odessa Katyn” (that is how they call the events on May, 2, 2014) and the launch of 101 balloons on June, 1 to commemorate the children “killed by the Ukro-Nazis.”

1.4. 2017: Integration with the Russian Federation and “Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas”

In 2017, cultural life in the pseudo-republics boomed. A more or less peaceful life began on their territories, and some institutional stability appeared: “Minister of Culture” was replaced only in the so-called “LPR” — instead of Oksana Kokotkina, Dmitry Sidorov was appointed. In addition, the Russian Federation began to actively invest in attracting local residents to the cultural space of the “Russian world”. Although the “Ministry of Culture of DPR” has long called culture “a unifying factor for all residents of Donbas,” in 2017, it became clear that by “Donbas” they meant not only the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine under the control of the pseudo-republics, but also “the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions temporarily controlled by Ukraine.”

On February 17, 2017, at a joint press conference, the “leaders” of the so-called “L/DPR,” Ihor Plotnitsky and Aleksandr Zakharchenko, announced the launch of the “Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas.” According to the leaders, “the economic blockade organized by the government of Ukraine led to the rupture of social and economic ties of the once united people of Donbas.” In addition, as the leaders of the “republics” said, “the residents of the Kiev-controlled territories of Donbas found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. They suffer from the arbitrariness of military-civil dictatorial administrations, from the cruelty of the National Guard battalions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine place personnel and military equipment in residential areas, schools and hospitals, industrial enterprises, and civilian infrastructure, thereby taking local residents hostage.” 

According to Natalia Nikorova, acting “Minister of Foreign Affairs of DPR,” at the meeting of the “Public Opinion Committee in Support of Residents of South-East Ukraine,” “over 80% of citizens [residing in the Kyiv-controlled territories of Donbas] do not receive any humanitarian assistance, and need food kits, medical services, and other relief.” Therefore, the so-called “LPR” and “DPR,” as genuine “people’s states,” had to assume that responsibility and “support socially unprotected residents from the region.” 

In addition, the Russian side praised the “Humanitarian Program” above all. Thus, the deputy head of the Federation Council, Yurii Vorobyov, at the meeting of the “Public Opinion Committee in Support of Residents of South-East Ukraine” said it was a critical step “toward the unification, mitigation of difficult circumstances developing in South-East Ukraine.” 

Key activities of the “Humanitarian Program,” according to Plotnitski and Zakharchenko, were the areas of medicine and education, support to veterans and divided families. However, it also included activities to “strengthen unity, cultural values, and spiritual cohesion of Donbas peeople,” such as:

• Preservation of professional links in health care, education, science, culture, and industry: organization of events of professional teams to resolve issues related to the protection of workers rights, organization of meetings and activities of trade unions, veteran movements, and youth;
• Preservation of cultural values of Donbas: holding joint festivals, concerts, exhibitions, theater shows, and other cultural events (also involving creative intelligentsia and amateur bands), celebration of festive and memorable days, revival of the joint cultural space and preservation of cultural heritage;
• Provision of access for young people to cultural heritage objects: free visits to theaters and concerts, museums, exhibitions, culture and art facilities;
• Preservation of spiritual and moral values: organization and conduct of pilgrimages and having shared events in sacred sites of Donbas;
• Development of physical culture and sport: conducting joint sports events for athletes, sports teams, clubs, schoolchildren, and students.

“Humanitarian Program” planned “joint cultural, educational, sports events with representatives of cities and villages from both sides of the demarcation line.”

According to the acting “Minister of the LPR Council of Ministers,” Nataliya Khorsheva, the key goal of the “authorities” for 2017 was “to create conditions to allow participation for residents from the territories in Luhansk People’s Republic under the temporary control of Ukraine in republican cultural activities.” In late March 2017, the “governments” of the pseudo-republics adopted the list of activities to take place within the cultural and spiritual track of the “Humanitarian Program.” To enable their efficient implementation, the so-called “L/DPR” established several Funds. One of them, the “United Donbas” Fund, was started parallel to the “Humanitarian Program” and was in charge of practical implementation of the planned activities.

The program implementation started shortly after its adoption by the “governments” of the so-called “L/DPR,” from April, 2017. At that time, the so-called “DPR” opened a call for applications to take part in a festival and a contest “I love you, life!” dedicated to “creative legacy of the People’s Artist of the Soviet Union, Josef Kobzon.” Residents from the Ukraine-controlled territories were invited to submit videos with their performances. In case of selection, they could participate in the final concert in “Donbas Opera” and sing on the same stage with Kobzon. Later, they could also tour the RF with their own concerts. The program also organized poetry competitions (“Donetsk Land Glorified in Poems,” “My Land is My Soul”), reading campaigns in libraries, concerts (“World of Music for Fellow Countrymen”), theater shows (Donbas Opera, Donetsk State Academic Theater of Music and Drama), festivals (“Festival of Books and Reading”), art events (“Pallete of Maeotis,” “Donbas Gem”), literary contests (“Courage is Always Cherished in Donbas”) and dancing competitions (“Donbas Victory Dance”), photo competitions (“We Glorify the Work of Miners”), etc. Residents from Ukraine-controlled Donbas territories were also granted free entry to museums and theaters located in the so-called “L/DPR” to watch films from the Russian film festival “Golden Knight” in Luhansk cinema, and to participate in the pigeon competition.

Many culture events under the “Humanitarian Program” targeted children. For example, children celebrations conducted in Donetsk and in towns on the demarcation line, such as Horlivka, Telmanovo, Yasynuvata. In summer 2017, the campaign started on “Exciting Weekend.” During weekends and vacations, children from the Ukraine-controlled territories were invited to theater shows, concerts, exhibitions, master classes, library events, and excursions. They often included military and patriotic events, such as excursions to the exhibitions “Donbas During the Great Patriotic War,” “For the Glory of Russian Bravery”, “War. Victory. Memory,” “DPR Heroes.” Children were often taken to these events in groups and the “Ministries of Culture” of the pseudo-republics allocated buses to take them. Among other activities, there was also an online competition “WEB-surprises,” involving children from the Ukraine-controlled territories of Donetsk Oblast, RF, and the so-called “DPR”. It is indicative that some events were held not only in the DPR but also in other countries, such as the contest “War Through the Eyes of Children” launched by the “DPR Representative Office” in Greece. In addition, children from the Ukraine-controlled territories of Donetsk Oblast were involved in New Year celebrations in the so-called “L/DPR”.

One of the most significant peculiarities of the “Humanitarian program” is its focus on people of different ages. They held festivals for young people (Youth Culture Festival “The Planet of the Young”) and concerts (“Renesans” band), implemented projects (“Week in a Museum,” “Miss Donbas — Winter 2017,” “Race of Generations”), a.o. Teenagers were invited to study in creative and art schools in the so-called “L/DPR”, and winners of art contests entered those schools non-competitively. 

There were also some family events, such as the competition “A Book Voyage with all the Family,” and some activities for elderly people, such as the creative festival “Gleams of Our Spring.”  Adult attendees were offered a fishing fest “Marine Fields,” festivities to celebrate the Steel Worker Day, concerts of a Greek band “Momoyeri,” Valentina Lisitsa and “Legends of Russian Rock,” festivals “We Need Peace,” “Donetsk Gemstones,” and “My Komsomol Youth,” a forum “The role of a woman in making a unified cultural space,” a festival of folk art “My Generous Slavic Soul.” 

Residents of the Ukraine-controlled territories were involved in celebrations of solemn and memorable dates. They were invited to attend the requiem concert for the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow on June 22, the concert "Symphony of Fire" for the Day of Liberation of Donbas, on September 9, and the Night of Historical Memory dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution. There were also events commemorating famous residents of Donbas, such as literary readings "Let the times of previous years speak" for the birthday of Nikolai Khaplanov, a poet and journalist from Makiivka. 

Donbas residents were also welcome at celebrations of Orthodox holidays, such as the Patron Saint’s Day of Kasperovo Icon of the Mother of God in a convent near Makiivka, the memorial day for the great martyr and healer Panteleymon in Snizhne town, or the festival “Pokrovsk Loose” to celebrate the Protection of the Holy Mother of God in Makiivka. In the territory of the occupied Luhansk region, joint liturgies were held for the population of the "divided Donbas," such as the celebration of the Trinity. Often, these events became the first point of contact with people from the territories of Donbas controlled by Ukraine. Subsequently, they were already working with them intentionally: they were invited to other events, presented with literature, encouraged to participate in campaigns and competitions, etc. In addition, the "authorities" also took care of the development of professional ties in the cultural sphere: for example, the Donetsk Museum of Local Lore attracted researchers from the Ukraine-controlled territories to archaeological research, and artists came to so-called "L/DPR" to hold exhibitions of their works or master classes.

Cultural institutions of pseudo-republics also participated in the implementation of the "Humanitarian Program." Thus, the Donetsk Republican Universal Scientific Library named after N.K. Krupska opened "access to free use of library funds and resources, access to other libraries of the DPR and the Russian Federation, to the database of dissertations and the “Universal Collection” of the Russian State Library" for residents of the Ukrainian-controlled territories of Donbas, and also contributed to the teaching of computer literacy and foreign languages.

In general, the "Ministers of Culture" of the so-called "L/DPR" emphasized that the "Humanitarian Program" was only one of the manifestations of concern for "compatriots" in the "temporarily Kiev-controlled territory." For example, in 2014-15, salaries were paid to employees of branches of museums that were not under occupation. They say that the "authorities of the republics" made "a goodwill gesture and care for all residents of Donbas." However, they had to reject the payments due to "pressure from certain authorities in Ukraine." Officials also said that residents of the Donbas territory controlled by Ukraine "admire the exhibitions and regret that they do not have it themselves," since at this time in Ukraine "they hold exhibitions of posters of “ATO veteran heroes,"or OUN-UPA, which "do not require high financial costs but are designed to split the people of Donbass".

According to the report of the Center for the Humanitarian Program, from April to November 2017, in the so-called "DPR" alone, there were held 216 events and 11 permanent campaigns open for free attendance, with a total of 6,759 people covered from the territories of Donbas controlled by Ukraine. According to the "LPR Minister of Culture," Oksana Kokotkina, in the first 3 months of the program, about 3,000 Ukrainian citizens took part in 64 different events on the territory of the pseudo-republic. At the same time, according to her, the events were attended mostly by people who lived closest to the demarcation line, and many of them "on the other side are often threatened, pressured, banned from participating in the events they are invited to, even up to dismissal from work." 

While the so-called "L/DPR" "authorities" gathered their supporters in the territories of the Donetsk region under the control of Ukraine, the processes of integration with the Russian Federation accelerated in the pseudo-republics themselves. First of all, it is worth mentioning the creation of the so-called "Russia-Donbas Integration Committee" on March 17, 2017. Its coordinator was Andrey Kozenko, a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The Committee united politicians, cultural and public figures of Donbas and the Russian Federation in order to "strengthen the process of humanitarian, social, cultural integration of Donbas with the Russian Federation". The very integration of the so-called "L/DPR" into the economy, culture and education system of the Russian Federation, as the organizers explained, is only a matter of time. In practice, the Committee organized meetings to establish links between the "governments," the public and the so-called "L/DPR" cultural institutions with their colleagues in the Russian Federation, as well as to develop solutions to strengthen the integration of the occupied regions with Russia. Some specific results of his work include the accession of the Donetsk Philharmonic to the project of the Ministries of Culture of the Russian Federation “Virtual Concert Hall,” the access of "republican" libraries to the Russian library automation system, the replenishing of library collections with new books from the Russian Federation, the participation of artists from so-called "L/DPR" in events in the territory of the Russian Federation, the visits of Russian artists to the "republics", etc. Moreover, with the participation of the "Integration Committee," the "Youth Army," a Russian youth military-patriotic organization, came to the pseudo-republics (for more details, see the section "Key actors in planting Russian culture in the TOTs").

In addition, in 2017, the international cultural project "Russian Center" appeared in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. As GUR of Ukraine listed in their report, its founder is the Russian State Fund "Russkiy Mir." Under the control of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, they promote the Russian language and culture abroad. The Chairman of the Russkiy Mir Foundation was the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation and the main implementer of Russia's policy in the Ukrainian direction, Dmytro Kozak. The activities of the "Russian Center" are determined by the "integration program" providing for close cooperation of the occupation entities with Russian counterparties in six areas: culture, education, sports, health care, youth policy, and trade union movement. According to the GUR spokesperson, this office actually performs intermediary functions and contributes to the establishment of direct contacts between organizations in so-called "L/DPR" and the Russian Federation. 

From time to time, "government officials" of pseudo-republics took part in events on the territory of the Russian Federation and in other occupied regions of Ukraine (in particular in the Crimea). At the same time, informal ties between the so-called "L/DPR" cultural communities and the Russian Federation deepened. In 2017, working trips of cultural figures of the "republics" to Moscow became regular. There, they met with Russian counterparts and established cooperation with them. There were also "exchanges of experience" and training of employees of cultural institutions so-called "L/DPR" in the Russian Federation. For example, employees of museums in Donetsk traveled to museums in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to improve their skills and exchange experience in storing historical and cultural artifacts (they even took special courses), librarians from so-called "DPR" traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg to determine the main areas of further cooperation, employees of music schools attended seminars in Moscow to improve their skills, actors went to study at the Moscow State Institute of Culture, and scientists from the Donetsk Art Institute trained at the Russian Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg. Some artists from so-called "L/DPR" went even further: for example, the director of the ArtDonbass center, Ekaterina Kalinichenko, became a member of the Association of Art Critics of the Russian Federation.

The outcome of these trips and internships was a noticeable increase in the number of joint projects of Russian and "republican" cultural institutions. The fastest cooperation took place between libraries. In February 2017, Andrey Sobolev, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, said that "there is a shortage of Russian literature in Donbas... but the cost of delivering Russian classic books, books by our contemporaries, periodicals, and publicist materials will be justified." As soon as in March, Sobolev brought 5,000 Russian books to the so-called "DPR". About 3,000 more books were transferred to the occupied regions by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 7,000 came from "concerned residents of Moscow", and 800 specialized scientific publications were delivered to the so-called "DPR" of the 72nd humanitarian convoy of the Russian Federation. The Union of Writers of Russia also became a partner of the libraries — representatives of this public organization visited the occupied territories to agree on the publication of authors from the so-called "L/DPR" in regional periodicals of the Russian Federation. 

Cooperation was also manifested in other spheres of culture: the Donetsk Circus offered its viewers a new program with Russian artists, the Donetsk Art Museum hosted exhibitions of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War (Moscow), an exhibition of creative works "War and Peace Through the Eyes of the Children of Donbass" was held in Astrakhan, and big screen films about the war in Donbas began to appear, etc. Moreover, the projects implemented in the so-called "L/DPR" began to receive Russian prizes and awards: the project "Countrymen" about famous people of Donbass received the Russian award "Prokhorovka Field," "Donetsk Museum of Local Lore" was awarded the prize of the Foundation for the Support of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, etc.

In 2017, Russian patriotic holidays also entered in the lives of so-called "L/DPR" residents. The “Ministry of Culture” and the leader of the so-called “DPR,” Aleksandr Zakharchenko, congratulated their “compatriots” on the Russian “National Unity Day.” Moreover, on the “Day of the Russian Language,” large-scale events were held in the “republics” to support the Russian language because, as the deputy “Minister of Culture of DPR,” Vera Krokhmalyuk, said, “our task today is to preserve the Russian language as one of the main components of Russian culture and the Russian world.” Residents of the “republics” were invited to participate in the Russian “Total Dictation,” and before that, they organized several exhibitions where they could purchase literature to get ready for the test. 

In addition to the Russian identity, the occupation authorities cultivated with the “citizens” the identity of the “Soviet person”: they celebrated the Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23, held a parade for Victory Day on May 9, and celebrated the Day of Donbas Liberation on September 9.

We tried to develop our own identity in the so-called "L/DPR.” Thus, in February 2017, the “Ministry of Culture of DPR” organized a rally in Donetsk on the occasion of the “99th anniversary of the creation of the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic” which was attended by the leader of the so-called “DPR” Aleksandr Zakharchenko and the then chairman of the People's Council Denis Pushilin. Then Zakharchenko called the so-called “DPR” an independent successor state of the “Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic” and stressed that “we have already won — Kyiv is afraid of us.” 

The independence of the so-called “L/DPR” is the central theme of the annual “Days of the Republic” held on the anniversary of the “referendums” in 2014. In addition, in 2017, the so-called “DPR” approved its own anthem, and in both “republics” they opened museums dedicated to the history of the creation of pseudo-republics. They also focused on the patriotic education of young people: the “Patriot” club continued to function, and “Lessons of Patriotism” was regularly held for schoolchildren. 

It is important that cultural life gradually ceased to be concentrated in the “capitals.” Museums staged visiting exhibitions in towns, artists toured not only in the Russian Federation but also in the so-called “republics”.

Local “Ministries of Culture” continued their attempts to present life in the occupied regions as included in the international cultural space. They powerfully covered the visits to Donetsk of Scottish pianist, Peter Savright, and Greek opera singer, Medea Jasonidi. They also wrote a lot about the international festival “Stars of the World Ballet” in Donetsk. It was attended by dancers from Russia, Belarus, the USA, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Bulgaria, as well as about the photo exhibition “101 Life. The Dead Children of Donbass” which took place in Berlin.

The occupation authorities also focused on shaping the attitude of their “citizens” towards Ukraine. On their pages, the Ministries of Culture occasionally mentioned the anniversaries of shelling or tragedies that took place in the “republics.” In addition, the so-called “L/DPR” politicians and cultural figures commented on the “absurdity” of the decisions made in Ukraine. Such reports were often false, such as the news of the cancellation of the weekend of May 8-9.

1.5. 2018: “A Year of History”

At the beginning of 2018, Ministries of Culture L/DPR publicly presented their work plans for the year. The priority tasks were the following:

• continuation of the “Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas” (it “gives our compatriots the freedom to choose their creativity, the opportunity to realize their potential, the freedom to use the Russian language in their work”; about 40 events were planned for more than 5,000 “residents of the temporarily controlled territory of Ukraine.” 
• continuation of the “Integration program “Russia — Donbas” (which “promotes the development of creative interaction of professional and amateur teams of the Republic and regions of the Russian Federation”).
• development of cultural institutions and search for professional personnel.

According to the “Minister of Culture of DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, the key task for 2018 was to “achieve diversity and high quality of cultural services, preservation and development of ethnic and national culture of the people of Donbas, shaping the unified cultural space… resumption of cultural life in small towns.”

Activities within the framework of the “Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas” really turned out to be one of the most active areas of work of the “Ministries of Culture of L/DPR.” From the very beginning of 2018, residents of the Ukraine-controlled territories were invited to participate in New Year and Christmas events for children in pseudo-republics: in Dokuchaevsk, children's holidays "New Year's magic" were held, in Zhdanivka — the opening of the New Year tree, and in Donetsk — a theatrical excursion "New Year at the Front", where children were told how soldiers celebrated the New Year during the Second World War. However, there were also events for the adult audiences: folk festivities in Torez and the exhibition and fair "Alley of Masters" in Yasynuvata.

Children from the Ukraine-controlled territories of Donetsk Oblast kept being engaged to the events of “Non-boring Weekend”: they were invited to libraries, to excursions to art museums, to ”rehabilitation” to the so-called “L/DPR”. Various events were also organized for schoolchildren: in February, Shakhtarsk library had a literary trip “Around the World with Jules Vernes.”Later, in the same town, they presented children’s literary and music piece “Interrupted Flight” to commemorate Vladimir Vysotskiy. In addition, there was a youth contest of art works “Wekk in a Museum” and an ІТ competition “Library litGAME” where participants had to invent new ways to promote Russian literature. 

In 2018, larger scale events were conducted: an amateur film festival “Youth Film World,” a festival of modern art “In the Homeland of S.Prokofiev,” a festival of art works “My Pushkin” (its objective was “to promote propaganda of world heritage of A.Pushkin’s legacy, preservation and development of Russian language”), “II Forum of Donbas Women” (dedicated to the “discussion of the role of women in spiritual and value-based becoming of personality, and the role of a family in making a strong state”), a beauty pageant “Miss Donbas 2018,” etc. Moreover, as part of the “Humanitarian Program,” artists of the pseudo republics travelled to Russia (such as the Merited State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble “Donbas” performed in Astrakhan and Orenburg), and the performers from the RF toured in the so-called “L/DPR” (e.g., the “Ural” quartet from Yekaterinburg held a concert in Yasynuvata). 

The occupation “authorities” organized a series of patriotic events inviting “residents from Ukraine-controlled Donetsk territories”: in February, in Horlivka, a requiem rally took place to mark the anniversary of withdrawing Soviet troops from Afghanistan; in Novoazovsk, they hosted a festival of patriotic war songs “The Heart’s Memory Will Never Recede;” in Donetsk, a concert took place called “Heroes of Our Days” to commemorate the Homeland Defender Day, etc. To promote Russian language and culture among residents of Ukraine-controlled territory of Donetsk region, a project was implemented “Read to Your Heart’s Content” (visits to hospitals and rehabilitation centers, some of which had patients from the Ukraine-controlled regions, and it was also part of the “Humanitarian Program”), awareness raising activity “Enthusiastic Reading,” etc. People from Ukraine-controlled territories were also invited to museums in the so-called “L/DPR”: “Donetsk Republican Art Museum”, “Donetsk Republican Local Lore Museum,” etc. To facilitate the process, most museums, exhibitions, theater performances, concerts, and other cultural events under the “Humanitarian Program,” offered free entry. 

In addition to the “Humanitarian Program” focusing on integration of the regions beyond control of the so-called “L/DPR” to their cultural space, the “republics” continued the processes of cultural integration with the Russian Federation. First of all, a conference shall be mentioned on “Cultural Space of the People of Russia and Donbas” in April 2018 in Moscow. It was attended by the high officials from the so-called “L/DPR” and Russian politicians: “Minister of Culture of DPR,” Mikhail Zheltiakov, “head of the People’s Council of DPR” and director of the “Russian Center,” Denis Pushilin, deputy Head of the Federation Council, Yuriy Vorobyov, and first deputy Minister of Culture of the RF, Vladimir Aristarkhov. Following the discussion, they adopted a resolution highlighting that the “East Slavic ethnic culture and languages, political and legal traditions and traditional spiritual and moral values widespread in the shared civilizational space, known as the ‘Russian World’, is an invaluable cultural legacy and a powerful uniting factor for all ethnicities of the Russian Federation and Donbas and for other nations from the states that used to be part of one Soviet state.” Furthermore, the conference participants suggested to the RF and to the so-called “L/DPR” the following recommendations: 

1) to create a unified legal and regulatory space and make uniform the legislation to facilitate further cooperation in the area of culture (de facto, it meant the need to align the laws of the “republics” with Russian laws), also for simplification of procedures to receive citizenship; 

2) to strengthen cooperation in the fields of international activities to counter "Western propaganda": to counter attempts by Western think tanks to influence public opinion on the revision of the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations and the establishment of a new world order; to counter anti-Russian, Russophobic and anti-Soviet propaganda, in particular attempts to disseminate anti-Russian concepts related to the Second World War; to develop effective policies to counter attempts by Ukraine and other states to rehabilitate Nazism and heroize Nazi criminals; to develop effective international mechanisms of influence on states involved in rewriting history; to disseminate objective information about the Second World War and the liberation of Europe by the Red Army; to create research and scientific works confirming historical ties between the Russian Federation and the Donbas; to develop a mechanism for criminal prosecution of persons involved in the "Right Sector", "UNA-UNSO," UPA ", etc.

3) to strengthen cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture: to promote solidarity and awareness of the ethnocultural identity of the peoples of Russia and Donbas; to create and develop direct horizontal links between museums, theaters, circuses and educational institutions of the Russian Federation and so-called "L/DPR"; to develop at the regional and local levels a joint program of organizational, informational, educational and other measures to counteract attempts to distort the history of the East Slavic peoples; to pay special attention to informing society about the distortion of history through the Internet; to include in textbooks materials aimed at forming a civic position on the preservation and strengthening of ethnocultural identity, traditional spiritual and moral values of the peoples of Donbas and Russia; to provide textbooks from the Russian Federation to educational institutions of Donbas; to promote academic exchanges between the Russian Federation and Donbas; to promote the formation of scientific schools on the history of modern Ukraine, as well as Novorossiya, Malorossiya, Donbas; to create films or TV series about Novorossiya.

4) to strengthen cooperation in youth policy: to develop youth cooperation between various structures and NGOs of Russia and Donbas; to make bilateral youth projects and programs; to promote youth civic movements in the organization of youth exchanges; to develop youth inter-parliamentary relations; to involve the youth of Russia and Donbas in programs of patriotic education, creative development; to create a common youth media space.

In general, all the described points were mostly implemented in 2018 and the next few years. Within the framework of the "Integration program "Russia — Donbass", Russian bands regularly came to the" republics." Exhibitions were held about the regions of the Russian Federation “Kursk in Watercolors and Photographs” or “We Are Together,” where exhibits were represented from 22 Russia’s regions). In addition, representatives of culture institutions of the so-called “L/DPR” visited the RF with work trips: “director” of the art museum “Art Donbas,” Yekaterina Kalinichenko, travelled to Saint Petersburg where she met representatives of Russian museums and galleries (such as the Hermitage) and discussed cooperation opportunities between museums and advanced training of employees of culture institutions. The representative of the Donetsk Krupskaya Library attended the Day of the Russian Press in the city of Astrakhan, where she had a chance to "study the best practices of Russian colleagues, which resulted in the book 'Astrakhan Province. 300 years in the service of Russia’, as well as local lore as one of the main and promising areas that contributes to the preservation and development of the historical and cultural heritage of the Motherland'. In addition, representatives of so-called "L/DPR" were invited to international meetings and forums in the Russian Federation: for example, the former "Minister of Culture DPR" Aleksandr Paretsky went to the "VII St. Petersburg International Culture Forum" organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the authorities of St. Petersburg.

The most active role in the integration processes was played by the "Russian Center." In 2018, it supported most of the tours of Russian artists to the "republics", in particular the concert of Russian singers Lena Katina ("Tatu" band) and Yulia Nachava on Children's Day, the performance of the "Rainbow" ensemble from the Krasnodar Territory on the occasion of the Day of the Railway Workers in Yasynovata, and a concert with the vocal ensembles "Native tunes", "Cossack hearts", "Lace" in the village club of the village of Grabove. In addition, the "Russian Center" contributed to the trips of creative teams and employees of cultural institutions of the so-called "L/DPR" to the Russian Federation, such as visits of the staff from the "House of Folk Art and Cinema" to the Labor Day in the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation or the trip of library staff to the "49th All-Russian" Blok Poetry Festival." 

Also, the "Russian Center" contributed to the development and institutionalization of cooperation between various structures of the pseudo-republics and the Russian Federation. For example, they supported the so-called "DPR" and Ryazan libraries in signing an agreement on cooperation, various webinars were regularly held for the "exchange of experience" between representatives of the "republics" and their Russian colleagues. As part of the work of the "Russian Center", artifacts from the Russian Federation were transferred to the funds of the so-called "L/DPR" cultural institutions. The Center gave the Donetsk Krupska Library a monograph by the expert of the "Izborsk Club" Sergei Baranov "Russian Nation", which analyzed the "ethnic phenomenon of the modern Russian nation... such as language, territory, statehood, economy, race, ethnogenesis, psychology, self-awareness, nationalism". Also, the "Russian Center" organized the removal of children from the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions for "rehabilitation" to the Russian Federation. 

However, the cooperation of so-called "L/DPR" with the Russian Federation was not limited to events organized by the "Russian Center". In 2018, Russia continued to provide the "republics" with books: Moscow held the second campaign "Give the child a book — give the child peace", when residents of the city collected and sent children's books to the so-called "L/DPR", and Russian authors gave away their works to the "republics" free of charge. 

They also promoted cooperation between educational and cultural institutions. At the Donetsk Prokofief State Music Academy conducted advanced training courses by a Doctor of Art from Rostov. Music teachers from the “republics” went to study to the Moscow region, and the Donetsk Art College and the Russian Art Academy agreed on a specific cooperation format, when the Academy organized master classes and plein airs for college students, provided talented students with artistic materials and conducted advanced training courses for Donetsk colleagues. Representatives of “republican” theaters and libraries also participated in all-Russian and international events organized by the Russian Federation. Exhibitions of artists from so-called "L/DPR" were held in Russia, in particular in  Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Honored State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble "Donbass" participated in the All-Russian Festival of Folk Art "Together We Are Russia!" taking place in Crimea. There was also cooperation at the level of show business: the artists from a Donetsk theater took part in the filming of the music video of the Russian singer Nargiz in the so-called "DPR".

In 2018, many activities and campaigns that took place in the Russian Federation were also disseminated to the occupied territories. For example, residents of the so-called "L/DPR" were invited to take part in the Second All-Russian action "Give book gifts with love," and the competition of Russian songs "Singing Russia — 2018" Talented children from the "republics" participated in the VII Russian competition of students from children's art schools "Southern motives." Those activities certainly included some "patriotic" events, such as on Victory Day, when the so-called "L/DPR" held events of the "Immortal Regiment," representatives of the occupation "authorities" participated in the celebration of Moscow Day, and the "National Unity Day" was celebrated in the pseudo-republics. 

As for the regional identity of the "residents of Donbas," in 2018, a series of discussions on the development strategy of the "Power of Donbas" region took place in the "republics.” Among other things, they talked about the development of local cultural institutions, the spread of artistic education (the establishment of institutions of higher education in the occupied territories, with a focus on creative activities), and the support of talented children. The issues of the local identity of Donbas as a multicultural region with close ties to the Russian Federation were also discussed. In May 2018, the so-called "DPR" held a congress of the Donetsk Republic social movement, where the results of the discussions were announced. These principles were supposed to build the basis of the election program of Oleksandr Zakharchenko, but on July 31, 2018, he was killed.

An important component of self-identification of the residents of the occupied territories of Donbas was the history of the region in its Russian version. In early 2018, Aleksandr Zakharchenko announced in the so-called “DPR” “A Year of History.” Therefore, a round table and an exhibition were held in the “republics” on the “Republic Born in the Revolution” to commemorate the “100th anniversary of Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic,” a campaign “Giving Days” when residents of the so-called “L/DPR” handed over historical documents and artifacts to culture institutions. Lessons were conducted in schools where told about the life in the region in the 19th century, and history textbooks were actively updated in the “republics.”

However, since in 2018 they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Donbas from the Nazi occupation, most of the events were devoted to the history of the region at that time. For example, the project "Fellow Countrymen" continued after being launched in past years, and a number of new projects were launched: " Let’s Preserve the History of Donbass Together," "Donbass: Past and Present," "With Donbass in the Heart," and the "Living Book of Memory" about the Donbass people participating in the Second World War, "The Great Patriotic War in Figures and Facts," local lore readings "Unconquered Donbass,” etc. There were also events dedicated to the celebrations, such as a competition for the development of the holiday logo. 

Activities for the Year of History impacted the residents of the "republics" but also the residents of the territories of Donbas controlled by Ukraine. The most striking reasons for holding the Year were described in an interview by a lady residing in the Maryinka district controlled by Ukraine who came to the so-called "DPR": "People who do not know the history are like rolling stones. During the 23 years of "independence" of Ukraine, we were provided with completely distorted information which was deposited in the heads of children and adults against our will. But, as they say, there’s a blessing in disguise: the current war showed who is who... We very much hope that finally the DPR army will move the borders and Donbas will become part of the Republic. ” Local events were also held in pseudo-republics: meetings of the Patriot Youth Patriotic Club, the Republican Race "Growing Patriots", activities to counter extremism for schoolchildren.

1.6. 2019: “A Year of the Russian Language”

In 2019, no new focus areas or large statutory conferences were started in the so-called "L/DPR" but the "Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas" and the Integration Program "Russia — Donbas" continued from previous years. 

Within the "Humanitarian Program," residents of the Ukraine-controlled territories could continue to visit theaters and museums in the so-called "L/DPR" on preferential terms. During the summer holidays, they could attend children's events (such as the play "The world is beautiful because it has fairy tales"). It was made possible under the socio-cultural campaign "Exciting Weekend." Also, the "republics" held competitions ("Library of the Future," "Miss Donbass — 2019," "Creativity in 3D format: for Friends, for Soul, for Leisure," "In the Homeland of S.S. Prokofiev") and other cultural events: the plein air "Conservation Areas of Donbass" for young artists, the fishing holiday "Sea Fields", and a series of lectures about the films of Eldar Ryazanov taking place in the Donetsk Republican Rehabilitation Center. Within the "Humanitarian Program," several students enrolled in the "Donetsk State Music Academy named after S. S. Prokofiev." In their reports for 2018, cultural institutions mentioned an increase in the number of visitors: over the year, the "Donetsk State Academic Music and Drama Theater named after M. M. Brovun" was visited by about 2 thousand people from the Ukrainian-controlled territories of Donbas, and the"Donetsk Museum of Local Lore" received 280 visitors.

The cooperation of so-called "L/DPR" with the Russian Federation deepened: Russian bands regularly came to the "republics" (for example, the ensemble of Russian and Ukrainian songs "Chumak" from the Krasnodar Territory, the ensemble of Russian songs "Zolotayushka"). Likewise, "republican" artists toured the Russian Federation (the folk group "Ukrainian Nights" took part in the international festival of Slavic culture "Khotmyzh Autumn"). Representatives of the occupied territories continued to travel to Russia: to the youth forum "I Am A Citizen Of The Moscow Region," scientific readings (employees of the Donetsk Republican Library visited the "XVIII International Scientific Readings in Memory of N. F. Fedorov"), meetings (representatives of children's libraries of the "republics" joined the annual meeting of directors of children's libraries of the Russian Federation), seminars ("We grew up in Russia"), and participated in competitions organized by the authorities and the public sector of the Russian Federation (for example, the "We are together" competition dedicated to the "National Unity Day"). Russian actors organized creative meetings in the so-called "L/DPR", writers handed over their books to the pseudo-republics and also met with fans. 

Furthermore, in 2019, large-scale events with the support of the "Russian Center" began to take place more often in the so-called "L/DPR" (it played a key role in the implementation of the "Russia-Donbas Integration Program"). For example, the forum of student youth "My Republic is the Territory of Culture," the Eurasian Youth Music Forum "Melodies of Unity," the international festival of piano art "PIANO-FORUM" were held in Donetsk. Representatives of the "republics" were invited to events in the Russian Federation: an employee of the Donetsk Theater of Music Drama attended an international symposium in Moscow. With the support of the "Russian Center," visionary meetings were also held, such as the conference "Cooperation between the regions of Russia and Donbass. Development Prospects" in May 2019 in Moscow. The "Russian Centers" themselves gradually combined their efforts with representative offices in other countries: the centers in the so-called "DPR" and Slovakia jointly held an event on the occasion of the anniversary of M. Lermontov, and the "Russian Centers" of so-called "DPR" and Kazakhstan held an international readership contest. It is possible to assess the scale of the Centers' activities according to statistics: from January 1 to July 1, 2019, 674 events took place, of which 372 were held in Russia.

The so-called "L/DPR" received support from the authorities and residents of Russia also beyond the "Russian Centers" format. Russian artists came to the occupied regions with their performances or products, mostly on their own initiative. Also, the "republics" hosted exhibitions of cultural artifacts provided by Russian state museums. Russian specialists conducted master classes for young people. The children's library of St. Petersburg and cultural figures of the Russian Federation have traditionally filled the so-called "L/DPR" library collections with new Russian books. Librarians and actors from local theaters in the “republics” went to Russia to improve their skills, and children were traditionally taken for the "rehabilitation" in the Moscow region. In 2019, the so-called "L/DPR" celebrated the holidays of "brotherhood" with the Russian Federation again: "Day of Friendship and Unity of the Slavs" and "Day of National Unity" (for the festivities, a big concert was held at the Donbass Opera, where the leader of the so-called "DPR" Denis Pushilin said: "Our common task is to preserve and multiply our heritage, to follow the chosen path together with the people of Russia").

It is important to highlight that 2019 was declared the "Year of the Russian Language" in the pseudo-republics. The objective was to "preserve and develop it /.../ as a fundamental element of the culture" of Donbas. Within this campaign, a number of events were planned, "aimed at creating a single cultural space, confirming the will of the multinational people of Donbas to be united in their diversity." In addition to the traditional celebrations of the "Mother Language Day" and stories about the importance of Pushkin's literary heritage for the development of the Russian language, more specific events occurred in the so-called "L/DPR". For example, in February, the Donetsk Republican Library presented a collective monograph "Donetsk Regiolect." It is intended for young people and the authors "collected, described and systematized the peculiarities of the functioning of the Russian language in the Donetsk region" for the first time. In addition, many performances based on the works of Russian writers were staged in the “republics” (such as the opera "The Bear" based on the same name work by A. Chekhov). The exhibition "Returning to Gogol" was designed to mark the 210th anniversary of the birth of this "Russian" writer. Most events were intended for schoolchildren “to attract young people to literature and theatrical art”. 

The Year of the Russian Language acquired a special scope on June 6, Pushkin's birthday, when the Day of the Russian Language is celebrated. The artists of the Donetsk Theater of Musical Drama held a concert "Both Deity and Inspiration...". The Donetsk Republican Academic Theater for Young Audiences launched a theatrical flash mob concert "This is my Pushkin!” The Donetsk Republican Art Museum organized the exhibition “Our Pushkin,” and the Donetsk Republican Museum of Local Lore held the exhibition “We Will Preserve You, Russian Speech, the Great Russian Word.” The premiere of the opera "Eugene Onegin" was held in the Donbass Opera. 

However, the events of the Year of the Russian Language did not end even after June 6. In August, the Gostiny Dvor ethnofestival was held, where guests could get acquainted with "various aspects of the life of the mining region, feel the spirit of folk culture and /.../ plunge into the world of Russian hospitality." In October, they had socio-cultural activities: "A Golden Stream of Russian Words" which was supposed to "promote the Russian word, musical art and works of Russian classics," and "I remember a wondrous moment", the concerts and performances based on the works of Russian artists in music and art schools of the "republics". The libraries in the so-called "L/DPR" also took an active part in the events of the "Year of the Russian Language": there were "Literature Lessons in the Library" and "Day of Russian Fairy Tales in the Library", where students were told about the works of Russian classics. Moreover, the Donetsk Library named after N.K. Krupskaya held a music and poetic program "The High-Flown Style of the Russian Romance...". There were contests within the framework of the "Year of the Russian Language" — "Voice of the Motherland" where the best performers of folk songs were celebrated.

During this period, the development of the so-called "L/DPR" local identity gradually faded into the background, since the occupation authorities primarily invested in the development of cultural ties with the Russian Federation. However, some activities were conducted to maintain regional identity. In April, the so-called "DPR" launched a children's contest "Donbass IS US!" Its objective was to develop "patriotism illustrated by the life and work of the representatives of Donbass, to glorify their land at different times." "Ministries of Culture" repeatedly focused on multiculturalism and diversity of pseudo-republics and held festivals of national cultures. The song and dance ensemble "Donbass" went on a concert tour with the program "Multinational Donbass," and the community of Belarusians from the so-called "DPR" "Neman" visited the Russian festival of national cultures with the telling name "All of us are Russia!". The occupation authorities also emphasized that complete freedom of religion prevails in the "republics": in March 2019, they proudly announced the first state registration of a religious organization “Donetsk Jewish Religious Community.” At the beginning of 2019, the so-called "DPR" celebrated the "Abundant Night" on a large scale.

However, religious holidays could not displace the most important components of the "local identity" — the Second World War and the war with Ukraine. The so-called "L/DPR" traditionally celebrated the "Defender of the Fatherland Day" and "Victory Day", and the 5th anniversary of the "independence of the republics". To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the "referendums," they held exhibitions "We are building the Republic" dedicated to "the key periods of the creation, formation, and development of the DPR." In addition, they had the "Tears of Donbass" which was supposed to "testify to the cruelty and aggression of the armed formations of Ukraine against the civilians of Donbass." Moreover, in 2019, the propaganda of the so-called "L/DPR position" reached a mass audience for the first time: it was the premiere of the Russian feature film "A Woman Home Guard" about the war in the Donbas.

1.7. 2020: “A Year of Big Victory”

In 2020, the main focus of the so-called "L/DPR" cultural policy was to be the 75th anniversary of the "Great Victory" and the expansion of programs launched in previous years. However, this was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In general, the reaction of the so-called "L/DPR" authorities to the pandemic was quite expected: from March 19, 2020, cultural and religious events involving large crowds were banned there, and museums and libraries suspended their work. Moreover, many of the planned events were transferred online: on March 25, the Culture of Donbass portal was presented, where residents of the "republics" could find the announcements of events, get updates about the Russia-Donbass Integration Program, the Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbass and other projects of the Ministries of Culture, watch videos and photos from the events, virtually visit some museums, etc. Many so-called "L/DPR" cultural institutions have launched their own websites and pages in social networks. "Donetsk Republican Library for Youth" created the project "Remote DRLY" where they told about books from their collection and stimulated young people to read during the quarantine. "Donetsk Philharmonic" held online concerts, "Donbass Opera" broadcast performances, "Donetsk Library named after N.K. Krupska" provided remote access to their collection of films, the "Republican House of Folk Art and Cinema" conducted remote master classes, and the "Donetsk Museum of Local Lore" and the "Museum of Martial and Labor Glory" published virtual tours of their displays. "Victory Day" on May 9 was also held online. The concert was broadcast on the "Culture of Donbass" portal. The "Ministries of Culture" of the pseudo-republics transferred most of the planned projects to the online format, such as the project "Folk Art: History, a Look into the Future".

The pandemic also affected the implementation of previously launched programs. For example, the "Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas" was partially limited, such as the in particular, social payments to residents of the "temporarily controlled part of the Donetsk People's Republic" were suspended, and the Centers for Social Assistance and Administrative Services were closed at the checkpoints. However, the “United Donbas Foundation” and the “Donbas Post” worked for the residents of the so-called “DPR”. Besides, mass cultural and sport events, as well as teambuilding activities were banned.

As to the "Integration Program ‘Russia — Donbas’," the occupation authorities managed to organize dozens of events before the total quarantine. In particular, in February, "Donetsk Library named after N.K. Krupskaya" received assistance from the"Russian Center" and held the first events on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War. It was the night of the legacy of the Russian poet Mikhail Isakovsky "His Soul In Poems And Songs." The "cultural figures of L/DPR" went on work trips to the Russian Federation: culture club staff went to Astrakhan, the head of the folk band "Russian Accent" of the "Donetsk State Academic Philharmonic," Oleg Prosvirin, performed at the music festival "World, Epoch, Names" in Ulyanovsk, representatives of the "ministry" and cultural institutions from the "so-called DPR" visited the Nizhny Novgorod region of the Russian Federation, and children from the dance studio of the song and dance ensemble "Donbass" took part in the competition "Golden Glade of the South of Russia". Guests from Russia also managed to come to the "republics" — at the end of February, an employee from the Belgorod State Museum of Folk Culture visited the Donetsk Local History Museum. 

When the pandemic broke out, all the activities of the "Russia-Donbass Integration Program" switched to the so-called "HQs format" (videoconferencing). The first events in this format took place in early April: librarians from so-called "L/DPR" joined the webinars "Marketing activities in libraries" and " Personal data: how to collect, process and  store personal  data of readers " from colleagues from the Moscow provincial universal library, and representatives of the technical school of cinema and television from Shakhtarsk — to the conference "Fundamentals and rules of video recording. Storytelling. ” Subsequently, residents of the "republics" were able to join Russian online activities, listen to lectures (e.g., " Dialogue  with Andrei Konchalovsky") and watch performances of "republican" theaters. Actors of the so-called "L/DPR" culture could now easier join the Russian cultural space: they participated in online seminars on the "Culture.RF" portal, organized joint readings of Pushkin's works with their Russian colleagues for the "Day of the Russian Language," joined online festivals of cartoons, theatrical performances and science fiction, improved their skills at online trainings, attended round tables for the "Day of Unity and Friendship of Slavs" and established cooperation with cultural institutions in Russia. 

Within the “Integration Program,” activities were also held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Day of Victory of Nazism: the staff from the “republican” libraries conducted several meetings for young people from the so-called “L/DPR” and the RF on the developments of the “Great Patriotic War.” Besides, the “Donetsk Republican Local Lore Museum” participated in a Russian project “Territory of Victory” dedicated to the “preservation of historical memory about Victory gained during the Great Patriotic War.” 

When the quarantine receded, the culture actors from the so-called “L/DPR” resumed their trips to the RF: as early as in August 2020, a staff member from the “Donetsk Republican Local Lore Museum” went to the internship within the joint Russian-“DPR” project on “Development of New Territories by Russians,” in September 2020, representatives of the Donetsk Republican Museum of Local Lore attended the opening ceremony of Bunin Museum in Voronezh, in October, members of the “Russian Center” from the so-called “DPR” participated in the Russian language week in Slovakia, in November, employees of the "Donetsk Republican Universal Scientific Library named after N.K. Krupskaya” joined the “XIV Russian World Assembly,” a large event organized by the Russian World Foundation to discuss “issues on uniting the Russian World.”.

However, perhaps the most important event of the "Russian Center" within the "Russia-Donbass Integration Program" in 2020 was the drafting and public discussion of the so-called "Russian Donbass" Doctrine, which was supposed to "help Russian-speaking Ukrainians return to their true identity." The authors consider the purpose of this Doctrine to be "promoting the restoration of historical justice — strengthening the statehood of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as Russian national states." Authors claim that the document reflects the views, ideology and vector of their development officially adopted in the so-called "L/DPR". The doctrine is based on several principles: 

• Mentality of Donbas residents;
• The rights of the people of Donbas to self-determination and the creation of a Russian national state; 
• Adaptation and multiplication of cultural heritage, establishment of culture as the basis of statehood and security;
• Recognition of the universalism and integrative nature of the Russian language;
• Harmonization of state and personal interests, collective and individual under the rule of law and democracy;
• Tolerance and religious consent.

About the relevance of the Doctrine, the authors say that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, millions of Russians found themselves outside their Homeland, and became citizens of artificial states created within anti-Russian political projects. The external forces controlling and implementing that change made them “disrupt the centuries-old fabric of cultural and historical succession, and deformed a single system of values.” Authors conclude that the “people of Donbas are inextricably linked with the history of Russia and its historical part of Novorossiya, and the triune Russian people from the moment the Slavic population appeared in the area in the 5th to 7th century until the moment when the DPR and LPR were created and consolidated in 2014.” Finally, the authors said they needed to “synthesize traditional values and innovations, to rethink the past through the lens of the present” and return Donbas to the “home haven.” To restore the “historical justice,” the authors suggest the following: 

• to contribute to the formation of a picture of the world of the inhabitants of Donbas based on the historical truth built on the ideals and values of the Russian civilization;
• promote the strengthening of Russian national self-awareness, patriotism, pride of the people of Donbas for their Homeland, and responsibility for its future;
• identify guidelines for the development of the main areas of government policy, such as historical, cultural, youth, national, economic, and informational, especially in the field of countering modern Nazism and Ukrainian nationalism;
• based on an in-depth analysis of the stages of Donbas evolution, to certify the fact of its historical, spiritual, cultural and socio-economic commonness with Russia;
• tone up the status of inseparable and mutually beneficial economic ties between Donbas and the Russian Federation;
• to define the spiritual heritage of Donbas as an original and inseparable part of Russian culture;
• to return Donbas as a subject to the Russian historical space.

The Doctrine authors used almost 50 pages to substantiate their ideological views and emphasize the inseparability of the ties between Russia and the Donbas. At the end of the document, it is stated: "Whatever the relations of DPR and LPR with state entities on the territory of Ukraine, the future of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics is only with Russia, because /.../ Russia is the only historical state of the Russian nation. Its mission is to unite this nation politically. Any separation of any parts of the Russian nation from Russia is a temporary phenomenon only.” The Doctrine was approved in January, 2021.

Although the pandemic disrupted the usual human connections and, in theory, should have weakened Russia's attempts to integrate the so-called “L/DPR” into its cultural space, it turned otherwise. When most of the inhabitants of the "republics" were quarantined and began to seek entertainment online, Russia quickly and effectively seized that space, offering its cultural products and even displacing the events of the pseudo-republics themselves. One of the most striking examples is the online events organized in May 2020 by cultural institutions of Moscow and the Moscow region. The invitations to them kept showing up on the pages of the so-called “L/DPR” “ministries.” They included a large-scale virtual celebration of Victory Day with concerts and online excursions in Russian museums with military and patriotic focus, the broadcast of the concert "Masterpieces of Russian Opera Classics", and the project of Russian museums "#Museums", etc.

Russian competitions and discussions related to culture have also become much more accessible: for example, employees of "republican" libraries attended the VI International Congress "Modern Youth in the Modern Library" and the international symposium "Perennial Issues of Russian Literature." Moreover, the poet from so-called "DPR" won the contest "National Literary Award Golden Pen of Russia — 2020," the "Donbass" ensemble won the All-Russian competition "Russian Song — 2020." The theater studio of the variety show "Beware of Children!" received a number of awards at the VIII All-Russian correspondence competition of the artistic word "My Russia." Projects of the past years have also reached a new level: the usual supply of books and films from the Russian Federation was sponsored not by ordinary Russian citizens, but by the Russkiy Mir Foundation and Roscosmos. 

In addition, the so-called "L/DPR" traditionally celebrated Russian holidays. In particular, in 2020, the "republics" celebrated the "Day of Russia" which was the first time at the "state" level. Denis Pushilin said in his welcome address: "We are RUSSIANS — in spirit and in blood! We have the same language, the same culture, the same history and the same values with Russia. ” The "Day of National Unity" was also officially celebrated. The culmination of the involvement of residents of pseudo-republics in the Russian space came in the posts of the "ministries of culture" about the participation of their "citizens" in the "All-Russian vote on the approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation" in June 2020.

Compared to the early years of the "republics" (2015–2016), in 2020 the number of events aimed at the development of local identity was scanty. For the most part, these are projects like “#100FactsontheCultureofDonbass,” “Theatrical Saturdays” (when local theaters held performances online) and competitions to create the “concept of the tourism brand of the Donetsk People's Republic”, etc. Occasionally, the occupation authorities mentioned that the "republics" were tolerant and open to all cultures, which is why the "Festival of National Cultures of the DPR" was held. 

The local "authorities" paid most attention to the role of Donbas in World War II. Given the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, there were quite a lot of projects on this topic in 2020. They included the competition of family archives "The War in the History of My Family", screenings of films about the Second World War "Film Mirror of History," the youth project "Children of War" recording memories of the older generation, the patriotic program of literary and musical compositions "Roads of War," the opening of the interactive map "Places of Glory and Immortality," the project for the voiceover of front-line letters "Letters of Victory" and a number of musical, poetic, literary, museum and other events. The anniversary date was also dedicated to the large-scale project "Donbass: 1941–1945 in Figures and Facts." Within the project, "Ministries of Culture" published daily posts about facts from the life of the region during the Second World War. Finally, the "authorities" were engaged in the restoration of the memorial complex "Saur-Mohyla" tomb. 

In addition, many children's projects were devoted to the events of the "Great Patriotic War." Most of them had a military-patriotic focus. Thus, in September 2020, in the “Donetsk Republican Library for Children named after S. M. Kirov,” a seminar was held “I am a citizen! I am a patriot!’: heroic and patriotic education in the children's libraries of the Donetsk People's Republic.” Subsequently, this library held a children's competition "Symbols of My Family." It was supposed to "form patriotic and spiritual and moral values in the younger generation, develop modern forms of civil and military-patriotic education of children." The youth club "Patriot" continued to operate, and teenagers were encouraged to join the Russian organization of military-patriotic education "Young Guard — Youth Army". 

In 2020, the attitude of the "Ministries of Culture L/DPR" to Ukraine did not change much. It was hardly ever mentioned, but whenever the development of its cultural heritage was referred to, it was most often in stories about the Donetsk journalist Yelena Blokhina, the author of the book "90 days in captivity." It was about her stay in the "secret prisons of the SBU" in 2014, as well as in memories of the shelling of school No.57 in Donetsk, when children were killed.

1.8. 2021: “A Year of Russian Culture”

In 2021, the so-called "L/DPR" "authorities," Russian cultural foundations, and other interested cultural and political institutions began to actively prepare for a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the Kremlin planned to quickly seize the full territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, most of the measures taken in the "republics" had an objective to finally get their residents into the Russian cultural space. 

The key role was played by the "Integration program" Russia — Donbass," which has been operating in the territories of pseudo-republics for several years. In January 2021, the Russian Donbass Doctrine described in the previous section was approved. It became the ideological justification for all further actions of the occupiers. 

In March 2021, as part of the "Integration Program", the so-called "DPR" leader, Denis Pushilin, announced the "Year of Russian Culture". In his speech, he underscored: "The Russian nation, of which we are an integral part, has given the world a huge number of talented and brilliant musicians, singers, composers, actors, artists, writers and publicists... Each event within the framework of the Year of Russian Culture should be aimed at promoting the creative heritage, at preserving and increasing the contribution of Donbas to the development of Russian culture." A person in charge of the implementation of activities under the “Year” project was allegedly Vladimir Antonov, “deputy head of DPR government.” He was posting about activities of the “Year of Russian Culture”on the pages of the “Ministries of Culture of DPR” most often. Besides, he was repeatedly saying that they “would do their best to make Donbas an integral part of the Great Russia as soon as possible.” 

That is why in 2021 the authorities of the "republics" held a series of events aimed at promoting the "great Russian culture." Among others, they were the book festival "The Reading Republic" (which was supposed to "promote books, local literature and language"), the literary meeting "Russian Writers For The Russian Donbass" (which was joined by some Russian writers), the play "with the Russian soul" "At least a day, yet ours!", the republican forum "Score of life and creativity of S. S. Prokofiev," the festival-competition for people with disabilities "I want to go on stage," the International Competition of Performers of Russian Romance "Donetsk Romansiada-2021", the festival of masters of decorative, applied and fine arts "Uzorochye," the competition "Russian Donbass Performs Russian Dances," the ethno-festival "Gostiny Dvor" and the performance of Valentina Lisitsa who held concerts in the "republics" virtually every year. In March 2021, within the "Year of Russian Culture," the so-called "DPR" launched a creative cultural and educational project "Great Russian Music Sounds." It was supposed to promote Russian classical music. Subsequently, such concerts took place in different cities of the "republic", in particular in Yenakiieve and Makiivka. 

 We are together ", where exhibits from 22 Russian regions were presented). In addition, representatives of the so-called "L/DPR" cultural institutions visited the Russian Federation on work trips: the "director" of the Art Donbass Art Museum, Ekaterina Kalinichenko, traveled to St. Petersburg, where she met with representatives of Russian museums and galleries (such as the Hermitage) and discussed opportunities for cooperation between museums and advanced training of employees of cultural institutions. The representative of the Donetsk Krupskaya Library attended the Day of the Russian Press in the city of Astrakhan, where she had a chance to "study the best practices of Russian colleagues, which resulted in the book 'Astrakhan Province. 300 years in the service of Russia’, as well as local lore as one of the main and promising areas that contributes to the preservation and development of the historical and cultural heritage of the Motherland'. In addition, representatives of so-called "L/DPR" were invited to international meetings and forums in the Russian Federation: for example, the former "Minister of Culture DPR" Aleksandr Paretsky went to the "VII St. Petersburg International Culture Forum" organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the authorities of St. Petersburg.

The most active role in the integration processes was played by the "Russian Center." In 2018, it supported most of the tours of Russian artists to the "republics", in particular the concert of Russian singers Lena Katina ("Tatu" band) and Yulia Nachava on Children's Day, the performance of the "Rainbow" ensemble from the Krasnodar Territory on the occasion of the Day of the Railway Workers in Yasynovata, and a concert with the vocal ensembles "Native tunes", "Cossack hearts", "Lace" in the village club of the village of Grabove. In addition, the "Russian Center" contributed to the trips of creative teams and employees of cultural institutions of the so-called "L/DPR" to the Russian Federation, such as visits of the staff from the "House of Folk Art and Cinema" to the Labor Day in the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation or the trip of library staff to the "49th All-Russian" Blok Poetry Festival ". 

Also, the "Russian Center" contributed to the development and institutionalization of cooperation between various structures of the pseudo-republics and the Russian Federation. For example, they supported the so-called "DPR" and Ryazan libraries in signing an agreement on cooperation, various webinars were regularly held for the "exchange of experience" between representatives of the "republics" and their Russian colleagues. As part of the work of the "Russian Center", artifacts from the Russian Federation were transferred to the funds of the so-called "L/DPR" cultural institutions. The Center gave the Donetsk Krupska Library a monograph by the expert of the "Izborsk Club" Sergei Baranov "Russian Nation", which analyzed the "ethnic phenomenon of the modern Russian nation... such as language, territory, statehood, economy, race, ethnogenesis, psychology, self-awareness, nationalism". Also, the "Russian Center" organized the removal of children from the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions for "rehabilitation" to the Russian Federation. 

However, the cooperation of so-called "L/DPR" with the Russian Federation was not limited to events organized by the "Russian Center". In 2018, Russia continued to provide the "republics" with books: Moscow held the second campaign "Give the child a book — give the child peace", when residents of the city collected and sent children's books to the so-called "L/DPR", and Russian authors gave away their works to the "republics" free of charge. 

They also promoted cooperation between educational and cultural institutions. At the Donetsk Prokofief State Music Academy conducted advanced training courses by a Doctor of Art from Rostov. Music teachers from the “republics” went to study to the Moscow region, and the Donetsk Art College and the Russian Art Academy agreed on a specific cooperation format, when the Academy organized master classes and plein airs for college students, provided talented students with artistic materials and conducted advanced training courses for Donetsk colleagues. Representatives of “republican” theaters and libraries also participated in all-Russian and international events organized by the Russian Federation. Exhibitions of artists from so-called "L/DPR" were held in Russia, in particular in  Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Honored State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble "Donbass" participated in the All-Russian Festival of Folk Art "Together We Are Russia!" taking place in Crimea. There was also cooperation at the level of show business: the artists from a Donetsk theater took part in the filming of the music video of the Russian singer Nargiz in the so-called "DPR".

In 2018, many activities and campaigns that took place in the Russian Federation were also disseminated to the occupied territories. For example, residents of the so-called "L/DPR" were invited to take part in the Second All-Russian action "Give book gifts with love," and the competition of Russian songs "Singing Russia — 2018" Talented children from the "republics" participated in the VII Russian competition of students from children's art schools "Southern motives." Those activities certainly included some "patriotic" events, such as on Victory Day, when the so-called "L/DPR" held events of the "Immortal Regiment," representatives of the occupation "authorities" participated in the celebration of Moscow Day, and the "National Unity Day" was celebrated in the pseudo-republics. 

As for the regional identity of the "residents of Donbas," in 2018, a series of discussions on the development strategy of the "Power of Donbas" region took place in the "republics.” Among other things, they talked about the development of local cultural institutions, the spread of artistic education (the establishment of institutions of higher education in the occupied territories, with a focus on creative activities), and the support of talented children. The issues of the local identity of Donbas as a multicultural region with close ties to the Russian Federation were also discussed. In May 2018, the so-called "DPR" held a congress of the Donetsk Republic social movement, where the results of the discussions were announced. These principles were supposed to build the basis of the election program of Oleksandr Zakharchenko, but on July 31, 2018, he was killed.

An important component of self-identification of the residents of the occupied territories of Donbas was the history of the region in its Russian version. In early 2018, Aleksandr Zakharchenko announced in the so-called "DPR" "Year of History". Then the "republics" held a round table and an exhibition "The Republic Born by the Revolution", dedicated to the "100th anniversary of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic", the action "Giving Days", within which the residents of the so-called "L/DPR" handed over historical documents and artifacts to cultural institutions. Classes were held in schools, where children were told about the life of the region in the nineteenth century, and history textbooks were actively updated in the "republics" themselves. 

However, since in 2018 they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Donbas from the Nazi occupation, most of the events were devoted to the history of the region at that time. For example, the project "Fellow Countrymen" continued after being launched in past years, and a number of new projects were launched: " Let’s Preserve the History of Donbass Together," "Donbass: Past and Present," "With Donbass in the Heart," and the "Living Book of Memory" about the Donbass people participating in the Second World War, "The Great Patriotic War in Figures and Facts," local lore readings "Unconquered Donbass,” etc. There were also events dedicated to the celebrations, such as a competition for the development of the holiday logo. 

Activities for the Year of History impacted the residents of the "republics" but also the residents of the territories of Donbas controlled by Ukraine. The most striking reasons for holding the Year were described in an interview by a lady residing in the Maryinka district controlled by Ukraine who came to the so-called "DPR": "People who do not know the history are like rolling stones. During the 23 years of "independence" of Ukraine, we were provided with completely distorted information which was deposited in the heads of children and adults against our will. But, as they say, there’s a blessing in disguise: the current war showed who is who... We very much hope that finally the DPR army will move the borders and Donbas will become part of the Republic. ” Local events were also held in pseudo-republics: meetings of the Patriot Youth Patriotic Club, the Republican Race "Growing Patriots", activities to counter extremism for schoolchildren.

1.6. 2019: "Year of the Russian Language"

In 2019, no new focus areas or large statutory conferences were started in the so-called "L/DPR" but the "Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas" and the Integration Program "Russia — Donbas" continued from previous years. 

Within the "Humanitarian Program," residents of the Ukraine-controlled territories could continue to visit theaters and museums in the so-called "L/DPR" on preferential terms. During the summer holidays, they could attend children's events (such as the play "The world is beautiful because it has fairy tales"). It was made possible under the socio-cultural campaign "Exciting Weekend." Also, the "republics" held competitions ("Library of the Future," "Miss Donbass — 2019," "Creativity in 3D format: for Friends, for Soul, for Leisure," "In the Homeland of S.S. Prokofiev") and other cultural events: the plein air "Conservation Areas of Donbass" for young artists, the fishing holiday "Sea Fields", and a series of lectures about the films of Eldar Ryazanov taking place in the Donetsk Republican Rehabilitation Center. Within the "Humanitarian Program," several students enrolled in the "Donetsk State Music Academy named after S. S. Prokofiev." In their reports for 2018, cultural institutions mentioned an increase in the number of visitors: over the year, the "Donetsk State Academic Music and Drama Theater named after M. M. Brovun" was visited by about 2 thousand people from the Ukrainian-controlled territories of Donbas, and the"Donetsk Museum of Local Lore" received 280 visitors.

The cooperation of so-called "L/DPR" with the Russian Federation deepened: Russian bands regularly came to the "republics" (for example, the ensemble of Russian and Ukrainian songs "Chumak" from the Krasnodar Territory, the ensemble of Russian songs "Zolotayushka"). Likewise, "republican" artists toured the Russian Federation (the folk group "Ukrainian Nights" took part in the international festival of Slavic culture "Khotmyzh Autumn"). Representatives of the occupied territories continued to travel to Russia: to the youth forum "I Am A Citizen Of The Moscow Region," scientific readings (employees of the Donetsk Republican Library visited the "XVIII International Scientific Readings in Memory of N. F. Fedorov"), meetings (representatives of children's libraries of the "republics" joined the annual meeting of directors of children's libraries of the Russian Federation), seminars ("We grew up in Russia"), and participated in competitions organized by the authorities and the public sector of the Russian Federation (for example, the "We are together" competition dedicated to the "National Unity Day"). Russian actors organized creative meetings in the so-called "L/DPR", writers handed over their books to the pseudo-republics and also met with fans. 

Furthermore, in 2019, large-scale events with the support of the "Russian Center" began to take place more often in the so-called "L/DPR" (it played a key role in the implementation of the "Russia-Donbas Integration Program"). For example, the forum of student youth "My Republic is the Territory of Culture," the Eurasian Youth Music Forum "Melodies of Unity," the international festival of piano art "PIANO-FORUM" were held in Donetsk. Representatives of the "republics" were invited to events in the Russian Federation: an employee of the Donetsk Theater of Music Drama attended an international symposium in Moscow. With the support of the "Russian Center," visionary meetings were also held, such as the conference "Cooperation between the regions of Russia and Donbass. Development Prospects" in May 2019 in Moscow. The "Russian Centers" themselves gradually combined their efforts with representative offices in other countries: the centers in the so-called "DPR" and Slovakia jointly held an event on the occasion of the anniversary of M. Lermontov, and the "Russian Centers" of so-called "DPR" and Kazakhstan held an international readership contest. It is possible to assess the scale of the Centers' activities according to statistics: from January 1 to July 1, 2019, 674 events took place, of which 372 were held in Russia.

The so-called "L/DPR" received support from the authorities and residents of Russia also beyond the "Russian Centers" format. Russian artists came to the occupied regions with their performances or products, mostly on their own initiative. Also, the "republics" hosted exhibitions of cultural artifacts provided by Russian state museums. Russian specialists conducted master classes for young people. The children's library of St. Petersburg and cultural figures of the Russian Federation have traditionally filled the so-called "L/DPR" library collections with new Russian books. Librarians and actors from local theaters in the “republics” went to Russia to improve their skills, and children were traditionally taken for the "rehabilitation" in the Moscow region. In 2019, the so-called "L/DPR" celebrated the holidays of "brotherhood" with the Russian Federation again: "Day of Friendship and Unity of the Slavs" and "Day of National Unity" (for the festivities, a big concert was held at the Donbass Opera, where the leader of the so-called "DPR" Denis Pushilin said: "Our common task is to preserve and multiply our heritage, to follow the chosen path together with the people of Russia").

It is important to highlight that 2019 was declared the "Year of the Russian Language" in the pseudo-republics. The objective was to "preserve and develop it /.../ as a fundamental element of the culture" of Donbas. Within this campaign, a number of events were planned, "aimed at creating a single cultural space, confirming the will of the multinational people of Donbas to be united in their diversity." In addition to the traditional celebrations of the "Mother Language Day" and stories about the importance of Pushkin's literary heritage for the development of the Russian language, more specific events occurred in the so-called "L/DPR". For example, in February, the Donetsk Republican Library presented a collective monograph "Donetsk Regiolect." It is intended for young people and the authors "collected, described and systematized the peculiarities of the functioning of the Russian language in the Donetsk region" for the first time. In addition, many performances based on the works of Russian writers were staged in the “republics” (such as the opera "The Bear" based on the same name work by A. Chekhov). The exhibition "Returning to Gogol" was designed to mark the 210th anniversary of the birth of this "Russian" writer. Most events were intended for schoolchildren “to attract young people to literature and theatrical art”. 

The Year of the Russian Language acquired a special scope on June 6, Pushkin's birthday, when the Day of the Russian Language is celebrated. The artists of the Donetsk Theater of Musical Drama held a concert "Both Deity and Inspiration...". The Donetsk Republican Academic Theater for Young Audiences launched a theatrical flash mob concert "This is my Pushkin!” The Donetsk Republican Art Museum organized the exhibition “Our Pushkin,” and the Donetsk Republican Museum of Local Lore held the exhibition “We Will Preserve You, Russian Speech, the Great Russian Word.” The premiere of the opera "Eugene Onegin" was held in the Donbass Opera. 

However, the events of the Year of the Russian Language did not end even after June 6. In August, the Gostiny Dvor ethnofestival was held, where guests could get acquainted with "various aspects of the life of the mining region, feel the spirit of folk culture and /.../ plunge into the world of Russian hospitality." In October, they had socio-cultural activities: "A Golden Stream of Russian Words" which was supposed to "promote the Russian word, musical art and works of Russian classics," and "I remember a wondrous moment", the concerts and performances based on the works of Russian artists in music and art schools of the "republics". The libraries in the so-called "L/DPR" also took an active part in the events of the "Year of the Russian Language": there were "Literature Lessons in the Library" and "Day of Russian Fairy Tales in the Library", where students were told about the works of Russian classics. Moreover, the Donetsk Library named after N.K. Krupskaya held a music and poetic program "The High-Flown Style of the Russian Romance...". There were contests within the framework of the "Year of the Russian Language" — "Voice of the Motherland" where the best performers of folk songs were celebrated.

During this period, the development of the so-called "L/DPR" local identity gradually faded into the background, since the occupation authorities primarily invested in the development of cultural ties with the Russian Federation. However, some activities were conducted to maintain regional identity. In April, the so-called "DPR" launched a children's contest "Donbass IS US!" Its objective was to develop "patriotism illustrated by the life and work of the representatives of Donbass, to glorify their land at different times." "Ministries of Culture" repeatedly focused on multiculturalism and diversity of pseudo-republics and held festivals of national cultures. The song and dance ensemble "Donbass" went on a concert tour with the program "Multinational Donbass," and the community of Belarusians from the so-called "DPR" "Neman" visited the Russian festival of national cultures with the telling name "All of us are Russia!". The occupation authorities also emphasized that complete freedom of religion prevails in the "republics": in March 2019, they proudly announced the first state registration of a religious organization “Donetsk Jewish Religious Community.” At the beginning of 2019, the so-called "DPR" celebrated the "Abundant Night" on a large scale.

However, religious holidays could not displace the most important components of the "local identity" — the Second World War and the war with Ukraine. The so-called "L/DPR" traditionally celebrated the "Defender of the Fatherland Day" and "Victory Day", and the 5th anniversary of the "independence of the republics". To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the "referendums," they held exhibitions "We are building the Republic" dedicated to "the key periods of the creation, formation, and development of the DPR." In addition, they had the "Tears of Donbass" which was supposed to "testify to the cruelty and aggression of the armed formations of Ukraine against the civilians of Donbass." Moreover, in 2019, the propaganda of the so-called "L/DPR position" reached a mass audience for the first time: it was the premiere of the Russian feature film "Militia" about the war in the Donbas.

1.7. 2020: "The Year of the Great Victory"

In 2020, the main focus of the so-called "L/DPR" cultural policy was to be the 75th anniversary of the "Great Victory" and the expansion of programs launched in previous years. However, this was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In general, the reaction of the so-called "L/DPR" authorities to the pandemic was quite expected: from March 19, 2020, cultural and religious events involving large crowds were banned there, and museums and libraries suspended their work. Moreover, many of the planned events were transferred online: on March 25, the Culture of Donbass portal was presented, where residents of the "republics" could find the announcements of events, get updates about the Russia-Donbass Integration Program, the Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbass and other projects of the Ministries of Culture, watch videos and photos from the events, virtually visit some museums, etc. Many so-called "L/DPR" cultural institutions have launched their own websites and pages in social networks. "Donetsk Republican Library for Youth" created the project "Remote DRLY" where they told about books from their collection and stimulated young people to read during the quarantine. "Donetsk Philharmonic" held online concerts, "Donbass Opera" broadcast performances, "Donetsk Library named after N.K. Krupska" provided remote access to their collection of films, the "Republican House of Folk Art and Cinema" conducted remote master classes, and the "Donetsk Museum of Local Lore" and the "Museum of Martial and Labor Glory" published virtual tours of their displays. "Victory Day" on May 9 was also held online. The concert was broadcast on the "Culture of Donbass" portal. The "Ministries of Culture" of the pseudo-republics transferred most of the planned projects to the online format, such as the project "Folk Art: History, a Look into the Future".

The pandemic also affected the implementation of previously launched programs. For example, the "Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas" was partially limited — in particular, social payments to residents of the "temporarily controlled part of the Donetsk People's Republic" were stopped and the Centers for Social Assistance and Administrative Services near checkpoints were closed. However, the United Donbass Foundation and the Donbass Post worked for the residents of the so-called "DPR". Instead, mass cultural and sports events, as well as measures to strengthen professional ties, were banned.

As to the "Integration Program ‘Russia — Donbas’," the occupation authorities managed to organize dozens of events before the total quarantine. In particular, in February, "Donetsk Library named after N.K. Krupskaya" received assistance from the"Russian Center" and held the first events on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War. It was the night of the legacy of the Russian poet Mikhail Isakovsky "His Soul In Poems And Songs." The "cultural figures of L/DPR" went on work trips to the Russian Federation: culture club staff went to Astrakhan, the head of the folk band "Russian Accent" of the "Donetsk State Academic Philharmonic," Oleg Prosvirin, performed at the music festival "World, Epoch, Names" in Ulyanovsk, representatives of the "ministry" and cultural institutions from the "so-called DPR" visited the Nizhny Novgorod region of the Russian Federation, and children from the dance studio of the song and dance ensemble "Donbass" took part in the competition "Golden Glade of the South of Russia". Guests from Russia also managed to come to the "republics" — at the end of February, an employee from the Belgorod State Museum of Folk Culture visited the Donetsk Local History Museum. 

When the pandemic broke out, all the activities of the "Russia-Donbass Integration Program" switched to the so-called "HQs format" (videoconferencing). The first events in this format took place in early April: librarians from so-called "L/DPR" joined the webinars "Marketing activities in libraries" and " Personal data: how to collect, process and  store personal  data of readers " from colleagues from the Moscow provincial universal library, and representatives of the technical school of cinema and television from Shakhtarsk — to the conference "Fundamentals and rules of video recording. Storytelling. ” Subsequently, residents of the "republics" were able to join Russian online activities, listen to lectures (e.g., " Dialogue  with Andrei Konchalovsky") and watch performances of "republican" theaters. Actors of the so-called "L/DPR" culture could now easier join the Russian cultural space: they participated in online seminars on the "Culture.RF" portal, organized joint readings of Pushkin's works with their Russian colleagues for the "Day of the Russian Language," joined online festivals of cartoons, theatrical performances and science fiction, improved their skills at online trainings, attended round tables for the "Day of Unity and Friendship of Slavs" and established cooperation with cultural institutions in Russia. 

Within the framework of the "Integration Program", events took place to the 75th anniversary of the Victory Day over Nazism: employees of the "republican" libraries held a series of meetings for young people so-called "L/DPR" and the Russian Federation on the events of the "Great Patriotic War", and the "Donetsk Republican Museum of Local Lore" participated in the Russian project "Victory Territory", dedicated to "preserving the historical memory of the Victory gained during the Great Patriotic War". 

When the quarantine measures became less stringent, the trips of so-called "L/DPR" cultural figures to the Russian Federation resumed: in August 2020, an employee of the Donetsk Republican Museum of Local Lore went on an internship within the framework of the joint Russian-DPR project "Development of New Territories by Russians", in September 2020, representatives of the Donetsk Republican Museum of Local Lore appeared at the opening of the museum named after I. Bunin in Voronezh, in October, members of the "Russian Center" from the so-called "DPR" participated in the week of the Russian language in Slovakia, and in November, employees of the "Donetsk Republican Universal Scientific Library named after N.K. Krupskaya"joined the"XIV Assembly of the Russian World" — a large-scale event organized by the Russkiy Mir Foundation to discuss "issues of uniting the "Russian World". " 

However, perhaps the most important event of the "Russian Center" within the "Russia-Donbass Integration Program" in 2020 was the drafting and public discussion of the so-called "Russian Donbass" Doctrine, which was supposed to "help Russian-speaking Ukrainians return to their true identity." The authors consider the purpose of this Doctrine to be "promoting the restoration of historical justice — strengthening the statehood of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as Russian national states." Authors claim that the document reflects the views, ideology and vector of their development officially adopted in the so-called "L/DPR". The doctrine is based on several principles: 

• Mentality of Donbas residents;
• The rights of the people of Donbas to self-determination and the creation of a Russian national state; 
• Adaptation and multiplication of cultural heritage, establishment of culture as the basis of statehood and security;
• Recognition of the universalism and integrative nature of the Russian language;
• Harmonization of state and personal interests, collective and individual under the rule of law and democracy;
• Tolerance and religious consent.

Speaking about the relevance of the formation of the Doctrine, the authors note that after the collapse of the USSR, millions of Russians found themselves outside their homeland and became citizens of artificial states that were created as part of anti-Russian political projects. Because of the external forces that controlled and implemented these changes, they “torn the centuries-old fabric of cultural and historical heredity, deformed a single system of values.” The authors conclude that "the people of Donbas are inextricably linked with the history of Russia and its historical part — Novorossiya — and the triune Russian people from the moment of the appearance of the Slavic population in the territory of the district in the 5th-7th centuries to the creation and approval of DPR and LPR in 2014." Finally, the authors noted that it is necessary to "synthesize traditional values and innovations, rethink the past through the prism of modernity" and return Donbas to its "native harbor". To restore this “historical justice”, the authors propose: 

• to contribute to the formation of a picture of the world of the inhabitants of Donbas based on the historical truth built on the ideals and values of the Russian civilization;
• promote the strengthening of Russian national self-awareness, patriotism, pride of the people of Donbas for their Homeland, and responsibility for its future;
• identify guidelines for the development of the main areas of government policy, such as historical, cultural, youth, national, economic, and informational, especially in the field of countering modern Nazism and Ukrainian nationalism;
• based on an in-depth analysis of the stages of Donbas evolution, to certify the fact of its historical, spiritual, cultural and socio-economic commonness with Russia;
• tone up the status of inseparable and mutually beneficial economic ties between Donbas and the Russian Federation;
• to define the spiritual heritage of Donbas as an original and inseparable part of Russian culture;
• to return Donbas as a subject to the Russian historical space.

The Doctrine authors used almost 50 pages to substantiate their ideological views and emphasize the inseparability of the ties between Russia and the Donbas. At the end of the document, it is stated: "Whatever the relations of DPR and LPR with state entities on the territory of Ukraine, the future of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics is only with Russia, because /.../ Russia is the only historical state of the Russian nation. Its mission is to unite this nation politically. Any separation of any parts of the Russian nation from Russia is a temporary phenomenon only. ” The doctrine was approved in January 2021.

Although the pandemic disrupted the usual human connections and, in theory, should have weakened Russia's attempts to integrate the so-called “L/DPR” into its cultural space, it turned otherwise. When most of the inhabitants of the "republics" were quarantined and began to seek entertainment online, Russia quickly and effectively seized that space, offering its cultural products and even displacing the events of the pseudo-republics themselves. One of the most striking examples is the online events organized in May 2020 by cultural institutions of Moscow and the Moscow region. The invitations to them kept showing up on the pages of the so-called “L/DPR” “ministries.” They included a large-scale virtual celebration of Victory Day with concerts and online excursions in Russian museums with military and patriotic focus, the broadcast of the concert "Masterpieces of Russian Opera Classics", and the project of Russian museums "#Museums", etc.

Russian competitions and discussions related to culture have also become much more accessible: for example, employees of "republican" libraries attended the VI International Congress "Modern Youth in the Modern Library" and the international symposium "Perennial Issues of Russian Literature." Moreover, the poet from so-called "DPR" won the contest "National Literary Award Golden Pen of Russia — 2020," the "Donbass" ensemble won the All-Russian competition "Russian Song — 2020." The theater studio of the variety show "Beware of Children!" received a number of awards at the VIII All-Russian correspondence competition of the artistic word "My Russia." Projects of the past years have also reached a new level: the usual supply of books and films from the Russian Federation was sponsored not by ordinary Russian citizens, but by the Russkiy Mir Foundation and Roscosmos. 

In addition, the so-called "L/DPR" traditionally celebrated Russian holidays. In particular, in 2020, the "republics" celebrated the "Day of Russia" which was the first time at the "state" level. Denis Pushilin said in his welcome address: "We are RUSSIANS — in spirit and in blood! We have the same language, the same culture, the same history and the same values with Russia. ” The "Day of National Unity" was also officially celebrated. The culmination of the involvement of residents of pseudo-republics in the Russian space came in the posts of the "ministries of culture" about the participation of their "citizens" in the "All-Russian vote on the approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation" in June 2020.

Compared to the early years of the "republics" (2015–2016), in 2020 the number of events aimed at the development of local identity was scanty. For the most part, these are projects like “#100FactsontheCultureofDonbass,” “Theatrical Saturdays” (when local theaters held performances online) and competitions to create the “concept of the tourism brand of the Donetsk People's Republic”, etc. Occasionally, the occupation authorities mentioned that the "republics" were tolerant and open to all cultures, which is why the "Festival of National Cultures of the DPR" was held. 

The local "authorities" paid most attention to the role of Donbas in World War II. Given the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, there were quite a lot of projects on this topic in 2020. They included the competition of family archives "The War in the History of My Family", screenings of films about the Second World War "Film Mirror of History," the youth project "Children of War" recording memories of the older generation, the patriotic program of literary and musical compositions "Roads of War," the opening of the interactive map "Places of Glory and Immortality," the project for the voiceover of front-line letters "Letters of Victory" and a number of musical, poetic, literary, museum and other events. The anniversary date was also dedicated to the large-scale project "Donbass: 1941–1945 in Figures and Facts." Within the project, "Ministries of Culture" published daily posts about facts from the life of the region during the Second World War. Finally, the "authorities" were engaged in the restoration of the memorial complex "Saur-Mohyla" tomb. 

In addition, many children's projects were devoted to the events of the "Great Patriotic War." Most of them had a military-patriotic focus. Thus, in September 2020, in the “Donetsk Republican Library for Children named after S. M. Kirov,” a seminar was held “I am a citizen! I am a patriot!’: heroic and patriotic education in the children's libraries of the Donetsk People's Republic.” Subsequently, this library held a children's competition "Symbols of My Family." It was supposed to "form patriotic and spiritual and moral values in the younger generation, develop modern forms of civil and military-patriotic education of children." The youth club "Patriot" continued to operate, and teenagers were encouraged to join the Russian organization of military-patriotic education "Young Guard — Youth Army". 

In 2020, the attitude of the "Ministries of Culture L/DPR" to Ukraine did not change much. It was hardly ever mentioned, but whenever the development of its cultural heritage was referred to, it was most often in stories about the Donetsk journalist Yelena Blokhina, the author of the book "90 days in captivity." It was about her stay in the "secret prisons of the SBU" in 2014, as well as in memories of the shelling of school No.57 in Donetsk, when children were killed.

1.8. 2021: "The Year of Russian Culture"

In 2021, the so-called "L/DPR" "authorities," Russian cultural foundations, and other interested cultural and political institutions began to actively prepare for a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the Kremlin planned to quickly seize the full territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, most of the measures taken in the "republics" had an objective to finally get their residents into the Russian cultural space. 

The key role was played by the "Integration program" Russia — Donbass," which has been operating in the territories of pseudo-republics for several years. In January 2021, the Russian Donbass Doctrine described in the previous section was approved. It became the ideological justification for all further actions of the occupiers. 

In March 2021, as part of the "Integration Program", the so-called "DPR" leader, Denis Pushilin, announced the "Year of Russian Culture". In his speech, he underscored: "The Russian nation, of which we are an integral part, has given the world a huge number of talented and brilliant musicians, singers, composers, actors, artists, writers and publicists... Each event within the framework of the Year of Russian Culture should be aimed at promoting the creative heritage, at preserving and increasing the contribution of Donbas to the development of Russian culture." Vladimir Antonov, "Deputy Prime Minister of DPR", probably became responsible for the implementation of the "Year" — it was his messages about the events of the "Year of Russian Culture" that most often appeared on the pages of the "Ministries of Culture of DPR", and he himself repeatedly noted that "we will do everything to make Donbas as soon as possible become an inseparable part of Great Russia". 

That is why in 2021 the authorities of the "republics" held a series of events aimed at promoting the "great Russian culture." Among others, they were the book festival "The Reading Republic" (which was supposed to "promote books, local literature and language"), the literary meeting "Russian Writers For The Russian Donbass" (which was joined by some Russian writers), the play "with the Russian soul" "At least a day, yet ours!", the republican forum "Score of life and creativity of S. S. Prokofiev," the festival-competition for people with disabilities "I want to go on stage," the International Competition of Performers of Russian Romance "Donetsk Romansiada-2021", the festival of masters of decorative, applied and fine arts "Uzorochye," the competition "Russian Donbass Performs Russian Dances," the ethno-festival "Gostiny Dvor" and the performance of Valentina Lisitsa who held concerts in the "republics" virtually every year. In March 2021, within the "Year of Russian Culture," the so-called "DPR" launched a creative cultural and educational project "Great Russian Music Sounds." It was supposed to promote Russian classical music. Subsequently, such concerts took place in different cities of the "republic", in particular in Yenakiieve and Makiivka. 

Within the "Year of Russian Culture," the "republics" also comemorated the 800th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Nevsky because he is "one of the main unifying symbols of Russia." Libraries held online conferences dedicated to his personality, and the aforementioned Vladimir Antonov even offered to make a documentary about the "Grand Duke and his role in the country’s history." The occupation "authorities" also focused on children's and youth events: Russian cultural figures came to schools and other educational institutions in so-called "L/DPR", a long-running socio-cultural campaign "Boring Holiday" (previously it operated within the framework of the "Humanitarian Program for the Reunification of the People of Donbas", and now it has become part of the "Year of Russian Culture"). A new educational program "Culture for Schoolchildren" was also launched. Its objective was to "create favorable conditions for the cultural development of schoolchildren, preserve the traditions of Russian culture, foster a sense of pride and patriotism." 

However, the "Integration Program ‘Russia — Donbas’" was not limited to the "Year of Russian Culture". Another large-scale project was the opening of the "Slavic Library" by the "Center for Slavic Culture" in April 2021 to "attract the population to the world of Slavic writing and culture by promoting an Orthodox book that reflects all aspects of spiritual and moral enlightenment, interests children, youth and adults in the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, the history of Russia, its sacred places and spiritual sources of Slavic culture, teaches the foundations of spiritual life." In early 2021, the "Center of Slavic Culture" itself became the venue for the integration forum "Russian Donbass", where the adoption of the previously mentioned "Doctrine of Russian Donbass" was discussed.

They also held events in the "republics" that regularly take place in Russia: the All-Russian campaign "Biblionoch-2021", the activity "Immortal Regiment" on Victory Day, etc. 2021 was also marked by a number of collaborations between the so-called “L/DPR” cultural workers and their Russian counterparts. In particular, library employees from the "republics" took part in the interregional round table "The Role Of The Central Libraries Of The Regions Of Russia In The Implementation Of The National Project" Culture" and the video lecture "Sergei Yesenin And The American Literary Tradition." They also improved their skills during the "Children's Librarian Summer Workshop — 2021".

In 2021, the Russian Center was quite active, organizing cultural events in the "republics" attended by Russian participants, as well as trips to the Russian Federation for employees of cultural institutions and ordinary citizens. For example, in January, the "Russian Center" organized a remote master class by the artistic director of the State Dance Theater "Cossacks of Russia" for professional choreographers from the "republics." Also, for the "National Unity Day" the "Donetsk Republican Universal Scientific Library named after N. K. Krupska" held a teleconference with librarians from Astrakhan and Bryansk. Cultural workers from the so-called "L/DPR" went to Russia to the interregional festival of the national book "Reading World" in Ryazan, "Donetsk Republican Academic Puppet Theater" attended the XVIII International Festival of Puppet Theaters "Ryazan Showcase," "Honored State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble "Donbass" performed at the festival "Crimean Bridge," participated in the All-Russian Festival of Folk Art "Dance and Sing, My Russia," and later had a tour of the Russian Federation, and "Folk Dance Ensemble "Zarevo" participated in the XIX International Festival of Folklore and Traditional Culture "Highlanders" in Dagestan. 

Nikolay Rastorguev and the Lyube band came to the "republics," a historical and local history conference "Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic — the forerunner of the creation of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics" and the International Festival of Musical Art "Prokofiev Spring" took place. Also, the "Russian Center" contributed to other, less obvious forms of cooperation. For example, one of the soloists of the "Donbass" ensemble, thanks to the petition of the "Center", took part in the filming of the "New Year's Night" on the Russian "Channel One." The center was also sponsored by the "Russian Word" — "an awareness building scientific and educational project aimed at promoting national history, the Russian language and literature, preserving the cultural and historical heritage of Great Russia." 

Eventually, in 2021, the “Russian Center” closely cooperated with the government party “United Russia.” Their joint effort resulted in a festival of street sports “Terricone,” symphony concert “Music of War and Victory” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the “Great Patriotic War” and a forum “Russia-Donbas: Unity of Priorities” dedicated to the discussion of “achievements of modern Russia in politics, culture, medicine, science, sports, education, and ІCТ.”

In 2021, in the so-called “L/DPR,” several official holidays of the Russian Federation were fully and jointly celebrated. They included the customary “Russian Language Day,” the shared holiday of one national language in the “republics,” “Family Day,” “Day of Friendship and Unity of Slavs” that expanded the single cultural space to the RF and several more related countries, “Day of National Unity” that symbolized, according to Denis Pushilin, the “day of unity of Donbas with the rest of Russia.” The largest celebration was organized for the “Day of Russia.” It was the second celebration on a “government” level, “as part of the immense country.” For example, the previously mentioned Vladimir Antonov, in his welcome address, openly said that he was “genuinely proud of our Great Power, and its Great victorious people,” and residents of the so-called “L/DPR” need to “work hard for the benefit of our beloved Homeland, and do their best to help Russia grow and flourish.” To celebrate “Russia Day,” the “republics” had lectures to promote Russian culture, exhibitions about Russian classic literature, Mindfight quiz game on the Russia’s history, a.o.

In addition, Russian cultural funds were active in the so-called “L/DPR.” Thus, the “Russian World” fund continued bringing new Russian books to libraries in the “republics” and organize cultural events such as the “Kuprin Readings.” In September, the pseudo-republics contributed to the competition “Learn More About Russia. I have a Mining Background” organized by the All-Russian Youth NGO “Association of Honorable Citizens, Mentors, and Talented Young People.”

Russian Federation was actively working together with the so-called “L/DPR” on engaging children and young adults to cultural events. Schoolchildren had the organized trips to the RF, where they could directly communicate with representatives of Russian universities or culture institutions. Other popular trips to the RF were organized by the “Yunarmiya” (such as the “Lessons of Bravery” to celebrate the “Homeland Defender Day”). Young people were invited to festivals and events on the territory of the Rf and in the occupied territories of Ukraine, such as the forum of creative achievements of young people “Tavrida-ART,” Russian national convention of the “League of Student Clubs,” forums “Eurasia” and “Compatriots.” 

Moreover, the occupation “authorities” and the Russian government stimulated young people from the “republics” to study and work in Russia. To enable this, Donetsk and Luhansk universities were accredited in the RF and issued to their students Russia-approved format diplomas. New opportunities for migration also came from the fact that since 2021 the so-called “L/DPR” started issuing the “personal insurance policy number” identifying residents of the “republics” as quasi-citizens of the RF. Children were incentivized to participate in activities in Russia: in April, the government of the so-called “DPR” consigned “to build an efficient and understandable mechanism for selecting children to visit various events on Russia’s territory.” One such format for the “visits” were trips of children to Belarus for “recreation” that were combined with the “training process and excursions and cultural program.”

To develop local patriotism, the “republics” sometimes held activities to glorify the so-called “L/DPR”: a museum exhibition “Modern Donetsk,” a literary challenge “#ЯДонбасс” etc. Competittions were also taking place, such as the fifth round of the talk show “Star of the Republic.” During the celebration of the “Mother Tongue Day,” they had activities promoting culture of different people living in the territory of the “republics.” It was the festival “The Many Voices of the Homeland.” However, the major example of the development of local identity was the celebration of the “Republic Days”: anniversaries of events when the so-called “L/DPR” “declared their right to state autonomy and the choice of the future.” The celebration included concerts (“We are fellow countrymen with you, Donbas!”) and the ceremonial hoisting of the “national flag.” 

Other important celebrations were to commemorate the anniversaries of the Second World War. The occupiers renovated the monument “Savur Tomb,” they celebrated the liberation of Donetsk from the German occupation, and honored the blockade of Leningrad, etc. In addition, to “prevent the distortion of historical truth about the Great Patriotic War by Western states,” the “republics” continued the awareness programs for pupils and teachers where children were told the truth about the “heroic deeds of the ancestors.” 

In 2021, much more focus was laid on the developments of the ongoing war. The pseudo-republics launched a project “#ПроСТО compatriots.” Its objective was “to tell citizens about their compatriots with proactive civic positions who contributed to the building of a positive image of the Donetsk People’s Republic and accomplished heroic and brave feats in the present-day circumstances.” On October 1, the so-called “DPR” held a campaign “A Ring for Donbas Angels” to commemorate children killed “due to war aggression on the part of Ukraine.” They also honored the “memory of the air strike victims” at Stanytsia Luhanska allegedly made by the Ukrainian army; and an exhibition in Pervomaysk was held to commemorate the anniversary of the start of hostilities.

Overall, 2021, with its integration activities and the “Year of Russian Culture,” was a logical finalization of the process of transformation of the so-called “L/DPR” into Russian satellites. The transformation would not have been possible if the integration of the “republics” with the RF had taken place only in education, social welfare, and legislation. Although in 2021, young people from the “republics” were granted the possibility to take the Russian “Unified State Final Exam” with no need to travel to the RF, the culture was the ideological factor in building a common space between different people. Presenting the summary of the year, Denis Pushilin highlighted that “over all the years of being part of Ukraine, the Russian culture allowed us all not to lose ourselves and our links with Russia.” 

The created common cultural space and active integration of the so-called “L/DPR” with the Russian Federation in 2014–2021 eventually resulted in the preparation of the full-scale invasion of the RF into Ukraine. On February, 17, 2021, at the “Russian Donbas” Forum, heads of the so-called “L/DPR” reached a conclusion that the “Humanitarian Program For Reunification of Donbas People” shall be expanded. Since 2017, when the program was launched, its key objective has been to involve the residents from the Ukraine-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts in the cultural and social life of the “republics.” 

In 2021, Denis Pushylin and Leonid Pasechnik announced that from that moment on the Humanitarian Program expanded to all Russians and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine. As soon as in September, residents of the so-called LPR and DPR who accepted Russian citizenship (≈ 300,000 people) were urged to participate in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. To that end, the pages of the “Ministries of Culture” started posting guidelines on how to register to vote in the elections. They claimed they needed to test the e-voting system, and announced about the buses arranged to take people to vote at polling stations in Rostov region, and reminded about the election days dates. The chief of the so-called “DPR,” Denis Pushylin, in his video addresses, encouraged people of the “republics” “to use their constitutional right” and thanked everyone who did so. After all, the participation of residents from the so-called LPR and DPR in elections in the Russian Federation can be considered the highest level of political, social, and cultural integration that has been consistently and structurally taking place in the temporarily occupied territories since 2014.

2. Culture Policy of the Occupiers: the Newly Occupied Territories

Аfter the occupation of new Ukrainian territories after February, 24, 2022, Russians have been spreading there the well-known practices from the so-called “L/DPR”. The cultural policy has followed the priorities of military patriotic education of children and young adults, of fighting the “falsifications of history,” of promoting the “Russian multiculturalism,” and the spread of Russian literature and art among all age groups. 

In the so-called “L/DPR,” they initially implemented culture policy in a “hybrid” format. On the one hand, it has been shaping as part of the nation-wide Russian policy as supervised by Russian “curators.” On the other hand, local headmen produced most impact. Upon the “legalization” of the occupation through the pseudo-referenda and amendments to the RF domestic laws, culture policy in the so-called “L/DPR” and in the newly-occupied territories has become more centralized. After all, the situation in the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts was resembling the “Crimean scenario” rather than the hybrid policy of the so-called “L/DPR.” In fact, the Crimean peninsula was legalized in the Russian law shortly after the annexation.

2.1. Culture “under the Russian Standards”

According to the ruling of the RF Constitutional court, the so-called “transition period” was instituted in the TOTs following the occupation. It will last until January, 1, 2026. Over this time, the “four new territories need to fully integrate into all areas of the country’s life.” The so-called “LPR” and “DPR,” as well as the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, would gradually be integrated into the running nationwide programs, including in culture. The President of the RF declared the annexation of Ukrainian territories a national holiday, the “Day of Reunification of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Luhansk People’s Republic, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions with the Russian Federation.” Its is celebrated in the TOTs and in the RF on September, 30. Moreover, the Russian calendar of holidays is introduced in the occupied territories. Thus, unlike in Ukraine, Mother’s Day is celebrated in Russia in November, but not in May. That is when the festive activities are taking place in the TOTs. 

On September, 30, 2022, on the day when Vladimir Putin signed the decrees on “independence” of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, the “Ministry of Culture of Kherson Oblast” declared the transition of culture to “Russian standards.” The RF Ministry of Culture called the integration of “new regions” into “cultural life of the country” a main task for the coming years. In other words, the occupied parts of Kherson region (in the RF documents – the entire Kherson region, including the Ukraine-controlled territories) will now be part of the Russian “Culture” national project covering three federal projects: “Cultural Environment,” “Creative People,” and “Digital Culture.” The declared objective is to “expand access to cultural goods and opportunities for the creation of cultural values for people in big cities and in remote places as well.” According to Putin, the project “needs to assume a strong regional scale, incentivize higher quality and diversity of cultural life in the country’s small towns and villages.” 

According to the RF Minister of Culture, Olga Liubimova, each “new region” is addressed in manual mode. That is how she called the “individual approach to each region.” Liubimova said that as of October, 2023, “over a thousand of libraries, almost a thousand of houses of culture, almost 160 children art schools and 77 museums” were functioning in the TOTs (excluding Crimea). All of them were receiving the “patronage assistance” from the federal culture institutions, as part of the nationwide project. It covered property, necessary equipment, and staff support, when they brought in Russian experts to the TOTs, and the organization of vocational “training” for local staff in Russia. In addition, all museums operating in TOTs were assigned with their “patrons” from among the RF federal museums. Thus, for example, in August 2023, 200 culture workers from the occupied territories attended the “І All-Russian Educational Seminar for the Staff of Culture Institutions from the New Russian Federation subjects” hosted in Tula.

However, the critical component of the program is logistical. With the establishment of the occupation, the Russians began to restore and build cultural infrastructure, where possible, such as cultural houses, libraries, museums, cinemas, and "auto clubs" (the name for the "multifunctional mobile cultural centers" that bring "great Russian culture" to the most remote villages of Russia). Since 2023, they have also come to TOTs: according to the statements of the occupiers, by the end of 2023, 28 "auto clubs" were available in the so-called "LPR" and "DPR," as well as in the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. 

The occupiers also report on the creation of "model libraries." It is about the renovation of premises, the installation of the Internet, the purchase of equipment (i.e., laptops), and the "updating" of the book fund — they brought Russian literature instead of the destroyed "extremist" Ukrainian literature. During 2024, the occupiers plan to "modernize" 12 libraries: 3 in each occupied region. 

The hunt for Ukrainian literature began from the very beginning of the full-scale phase of the war. Back in March 2022, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that Russian units of the "military police" were seizing and destroying on the spot or taking out Ukrainian history and fiction books from libraries in the occupied places of Luhansk, Donetsk, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. As reported by the Center for National Resistance in September 2022, the occupiers seized all Ukrainian-language literature in Melitopol. In early December, collaborator Ihor Ternavskyi, who manages the Lermontov library in Melitopol, reported that he bought "books by modern [Russian] writers, Russian classics and historical literature worth over a million roubles." 

The same situation occurred in Luhansk region. At the end of January 2023, the head of the Luhansk OMA reported that the "Ministry of Education and Science of the LPR" issued an instruction to the heads of city and district administrations and subordinate educational organizations to withdraw books from the school libraries, under the list of 365 items. The burning of Ukrainian books in boiler houses was also recorded in the region. According to the Center for National Resistance, during 2023, russians brought about 2.5 million russian books to the TOTs. 

The "Culture" national project includes smaller ones. Thus, the federal programs "We Are Russia" and "Big Tour" began to operate in TOTs. Within the first program, theater companies, musical groups, orchestras, and other artists from TOTs can tour in Russia. The second program provides the contrary – that artists from the Russian Federation come to perform in the occupied territories. 

In December 2022, support for cultural projects in TOTs began from the budget of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives under the program "Single Cultural Space: Projects of New Regions". During 2022–2023, cultural projects related to TOTs were financed in the amount of 3.4 billion rubles (about 38.3 million USD). Most likely, these numbers included the cultural projects from TOTs supported by the Fund because we recorded mentions of Russia-financed projects to take place in TOTs before the legalization of the so-called "LPR", "DPR" and the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the legal system of the Russian Federation. For example, this fund financed the children's play "The Brave Tin Soldier" in Mariupol, which was conceived as "an inoculation of traditional moral values adopted throughout our country [Russia]," a car expedition to the Sea of Azov, and the shooting of a detective series about the occupied ZNPP, "Peaceful Atom." In addition, the Presidential Foundation finances a system of "re-education camps", where Ukrainian children deported from TOTs are taken to be politically indoctrinated. 

Moreover, Russians are restoring and opening new cinemas. In March 2023, Liubimova promised that Russians would open 11 new cinemas in TOTs in a year, and another 20 in 2024. Russian film distribution is now available in 15 cinemas in TOTs. We could not verify whether the head of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation had delivered on her promise in full. However, in October 2023, the occupiers reported on the opening of the first cinema in Mariupol, in late August 2023 — in Khrustalny, in late November 2023 — in Starobilsk. The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, together with the Ministry of Defense, brought back to life the Soviet "propaganda brigades," or the teams of artists who come to the Russian-controlled front-line Ukrainian territories to speak to fighters and local residents to "raise their morale". 

At the beginning of 2023, the Russian Ministry of Culture announced "federalization." It means the transition to its direct subordination of the two specialized universities operating in TOTs: Donetsk State Music Academy named after S.S. Prokofiev and the Luhansk State Academy of Culture and Arts named after M. Matusovsky." 

Also, new museums are being created in TOTs. In Melitopol, at the end of September 2023, a multimedia historical park was opened called "Russia is my history." Similar parks operate in 24 cities of the Russian Federation, and in Luhansk city. This project is called the "largest exhibition complex" in the Russian Federation. Its permanent exhibitions include displays dedicated to the Rurikids, the Romanovs and the 20th century (in particular, 1914–1945). 

2.2. Pillaging of Cultural Heritage

At the end of February 2023, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced: "The development of the cultural sphere will become one of the priorities for the revival of peaceful life in Donbas and Novorossia." He said that "the restoration of cultural objects /.../ is necessary to enable the local population to feel the relationship between the past and the present, to connect it with the future, to feel belonging to a single cultural, historical, educational space of centuries-old and great Russia." 

To legalize the theft of Ukrainian historical and cultural heritage in Russia, the law "On the peculiarities of legal regulation of relations in the field of culture in connection with the adoption in the Russian Federation of the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, the Zaporizhzhya region and the Kherson region and the formation of new subjects within the Russian Federation — the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions" was adopted. By this law, Russians authorized themselves to automatically, without any expert evaluation, enter objects of cultural heritage located on the territory of the so-called "LPR," "DPR," Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions into the register of cultural heritage objects (monuments of history and culture) of the peoples of the Russian Federation and objects of cultural heritage of regional or local (municipal) significance. 

However, similar to entering the state registers, objects of cultural heritage can easily lose their special status, which jeopardizes their preservation. The mentioned law allows free movement of objects of historical and cultural heritage, archival documents, and library holdings from TOTs on the territory of the Russian Federation without unnecessary "paper trail" and bureaucratic red tape. Similarly, after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, more than 150,000 cultural material values of the Crimean Tatars were included in the Russian state registers. Also, according to the Center for National Resistance, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation allowed the "repair and restoration" of cultural and historical sites in TOTs to newly established firms without the appropriate licenses, which is prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation. 

Fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers robbed a number of local museums and archives: Kherson Regional Museum of Local Lore, Kherson Regional Art Museum named after Oleksiy Shovkunenko, Kherson Regional Archive, Kherson Regional Library. The theft of Ukrainian art objects and historical and cultural heritage by Russians is estimated as the largest since the Second World War. In total, more than 15,000 unique artifacts were removed from Kherson. Instead, Scythian gold of the 4th century BC was stolen from the Melitopol Museum of Local Lore, and all valuable exhibits were removed from the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore and the Kuindzhi Art Museum. The record-taking of all the lost artifacts was still underway at the time of writing the report. According to rough estimates, Mariupol has lost about 2 thousand valuable objects. The so-called "Ministry of Culture of the Kherson region" posted on their page "Vkontakte" that they contributed to the pillaging of museums of the Kherson region (which they call "evacuation") and to the removal of objects to Sevastopol. It was also about the "evacuation" of the Kakhovka Historical Museum. 

According to the statement of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, such actions of the Russian Federation violate the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which prohibits "any seizure, destruction or intentional damage" of historical monuments and subjects it to prosecution. 

The occupiers are also looting Ukrainian archives. According to the head of the State Archival Service of Ukraine, Anatoliy Khromov, the Russians took out about half of the holdings of the State Archives of the Kherson region. 

Руйнувань зазнають українські місця пам’яті. Демонтаж памʼятників жертвам Голодомору (їх росіяни називають “символами дезінформації”) зафіксували у Маріуполі й на тимчасово окупованих частинах Херсонської області. Натомість окупанти встановлюють cвої памʼятники — наприклад, “молодые строители Херсона” “відновлювали” радянські меморіали, знесені під час декомунізації. 

2.3. Imperial “Multiculturalism”: “Assembly of the Peoples of Russia”

To consolidate the already familiar image of the "multicultural Donbas," the civic-state organization "Assembly of Peoples of Russia" began to function in the TOTs. It was created on November 13, 2020 to “improve the state national policy” and “promote the strengthening of the all-Russian civic identity and interethnic harmony.” According to its deputy head, Yuriy Palamarchuk, the organization should play the role of "a platform for people's diplomacy, which will contribute to the harmonization of interethnic relations." 

The first cell of the “Assembly” was opened on May 11, 2022, in the so-called "DPR.” It was headed by the director of the “Center for Economic Cooperation of the Republics” and a member of the “Civic Chamber of the DPR” Victoria Romaniuk. In the Kherson region, the regional office opened on May 29, 2023, its head was "Deputy Minister of Culture of the Kherson region" Artem Lagoisky. The “Assembly” came to the Zaporizhzhia region on April, 13, 2023, and chaired by the “chief specialist of the culture unit from the Department of Culutre, Sports, and Youth of Melitopol City,” Olha Gazheva. 

The activities of the "Assembly" can hardly be called active. During the 7 months of its existence, its branch in the so-called "DPR" reported on less than a dozen activities, most of which targeted children. Those were a competition of illustrations for the works of the "pride of the Russian-language literary world" "RUSSKIE" and a lecture by the head of the branch, Victoria Romaniuk, on the importance of "historical truth" for the pupils of the Amvrosiyivka institutional facility No.4 during the patriotic forum organized by the “Russian Society" Knowledge.” Within the project "We Are The Greatest" (dedicated to "highlighting the multinational richness of the Russian Federation"), children from the Ossetian diaspora of the "DPR" were taken to Ossetia, to the "Ethnocamp-2023." There, children were to study "the origins, culture, and traditions of the Ossetian people, as well as the cultural and historical heritage of the Alans." In addition, the Kirov Donetsk Republican Library ran a month of Belarusian culture "Land Under the White Wings" (Bel. – Зямля пад белымi крыламi). During the project "ZOV" ("focusing on the development of patriotism and unification of all peoples living in the territory of the Russian Federation" and "teaching a sense of duty to the Motherland"), children of military servicemen and children with disabilities of the same Ossetian diaspora of the so-called "DPR" were taken to Moscow for an "educational program." In Mariupol, the head of the cell, Romaniuk, during the military-patriotic forum "Knowledge. Heroes" told students "at what cost the long-awaited peace is achieved."

In Zaporizhzhia region, the Assembly reported only about the round table "Unity of Slavs — Past, Present and Future" attended by the representatives from the United Russia and the Public Chamber. In the temporarily occupied parts of the Kherson region, the local "Assembly" is more active, although it did not hold any mass events, either. In particular, in Genichesk, they managed to organize a screening of the film "Quest" — "about the importance of collectivism and responsibility to their comrades", joined the "Azov Way" rally in honor of the "reunification of the Crimea with new regions", take part in the All-Russian forum "Threads of Identity" in Moscow, and the head of the Kherson branch, Lagoisky, spoke at the annual conference of heads of regional branches of the Russian military-historical community "Best practices of patriotic and military-patriotic activities" with the report "The Historical Legacy of the Russian Empire. Kherson as the cradle of the Black Sea Fleet. ” 

2.4. “Ministries of Culture” in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts

In the context of cultural policy, the newly occupied settlements of Donetsk and Luhansk regions became subordinate to the "ministries of culture" of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" but in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, they had their own regional "ministries". 

On the eve of the pseudo-referendums, on September 20, 2022, the "Ministry of Culture of the Kherson region" signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Kaliningrad region. It is noteworthy that the so-called "government of the Kherson region" was formed involving some immigrants from Kaliningrad: "Deputy Head of Internal Policy" was Volodymyr Bezpalov who had previously been the First Deputy Minister for Municipal Development and Internal Policy of the Kaliningrad region; and the head of the government was Serhiy Yeliseyev, former First Deputy Head of Government and Chief of Staff of the Kaliningrad region. As soon as in July 2023, the so-called "Ministry of Culture of the Kherson region" came under Canadian sanctions. However, the official status of the "Ministry of Culture of the Kherson region" was granted as late as in August 2023. At that time, this occupation structure received a state registration number in the Russian Federation. Local collaborator Oleksandr Kuzmenko, who used to be the director of the Kherson Music School No.4 before the occupation, headed the Kherson "ministry". 

“Official” communication of the Kherson “MinCult” is taking place in a Russian social network “VKontakte”. The first post on their page dates back to August, 17, 2022, and announces a call for culture workers. They were searching for creative workers, librarians, art experts, museum workers, secretaries, record keepers, accountants, lawyers, and technical staff. On the same day, the “Ministry” reported about the first event they held: an exhibition on the “great Russian admiral” Fedor Ushakov was held in the occupied Kherson by the St. Spyridon Center of Cultural Cooperation. In fact, the page intensified in the second year of the full-scale phase of the Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

In general, posts on the page of the “ministry of Culture of Kherson Oblast” mostly write about economic and organizational issues, although elements of the propaganda “outreach” are also present. In particular, from the firsts posts, a permanent rubric on “Cultural Kherson” appeared. Its declared objective — ”to restore historical justice” and “stop the wheel of lies,” since the Ukrainian “propaganda” is allegedly “distorting facts, forgetting names, and erasing events.”

Before the pseudo-referenda, the page activity levels were rather sporadic: they told about rare art exhibitions, film screenings, creative master classes, school art events and competitions, etc. They reposted calls for vacancies in the field of culture. The page activities have largely intensified before the “referenda” — they encouraged people “to vote,” reported on the organization of “the expression of will” and explained the procedures for conduct. 

After the "legalization" of the occupation, the public communications of the "Ministry of Culture" became more intense, but little changed in terms of quality. Their content stayed the same. The only policy reported by the pseudoministry is the development of a program of “social and economic development” so that children living in the occupied parts of the Kherson Oblast could use the “Culture Card 4+85” (read more about it in the following sections). Also, it was occasionally reported about the visits of russian officials to TOTs, and employees of the "Ministry of Culture" of Kherson region travelling to the territory of the Russian Federation.

The "Ministry of Culture", as well as the entire "government" of the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, was formed in July 2022. It included mostly Russian officials. "Head of the Government" Anton Koltsov, who had worked in the government of the Vologda region of the Russian Federation for 6 years, in his interview for TASS, said that he "attracts specialists from the regions of the Russian Federation, such as Crimea, Rostov-on-Don, and Krasnodar." One of these "guest specialists" was the first acting "Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism" of Zaporizhzhya region, Radik Isyakayev (formerly, an entrepreneur from Mordovia who ran the municipal institution "Little Jerusalem" in the occupied Evpatoria). In January 2023, Yuriy Kovanov became the "Minister of Culture," and in October he was replaced by Ihor Kotlyar, who used to be the "First Deputy Minister of Resorts and Tourism" of the occupied Crimea before his appointment. This “ministry” and its first head, Radik Isyakayev, have been under Canadian sanctions since June 2023. The state registration number was assigned to the “Ministry” in January 2023. 

Public communication of the "Ministry of Culture of Zaporizhzhia region" also takes place in the social network "Vkontakte". The first post on its page was published on November 5, 2022, and on November 6, they told how "Zaporizhzhia region, together with Russia, celebrated the"Day of National Unity." Unlike the Kherson "Ministry of Culture," Zaporizhzhia has been actively communicating with its subscribers since the launch of the page. It can also be seen from the number of posts: from August 17, 2022 to December 1, 2023, the Kherson “Ministry of Culture” published as few as 985 posts, and the Zaporizhzhia Ministry of Culture published 6976 posts from November 5, 2022 to December 1, 2023.

The content of the page of the "Ministry of Culture of Zaporizhzhia region" is mostly about events organized by the occupation authorities. The events are often held in parallel with similar events in Russia, such as the annual all-Russian ethnographic dictation. In addition, the Ministry of Culture communicates about exhibitions, concerts, events dedicated to the Russian army, celebrations of Russian public holidays, etc. 

The "ministry" devotes a significant part of its communication to children. The institution reported on the removal of children from the temporarily occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia region to Evpatoria for "rehabilitation". It was also about how children and young people are informed about the "great Russian culture" (most often about Pushkin) and "maximally contribute" to their creative development (for example, the case of finding a balalaika for a girl who accidentally forgot her at home). The "Ministry" encouraged "new citizens of Russia" to study the legislation, history and traditions of the occupying country. For example, they organized online competitions on knowledge of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. 

2.5. “Movement of the First,” “Talks About Important Things”: Propaganda Brainwashing and Militarization of School Pupils

While the annexed regions are in the so-called "transition period," almost all local projects in the fields of culture and education are aimed at integrating children into Russian society and at their military-patriotic education. In particular, the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Defense are organizing a joint project "University Shifts". Students from the occupied territories can live on the campus of a Russian university for 10 days and take a course of cultural and patriotic education. 

The Crimean Center for Civic Education "Almenda" (moved in 2014 to the Ukraine-controlled territory) has been consistently monitoring the occupiers' activities intending to blur the identity and militarize Ukrainian children living under the occupation. Such measures are complex because the russian propaganda machine indoctrinates Ukrainian children through formal and extracurricular education. 

2.5.1. Formal Education 

School education in the newly occupied territories has been "reformed" in the Russian way according to the so-called "Crimean scenario" and since the beginning of the occupation. Since September 2022, the curricula have already been fully shifted to Russian standards. In the case of “L/DPR,” the integration process was more gradual due to the lack of human and material resources and the uncertain status of “state borders” in 2014–2015.

According to Almenda, the administrations of the newly occupied regions forced the teachers to switch to the Russian side through intimidation or by replacing them with those loyal to the Russian Federation. For example, in the Kherson region, educators received letters from the occupation administration demanding to continue the educational process "in accordance with the Geneva Convention in order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe" and threatening in case of refusal. 

Students are taught in the Russian language and with Russian textbooks, under a 5-score grading system. Cycles of Ukrainian subjects are either significantly reduced or canceled. In June 2022, school graduates in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region even received Russian-format school leaving certificates. On the other hand, in the Kherson region, according to the head of the local "education department," Tatiana Kuzmich, graduates of 2022 received Ukrainian certificates, and they would shift to Russian certificates from 2023.

“Talk About Important Things”

Since September 2022, an extracurricular education program "Talks About Important Things" has been running. It was introduced by the Ministry of Education ("Ministry of Education") for all schools in Russia and the occupied territories. Classes are held every Monday during the first lesson, after the mandatory school assembly with the singing of the Russian anthem and the raising of the Russian flag. Such "conversations" are part of "patriotic education". 

During these "talks," children are told about the achievements of the Russian Federation in various fields, build a sense of duty to the "Motherland," justify the historical connection of the "regions" with Russia and about the so-called “SMO”. In September 2023, on the anniversary of the "pseudo-referendums" in the newly occupied territories, the schools of the Zaporizhzhia region held talks, where "reunification with the Russian Federation" was called "restoration of historical justice."

Russian politicians are often involved in such lessons. For example, in November 2023, Ihor Kastiukievych, "Senator of the Kherson Region" from United Russia, visited Genichesk School No.2. He spoke about the role of schoolchildren in the future of Russia and stressed that "technological sovereignty should be protected in the same way as state sovereignty." The regional cell of United Russia launched the project "Historical Conversations" especially for schoolchildren of the Kherson region, with the objective to shape the pro-Russian perception of the history of the USSR and the Russian Federation.

“Lessons of Courage”

Another component of "patriotic education" in the Russian Federation and in TOTs is the militarization of children and youth. For example, in schools, the so-called "lessons of courage" are held before the "memorable dates," where the feats of the Soviet, Russian, and "international" armies are glorified in the wars involving Russia. The purpose of these classes is to cultivate respect for the armed forces of the Russian Federation and to make children ready to "stand up for the defense of the Motherland with weapons in their hands." Often Russian "veterans" who participated in the wars in Afghanistan or the so-called “SMO” are invited to participate in such classes. As the Center for Civic Education "Almenda" found out, at the end of the lessons of courage, children are often forced to join the campaign "Letter to a Soldier." It means they write letters of support for the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Also, in these classes, children from the newly occupied territories are encouraged to join the “Youth Army.” 

Cadet Schools

Since September 2023, a program of "cadet classes" has been conducted in schools in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as in Crimea. Such "schools" are opened under the agreement between a school or the "Ministry of Education" of the newly occupied regions and the relevant bodies of the Russian Federation, often with the support of the regional branch of the United Russia party. In the Zaporizhzhia region, military training for children is conducted by Rosgvardia, while in the Kherson region they are taken care of by the Investigative Committee.

At the time of writing this report (December 2023), the first and only center of this military-patriotic program was opened in October 2023 in Kostiantynivka school No.1 in Zaporizhzhia region. The cadets undergo a program of physical and military training. Later, it will enable them to participate in the patriotic activities of Rosgvardia and, possibly, in the so-called "SMO". The organizers of cadet schools promise to grant graduates preferences for admission to Russian higher education institutions: they could be admitted beyond the competition for military and civilian specialties. 

In February 2023, there were intentions to launch similar schools in the Kherson region. In an interview, the "governor" of the Kherson region said that the first two cells would be opened in Skadovsk, and later in Genichesk and other district centers. In May 2023, an agreement to launch such a class of 25 cadets was signed by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and its Sevastopol Cadet Corps, from where they are likely to recruit personnel and materials for military training.

2.5.2. Non-Formal Education

"Patriotic education" also occurs through out-of-school education, such as youth movements and thematic events. Since 2022, both regional branches of all-Russian youth organizations ("Youth Army," "Movement of the First") and new propaganda movements (#YugMolodoy) have been operating in the occupied territories of the South of Ukraine. 

“Yunarmiya”

“Yunarmiya” (lit. – Youth Army) is a military patriotic children and youth movement established by the RF Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, in 2016. Children joining the initiative undergo professional military training supported by “veterans” from the Russian Armed Forces and the “Combat Brotherhood.” They learn about weapons and military equipment. Later, graduates from the “Yunarmiya” are admitted to the RF Army. Children from 8 to 18 can join the movement by applying via a mobile app “Yunarmy Fellow” and submitting documents to the local cell. 

According to the director of the Center for strategic development of the territories, Andriy Orlov, it is mandatory to join this organization in TOTs, and schools are visited by special agents who use the “gaming format to allow children to use weapons.” In addition, Orlov emphasized that children are imposed with the feeling of duty for the “Motherland” and they are prepared to participate in the war.

On November 4, 2022, it became known about the opening of the "Youth Army" detachment in Genichesk. This event was attended by "representatives of the cell" of the organization from the "DPR" and its senior management. In the same place, in October 2023, the "House of the Youth Army" was opened at school No.2, and the deputy head from the movement headquarters, Viktor Kaurov, signed a cooperation agreement with the "Ministry of Youth Policy" of the Kherson region.

According to the "Chief of Staff of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Branch of the Youth Army," Fidail Bikbulatov, the organization received more than 100 applications to join. On December 9, 2023, on the Russian Heroes of the Motherland Day, the occupiers announced that 40 schoolchildren from Melitopol solemnly "swore allegiance to the youthful brotherhood" and "promised to adhere to the traditions of bravery, courage, and camaraderie, to honor the heroes who fought for their homeland and to be worthy citizens of Russia." Throughout 2023, children participated in military training, patriotic education activities, and the reburial ceremony of Soviet soldiers. In 2024, the occupiers plan to open new units of the "Youth Army" in Melitopol and Berdyansk, as well as the "House of the Youth Army" of the Zaporizhzhia region.

"Movement of the First" and "Eaglets of Russia"

"Movement of the First" is a federal movement of children and youth, launched at the end of 2022. The organization unites the majority of Russian youth movements, in particular "Youth Army," "Russian Movement of Schoolchildren," "Big Change," and others. The organization’s mission is to pursue comprehensive patriotic education of children. Scope of activities: 

• “Learn and know” — education and knowledge;
• "Dare and discover" — science and technology;
• "Find a vocation" — work, profession, and own business;
• “Create and inspire” — culture and art; 
• "The good of the work" — volunteering and voluntary activities;
• "Serve the Fatherland" — patriotism and historical memory. 

Cells (known as “primary units”) are opened at educational institutions. Children between the ages of 6 and 18 can join the “movement”. Adults can join the movement as “mentors.” For selection, you must fill out an application on the movement's website and confirm it with an electronic or physical signature in the primary unit of the organization within 30 days. 

The first cells of the movement opened in December 2022 in the city of Genichesk at school No.1 and at a medical school. The event was attended by the head of the Ministry of Education, Sergey Kravtsov. It is known that movement participants from the occupied territories of Ukraine are delegated to all-Russian congresses of children and youth in Moscow.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, the first branch of the Movement appeared in January 2023 at the Melitopol Multidisciplinary College. The opening ceremony was attended by the "Minister of Education and Science," Yelena Shapurova, and "Deputy Minister for Youth Policy," Vieronika Aksyutina. According to the "governor" Yevhenii Balitskyi, as of October 25, 2023, the movement had 191 regional centers, engaging more than 2,800 adolescents. According to the occupiers, as of October 2023, the Movement opened more than 1,100 regional branches in TOTs.

The younger wing of the "Movement of the First" is the "Eaglets of Russia" (children of primary school age). This program is an analogue of the Soviet "Little Octobrists." Although formal participation is voluntary, upon the parents’ consent, in fact, joining the organization is forced. According to the Center for National Resistance, in November 2023, all first-graders in the occupied territory of the Kherson region were enrolled in the "Eaglets" where they will receive propaganda education from childhood. The program also operates in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region. 

#YugMolodoy

#YugMolodoy is a youth leisure movement that appeared in July 2022 in the occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region. It is coordinated by the "Ministry of Youth Policy of the Zaporizhzhya Region," and headed by Yulia Klimenko. She has been managing the Zaporizhzhya branch of the "Young Guard of United Russia" since October 2022. Initially, the movement functioned on the territory of the region only, but since March 2023 it has become "interregional". Currently, it includes more than 1,000 "activists" united in 17 cells in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions. Movement participants are often collaborators and volunteers of the Young Guard of United Russia from the Russian Federation. #YugMolodoy cooperates with all-Russian and regional youth organizations, such as the Youth Guard, "#WeTogether", "Young Republic", etc. The movement’s key focus areas are as follows:

• "patriotic education" — promotion of the "achievements" of the Russian Federation in various fields of activity, holding "commemorative events";
• humanitarian missions — transfer of humanitarian aid to military and civilians in combat zones, as well as to veterans and owners of animal shelters;
• youth development — participation in all-Russian youth forums, development, and implementation of projects on the grounds.

Like other organizations in the occupied territories of Ukraine, # YugMolodoy is engaged in propaganda education of young people for the integration of the region with the Russian Federation. The movement is quite active: the events held by its activists are reported almost daily. For example, "activists" destroy Ukrainian symbols, conduct "teleconferences" with the young people from the "DPR," "LPR," and Kharkiv region about "the harm of the Ukrainian authorities to the people." They extend a large St. George's ribbon, recruit new participants in educational institutions, organize campaigns supporting the so-called "SMO". Children are involved in all-Russian events, for example, the  "Peak of Opportunities" forum in Nizhny Novgorod, the “Knowledge.First” marathon in Moscow, and the "World Youth Festival" in Sochi.

The movement was recruited to participate in the international competition "Leader of People's Diplomacy" organized by the Russian International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations, "Assembly of the Peoples of Eurasia.” The competition was first held in 2022 to mobilize the Russian diaspora and promote the interests, values, and culture of the Russian Federation in different countries. According to the organizers, in 2023, candidate volunteers to participate came from 14 countries, such as Armenia, Belarus, Germany, Egypt, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Moldova, UAE, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and the so-called "Abkhazia." 

#YugMolodoy also initiates projects that have a long-term goal of preparing the staff for Russian civil services. Those are the Youth Educational Forum “Yug Molodoy” [lit. – Young South] and 'YugMolodoy.Grants'.

Youth Educational Forum "Young South" 

The program is designed to involve "proactive," "spiritual and value-based" young people to the concept-making for youth policy in the "newly annexed regions of the Russian Federation." The event consists of a series of lectures by representatives of Russian civil services and career guidance "master classes." Subsequently, children design projects for the "development" of the occupied "regions" in various areas. 

The event was first held in November 2022 in the occupied Berdyansk, with the support of the "Ministry of Youth Policy of the Zaporizhzhia Region," "Rosmolodezh," "Media 2," "Knowledge Russian Society," and the autonomous non-profit organization “National Priorities.” About 300 representatives of "initiative young people" from the occupied "regions" of "DPR," "LPR," Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions joined the 4-day forum. Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs "Rosmolodezh," Denis Ashirov, and "Minister of Youth Policy of the Zaporizhzhia region," Anton Titsky, told about the trends in the youth policy of the Russian Federation. After the conversation, young people took part in the master class "How to take the road from an activist to a leader, and about the personal growth trajectory."

In July 2023, the forum became “all-Russian” and consisted of three parts: 

• "educational program" online;
• "educational program" offline in temporarily occupied Berdyansk;
• "educational and entertainment program" during the "Tavrida.Art" festival (takes place in the occupied Crimea), organized by the "Knowledge Russian Society."

The program of the July forum, the same as in November, was propagandistic and militarized. One of the lectures was devoted to military correspondence and "disinformation," and it was conducted by "war correspondent" Semyon Pegov. The "projects" that applied for the 500,000 rubles grant, within the the forum, were "Workshop of Robotics and Manufacture of Drones," "Volunteer Youth Squad," "Cell of the Movement of the First," "Development of Territories," and others. Also, during the program, an “education” center “Mayak” was opened, as attended by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, Sergey Kiriyenko, and the head of Rosmolodezh, Ksenia Razuvaieva.

“YugMolodoy. Grants” 

In this "school," young people learn to write grant applications and develop and implement social projects in the occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region. The program was first announced in July 2023, and it took place in August in 5 locations: the temporarily occupied Enerhodar, Akymivka, Berdyansk, Dniprorudne, and Melitopol. 

The school has a mixed format: young people aged 14 to 35 take online courses from "federal experts" in the field of grants and are involved in the development of projects with "mentors," offline on the grounds. The "experts" and "mentors" are volunteers from the Young Guard of United Russia, the Russian Union of Youth, and other Russian youth organizations. 

According to information from the occupation news channels, more than 100 people with 160 "project ideas" joined the school in Dniprorudne and Melitopol alone. The projects of the school participants can apply for a grant call for 300,000 rubles from the organizations "#YugMolodoy" and "Rosmolodezh", which was announced in November 2023. The selected initiatives are the "Volunteer School in Berdyansk," the projects "Young Defenders," "Fabulous Maslenitsa," "Talents of the South," and "More Media".

2.5.2. Extra-Curricular Activities

In addition to military-patriotic education, the occupation authorities use extra curricular activities to influence children. For example, 114 theater groups were established in the schools of the so-called "DPR." By the end of 2023, the school theater was to appear in each school. In the occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region, theater studios were less common, but actors from Russian theaters came to visit them and conducted training sessions for children. The "United Russia" party also invested in children's theaters and performances: in June 2023, the "Ministry of Culture of the DPR" organized a theatrical performance, "Musical Journey through Fairy Tales and Cartoons," for schoolchildren from Yenakiyevo, as part of the party project "Culture of the Small Homeland" and the "Culture for Schoolchildren" campaign. 

In addition, young people were actively involved in various "international" competitions and festivals. In October 2022, at the Eurasia Global International Youth Forum, the "ministries of culture" of the so-called "DPR," "LPR," South Ossetia and Abkhazia signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs. School graduates were offered to join the operations of the occupation authorities and run for the personnel competition "Leaders of Revival".

“Leaders of Revival”

The competition was first held in the occupied territories of Ukraine in 2023. It is organized according to the model of the Russian competition of managers "Leaders of Russia." Its purpose is "to find and support promising leaders in new regions." According to the Luhansk Information Center, the shortlisted applicants and winners of the competition receive 1 million rubles for education in Russia and get into the personnel reserve of their region. Subsequently, these people will be appointed to senior positions in key organizations and occupation authorities. Young people were actively encouraged to participate in the competition, especially those who have been living under occupation since 2014 and have developed "ideologically correct" views.

Announcing the competition, the leader of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic," Denis Pushilin, emphasized that the economy of Donbass will have to be restored, and they already have everything available for the "development of a prosperous life" in the "republics," except for the "talented managers, people with organizational skills and developed leadership qualities." Pushilin also personally thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his support in holding the competition.

In 2023, more than 300 residents of the occupied regions took part in the competition. More than a third of them received new positions and promotions in all "new regions of the Russian Federation" in 2023. 

2.6. Travelling “Around a New Homeland”: “Pushkin Map”/“Culture Map 4+85”, “Cool Country” Program

One cultural program that Russia actively promotes on its territory and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is the so-called "Pushkin Map." This project appeared in August 2021 with the support of the Ministries of Culture and Digital Development of the Russian Federation (Russian "Ministry of Culture" and "Ministry of Digitalization," respectively) together with "Pochta Bank." Its objective is to promote Russian culture among young people aged 14 to 22 years. The program allows you to visit more than 26,500 cultural institutions in the territory of the Russian Federation, including 101 in the temporarily occupied Crimea, at the cost of the state budget. 

To receive a card, children must register on the public services portal of the Russian Federation (you can only register there from the age of 14 and upon receiving a Russian passport), download the application "Gosuslugi.Kultura" and create a request for registration of a card, which is an account in the "Post Bank". The card can be issued both virtually in the "Gosuslugi.Kultura" application, and physically, in the bank branch. It has 5,000 rubles on its balance sheet, which can be used to pay for tickets to cultural events, of which 2,000 rubles are allocated to visit cinemas.

Initially, the project was designed for young people in Russia and in the temporarily occupied Crimea, where the Pushkin Card has been operating since September 2021. As soon as in August 2023, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, together with Rosconcert, decided to create its analogue for children from the "DPR," "LPR," Zaporizhzhya region, and Kherson region. The new program is called “Cultural Map 4+85”, where 4 denotes “newly joined regions”, and 85 denotes other regions of Russia. Children from the occupied territories are shown "Russia's achievements in the fields of culture, art, science and technology" within 8 tourist routes. According to the "Deputy Chairman of the Board of the DPR" Larisa Tolstikina, under this program, about 2,500 schoolchildren from 9 to 17 years old visited Moscow and St. Petersburg from September to December 2022.

Although the "Pushkin Card" is not yet available in the territories of the "DPR," "LPR," Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, the Russian Ministry of Culture intends to "add the newly joined regions" from 2024. Prior to the official launch of the card, admission to cultural institutions in these territories is free. The exception is for the "evacuated residents of Donbas" who live in "temporary accommodation centers" in Rostov and can get a card before it is launched in the "regions".

On September 17, 2023, the first group of schoolchildren from the so-called "LPR" went on "vacation" to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The children visited Russian cultural monuments, performances based on Russian literature, offices of large companies (VKontakte, Sberbank), museums of astronautics, and World War II. All this becomes a platform for russian "patriotic education".

According to the head of the NGO "Regional Center for Human Rights," Kateryna Rashevska, up to 200–300 children from the occupied territories are involved in such "excursions" every week. In particular, goals have been established for each occupied region, and by the end of 2023, 10,000 Ukrainian schoolchildren are planned to be taken out. According to Rashevska, the Russian government spent 69 billion rubles on the deportation of children in 2023, and plans to increase this amount in 2024.

For the development of school tourism in the Russian Federation in May 2023, the occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia region were included in the All-Russian program "Class Country," "under special conditions." Within the program, project teams will be established on the ground made of representatives of regional departments in charge of education, awareness building, training, culture and tourism, educational organizations, tour operators, entrepreneurs, and schoolchildren themselves. Program participants should develop travel programs in 5 focus areas:

• "history and patriotism": social studies, history of Russia, mother tongue, basics of spiritual and moral culture of the peoples of Russia, local lore,
• "culture": literature, Russian language, native language, native literature, music, technology, fine arts, the basics of spiritual and moral culture of the peoples of Russia,
• "ecology": biology, geography, social studies, local lore,
• "science": mathematics, computer science, chemistry, physics, biology,
• "sport and healthy lifestyle": physical culture, life safety, initial military training.

2.7. “Programs of the “MOST” Eurasian Cultural Integration of the Zakhar Prilepin Foundation”

A separate track of Russian cultural propaganda is the idea of a separate "Russian (Eurasian) civilization" that unites different ethnicities with a "common culture and history." The projects promoting this image include programs based on the "Intercontinental Organization of Co-Creation" (abbreviated as "MOST," lit. – BRIDGE). The first posts on the organization's page in Vkontakte appeared in April 2021. They covered the participation of its founder, Zakhar Prilepin — in conferences on the so-called "Eurasianism". 

The project’s manifesto emphasizes the role of Eurasia as “the main bridge of our Planet” and the need to “build cultural bridges” “from Beijing to Paris, from Korea to Karelia, from Tsargrad to Stalingrad, from Belgrade to Ashgabat, from the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea, from the Red Sea to the White Sea, from Algeria to Kunashir.” The project page mostly publishes pseudo-analytical articles that justify the benefits of Eurasianism for the peoples of the former USSR, their historical "belonging" to Russian civilization, etc.

In July 2022, the organization, together with the headquarters of Zakhar Prilepin, the party "Fair Russia — For the Truth," and the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, launched the Eurasian cultural integration program “MOST” [lit. – BRIDGE]. According to Prilepin, the project was inspired by the "broken geographical, cultural, and other ties" between the countries of Eurasia due to "painful Eurocentrism." The mission of the MOST program is "to promote Russian culture and the integration of cultures in Greater Eurasia," "to free Russian culture from pro-Western liberal censorship." For "liberation from Eurocentrism," the program aims to create a network of agents abroad and its own "recognition institutions." They included a literary workshop by Zakhar Prilepin and the Eurasian Media Forum "MOST."

Literary Workshop is a creative competition for authors of texts of various genres aged 18 to 45. The winners will be able to take a course of literary skills and intercultural communications for free. Both citizens of the Russian Federation and "residents of the near and far abroad" can take part in the competition. The main criterion for participation is an "article in the Russian-language on a pertinent socio-political topic." The course has a mixed format, its on-site part takes place at the recreation center "Russian Forest and Farm of Zakhar Prilepin" in the Moscow region. The training is supervised by Russian cultural figures: Zakhar Prilepin, Aleksandr Pelevin, Andrey Rubanov, and others. The participants from outside the Russian Federation are writers and journalists from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and the so-called "LPR." During the "workshop," participants consider the literature that somehow promotes or justifies the so-called "special military operation" of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. For example, during one of the sessions, the poet Ihor Karaulov presented the collection "Poems of the SMO Era." The poetess from the "LPR" Yelena Zaslavskaya spoke about "an operation that Luhansk had been waiting for 8 years."

The Eurasian Media Forum MOST was held with the support of Rosgossotrudnichestvo and the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. At this event, journalists and public figures from Russia and "friendly countries" developed media projects "in the Eurasian space of Russian culture." The condition for participation is to send the creative work in Russian. Winners can join the forum in Moscow at the expense of the organizers. In addition to figures from the Russian Federation and neighboring countries, participants from the occupied territories of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, "Transnistria," the so-called "L/DPR" and the Kherson region joined the event. The first day of the forum was devoted to the problems of "interaction and cooperation in the Eurasian space," and the next day, the participants developed cultural projects. The best projects received support for further implementation, in particular financing and lobbying among the Russian elites. Such initiatives include the Eurasian Literary Agency, the Eurasian Media Hub, and the Art and Philosophy Forum dedicated to the memory of Daria Dugina in the LPR.

After the forum, "MOST" announced the call for applications for the "Eurasian MOST Award" for journalists, writers, and bloggers. The award ceremony took place on December 15, 2022. The conditions for participation were the same — to submit a creative work. However, within in this "award," "special attention" was paid to improvements related to the topic of "special military operation". 

At the time of writing (December 2023), the project had not organized any new events, and the last posts on its website were published in April 2023.

3. Key Actors in Imposing Russian Culture in TOTs

However sad it might sound, but Russia is investing into the imposition of their cultural policy in the occupied territories, and assimilate local population as soon as possible. In order to integrate the so-called “republics” into the Russian world, Russian and occupation authorities operate in their territories, as well as various funds, NGOs, and political parties. 

3.1. Russian Ministries and Other Public Authorities

Some of the most influential actors in the occupied territories are the RF Ministries. In their stories about events in TOTs, propaganda media often mention that certain project is implemented by certain ministries of the aggressor state or due to their support.

In particular, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation develops policies and provisions in the field of culture and art, takes care of specialized institutions and organizations, cultural and historical monuments, and implements projects for the integration of TOTs into the cultural space of the Russian Federation.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is an active participant in cultural and educational events related to military-patriotic education. Due to the general militarization of education and culture, its role in this area is increasing every year.

The Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation is associated with all major sports events in TOTs (competitions, arrivals of athletes or coaches from the Russian Federation), and involves the local population to participate. 

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation implements a policy in the field of higher education and science development, impacts the areas of education, curriculum, student exchanges, work and development of scientific and educational institutions in the occupied regions. 

The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has operated since 2018 and implemented a policy in the field of general and vocational education, training, additional (extracurricular) education of children and adults, social support, and protection of students. In fact, it has built a system of ideological (re)education of children in Russia and in TOTs. 

These ministries, together with other state or local bodies, create their own large-scale projects, adjust legislation to accelerate the integration of Ukrainian territories into the cultural space of the Russian Federation, include narratives beneficial to the curriculum, set up "cooperation" of institutions in the occupied territories with their counterparts in the Russian Federation, and support various "grassroots" projects that come from the "leaders" of the occupied regions. They actively cooperate with the "ministries" of the so-called "republics."

Moreover, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs of the Russian Federation (Rosmolodezh) should be highlighted. They are in charge of "well-known" projects as the Youth Army and the Movement of the First. It awards grants for the implementation of cultural and historical projects in TOTs (in 2023, they issued 54 grants for participants from the occupied regions). The agency also opens youth centers in TOTs: so far, only one is operating in Luhansk but the state agency says that by the end of 2024 it should build 10 more such centers in TOTs. 

3.2. So-Called “Ministries” In the Temporarily Occupied Territories

Each occupied region has its own system of ministries, which contributes to the implementation of the expansionist cultural policy of the Russian Federation. Due to the so-called "accession" of Ukrainian territories to the Russian Federation, the functions of "ministries" operating in the TOTs have been unified in compliance with Russian legislation. 

All "ministries" in TOTs are created by the resolution of the so-called "administration" in the occupied regions (quasi-analogue of the regular parliament), and their powers are stipulated in a special provision attached to the resolution. Each ministry has its own minister and his deputies. They are divided into separate departments, each of which is responsible for certain areas assigned to the ministry's competence. 

Below is a list of ministries implementing cultural policy (or related to it) in each of the occupied regions.

3.2.1. So-Called “Ministries of Culture” 

The "Ministries of Culture" of the "DPR," "LPR," Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions perform approximately the same functions — they implement Russian policy in the field of culture, art, art education and cinema, take care of historical and cultural monuments and library holdings. Currently, the main goal of these institutions is the integration of the TOT’s cultural space with the Russian one. 

It should be emphasized that the "ministries of cultures of the LPR/DPR" (that have existed for much longer) have become "guides" for similar institutions in the newly occupied territories. In addition, the "ministries" of the quasi-republics have been operating since 2014–2015 to prove their Russianness: they organized thematic lectures and meetings, included Russian narratives in the cultural environment and cooperated with artists from Russia.

3.2.2.So-Called “Ministries of Youth Policies” 

The first ministries of youth policy appeared in the so-called "DPR" and in Zaporizhzhia in October and July 2022. In the so-called "LPR" and in the Kherson region, they were founded in the summer of 2023. 

The creation of ministries of youth policy in TOTs is an ideological decision made at the level of the Russia’s Presidential Administration. Their main goal is the development of patriotism among young people, the imposition of the values necessary for the occupation regime, and militarization. Ministries have departments of mobilization training and civic patriotism and volunteering for this purpose.

Another task is to integrate students and schoolchildren into the Russian cultural space: to encourage them to join Russian "civil society organizations", cultural, career guidance, sports projects, and to volunteer. The activities of the "ministries" are supported by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and other Russian "grantors".

"Ministries" mostly contact young people through schools and universities but the most keen and ardent "activists" joins public movements. On the territory of the occupied regions, there are branches of Russian youth organizations ("Movement of the First" or "Young Guard") or local regional organizations that young people and involved politicians are trying to develop. They are the “YugMolodoy” [lit. – "Young South") in Zaporizhzhia, "Young Republic" and "People's Unit" in the so-called "DPR." However, local youth organizations in TOTs eventually begin to cooperate with Russian NGOs and movements, de facto obeying them. 

3.2.3.So-Called “Ministries of Education” 

The "Ministry of Education and Science" of the so-called "L/DPR," Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are in charge of the regulation, politicization, and militarization of the school curriculum, development and staffing of educational and scientific institutions. 

With the assistance of the Ministry of Education, they hold holidays in schools and universities, organize pupils and student communities, set up cooperation between schools and universities, introduce Russian competitions and contests, modify school curricula (students are taught to love "great" Russian literature and despise Ukrainian literature), conduct extracurricular and additional education. These institutions are also responsible for planting Russian culture in TOTs in the educational process. 

3.3. Parliamentary Party "United Russia" And Its "By-Products"

“United Russia” is the most popular party in Russia. It literally captured the information space in the TOTs during the illegitimate election campaign in October 2023 and "won" the so-called "elections." Its main task in the occupied territories is to gain the support of residents. To do this, United Russia has integrated into TOTs its own network of projects and organizations working in the field of culture: they involve children and young people in the military-patriotic organization "Young Guard of United Russia," promote family values, have their own women's movement and humanitarian mission, reform schools, organize actions, meetings and other events. 

The above-mentioned "Young Guard" was created in 2005 from the "United Russia" youth wing. It operates in all regions of the Russian Federation and in TOTs: in the first week of May 2022, the organization opened its representative offices in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions; on October 12, 2022 — in Zaporizhzhia region. 

Earlier, in the territory of the so-called "LPR," there was an organization "Young Guard", which in May 2022 signed a cooperation agreement with the "YGUR" and became a regional representative office of the latter. However, even before that, the Luhansk organization looked like a branch of YGUR, although its leaders called the organization with the same name. Before the full-scale invasion, representatives of the Luhansk branch went to events organized by YGUR in the annexed Crimea and Russia. In the so-called "DPR," a similar agreement with the "YGUR" was signed by the "Young Republic." 

Young Republic has been operating since July 25, 2015, under the sponsorship of Denis Pushilin, as part of the youth wing of another organization — The Donetsk Republic. However, from the very beginning of its existence, it looked like a branch of YGUR and ran campaigns with the support of United Russia. On its page "Vkontakte," "Young Republic" calls itself the most massive youth organization in the so-called "DPR" because it has 46 headquarters and 9,500 participants aged 14 years and older. The scope of work includes the development of patriotism (political rallies and campaigns), volunteering, events for the "cultural and spiritual development" of young people, and promotion of a healthy lifestyle. The organization cooperates with the authorities of the so-called "DPR." 

The most significant projects of the Young Republic: 

• festival of students’ creativity "Student Spring of Donbass." It is an analogue of the "Russian Student Spring" where participants from Donetsk also attend to speak. 
• "DPR Youth Parliament" — an advisory body on youth policy in the so-called "DPR;” it was planned as a reserve of future civil servants in TOTs.
• Donbas Youth Forum "Sea — Forest" — "United Russia" was one of the partners.

The organization's website outlines the main vectors of its activities. All of them, except for "For Healthy Living" and "Young Heroes," are related to the military theme. 

 

The vector for the Love of Motherland provides for the restoration of World War II monuments, assistance to veterans, and documentation of their memories. The latter generated another project, "Veteran's Diary." It consisted in recording memories to be systematized into books. 

By far the major focus in the TOTs is made on the area of "Time of Z Heroes." Russian soldiers and volunteers who agreed to participate in the primaries are trained to be party deputies, "acquainted" with the legislation and election procedure. The "Generation Z Voter" line is no less popular — it is similar to the previous one but the election process is explained to young people from the occupied territories. Finally, YGUR helped organize the pseudo-referendum and pseudo-elections in the TOTs. They support the Russian army, recruit Ukrainian prisoners of war, and promote forced Russification and passportization. 

The Women's Movement of United Russia is a party project that covers all TOTs. On paper, it works to support women's rights and assist in their professional and creative self-fulfillment, but in reality, it spreads pro-Russian party propaganda. The project coordinators value women as guardians of the family hearth and the basis of traditional values. The organization conducts trainings and seminars for women from the occupied territories, contributing to their assimilation into Russian culture. The website of the so-called "DPR" states that the activities of the women's movement "contribute to the creation of a strong rear for our defenders at the front." 

3.4. Russian Organizations, Centers, and Funds

3.4.1. “#WEARETOGETHER” 

An all-Russian organization specializing in assistance to Russian mobilized citizens and their families, and humanitarian assistance to residents of TOTs. Its headquarters are located in all the occupied regions. The movement organizes the so-called "humanitarian missions" of Russian volunteers "to Donbas." As of July 2023, according to the project representatives, there were about 250 such volunteers in the pseudo-republics. Also, the press service of the movement said that "the Synodal Department for Charity of the Russian Orthodox Church also helps indifferent people to reach to Donbas." 

The project is supported by United Russia, YGUR, Dobro.Ru website, and the All-Russian Association for Local Self-Government Development. It was created under the decree of the President of Russia on volunteer support for the so-called “LPR/DPR,” and in cooperation with organizations associated with the leaders of the Russian Federation: 

1. state agency for youth affairs "Rosmolodezh", 
2. the socio-political movement "All-Russian People's Front" (Rus. — Общероссийский народный фронт (ОНФ)). Find the description below. 
3. Association of Volunteer Centers — established in 2014 with the support of Vladimir Putin, unites 169 volunteer organizations,
4. "Medical Volunteers" NGO (Rus — "Волонтеры-медики") is an all-Russian volunteer organization in the field of health care; it has branches in all occupied regions, helps in hospitals, and works with local ones.
5. "All-Russian Student Corps of Rescuers" (RSCR) (Rus. — Всероссийский студенческий корпус спасателей) is an organization founded by the initiative of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Shoigu, aimed at teaching children and young people the basics of rescue and life safety. According to the website of the corps, since February 19, 2022, the RSCR volunteers have been providing assistance to residents of the so-called "LPR/DPR", Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Since the beginning of March 2022, RSCR volunteers have been traveling to the occupied territories: escorting humanitarian convoys, delivering humanitarian aid, carrying out emergency and recovery work, and providing targeted assistance.

3.4.2. “All-Russian People’s Front” 

The movement was created as suggested by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in 2011. All his social networks say that Putin is the leader of the Front. The organization is under sanctions in many countries because of its support for the war.

The movement has the rights to the trademark of the "Z" symbol, cooperates with NGOs in the temporarily occupied territories, and organized a social campaign "Everything for Victory!" It helped collect material and financial donations to support military units of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR." As of November 2023, according to the organization’s report, the Front had collected more than 10 billion rubles (approximately 113 million US dollars) for the Russian army. 

In the so-called "LPR" and " DPR", Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the "front" organizes a contest "Leaders of the Renaissance" to find future managers for these territories. 

3.4.3. The :Knowledge” All-Russia Society 

The Knowledge Society has existed since the 1940s. At that time, it was an educational and propaganda organization promoting popular science literature and anti-religious propaganda. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the society collapsed: in 2016, it launched the process of self-destruction and gradually ceased to exist. 

In 2015, Putin issued a decree to create an organization with the same name. In ideological terms, it became the successor to the Soviet "Knowledge." Its compiler was the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, and the organization is financed from the state budget. The scope of the new "Knowledge" includes raising civic awareness, promoting a healthy lifestyle, spiritual and moral education, promotion and protection of the Russian language and literature. The purpose of the society is to become the main educational and ideologically acceptable platform in the Russian Federation. 

Until February 2022, the society had spent most of its budget on propaganda lectures on politics and history. Gradually, it "entered" the so-called "LPR/DPR." After the full-scale invasion, it officially opened its offices in the occupied regions: in June 2022 — in the so-called "LPR," in September 2022 — in the so-called "DPR," on March 17, 2023 — in Genichesk in the Kherson region, and on August 19, 2022 — in the Zaporizhzhia region.

At TOTs, the organization’s employees and volunteers are engaged in "education." It means that they work to assimilate and integrate the occupied regions into the Russian scientific and cultural discourse. They:

• conduct propaganda educational forums for teachers and civil servants of the so-called "L/DPR";
• cooperate with higher educational institutions in TOTs;
• implement the Smart Cinema project — screenings of propaganda films;
• within the framework of the "educational marathon," the leader of the so-called "DPR" delivered a forty-minute lecture on the topic "Donbass — Russia. We are together!”. 

3.4.4. “Russian World Foundation” 

The Institution of Cultural Diplomacy was established in 2007 by Putin's decree. The Fund is coordinated and financed by the authorities of the aggressor country. It has a wide network of Cabinets and Centers abroad, the largest of which are in countries of high concentration of the Russian diaspora. These branches teach interested foreigners the Russian language, culture and history. In the occupied territories, the fund uses "soft power" to Russify the population. 

As indicated on the organization's website, the fund's goal is to promote the Russian language in the world. The ideology is based on the idea of "serving Russia": "The Russian world is the world of Russia. The calling of every person is to help their homeland, to take care of their fellow beings. It is very common to hear what a country could do for people. But it is no less important to realize what each of us can do for the Homeland. From the dependency attitudes, one should turn to the idea of serving Russia.” 

In 2010, the Foundation published a collection of articles and materials from the "round tables" organized by them. The texts are full of historical inaccuracies, imperial narratives, propaganda, chauvinism, and tampering with information. One article is even authored by Patriarch Kirill. The pages of the publication often mention Ukraine, describing it as the “core of the Russian world” at the level of Russia and Belarus, and also criticize the pro-Ukrainian policy of Viktor Yushchenko: “A very serious deterioration occurred in Ukraine after Viktor Yushchenko came to power. Kiev has always been a Russian-speaking city. But while in Soviet times, there were 258 schools with Russian as a language of tuition, today there is only one. All others have been shifted into Ukrainian.” 

3.4.5. All-Russian Public Governmntal Organization “Russian Military Histroical Society” 

The Society was founded in 2012 by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation and is considered the successor of the "Imperial Russian Military Historical Society," which operated during the time of the Russian Empire. 

The organization’s founders are the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The society’s board of trustees (the body that, according to the charter, shall determine the society’s strategy, contribute to the achievement of its goal, strengthen its authority and influence in society) includes Russian politicians, persons close to Putin, businessmen, propagandists and other influential persons. All of them are on the sanctions lists. Some of them are: 

• Andrey Akimov, Chairman of the Board of Gazprombank, 
• Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the All-Russian Public Organization "Association of Lawyers of Russia" and business lawyer,
• Yevgeny Ditrikh, CEO of JSC "State Transport Leasing Company",
• Oleg Dobrodeev, propagandist and CEO of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company, 
• Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, 
• Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, 
• Dmitry Rogozin, former director of Roscosmos and propagandist, 
• Mykola Tokarev, president of Transneft Public Joint Stock Company and retired FSB Major-General, 
• Ruslan Tsalikov, first Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation,
• Sergei Chyomzov, CEO of Rostec Corporation (creates technological products for military and civilian purposes), a member of the bureau of the Supreme Council of the United Russia Party and Putin's ally,
• Konstantin Chuichenko, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation,
• David Yakobashvili, russian businessman, owner of a consulting company in the field of cultural heritage restoration.

The society's website quotes Putin: “We must do our best to make today's children and all our citizens proud of the fact that they are the successors, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the winners. They should know the heroes of their country and their family, so that everyone understands that this is part of our life.” It outlines the purpose of the organization’s activities in the TOTs, such as propaganda of Russia's military glory and the idea of selfless and desperate service to the aggressor country.

In order to achieve its goals, the society performs the following functions:

• is engaged in anti-Western propaganda and promotion of Russian military history,

• nurtures patriotism and pride for one's own country among children and young people, 
• stimulates lower-level members of society to conduct military-patriotic education, especially for people of "conscription and pre-conscription age", 
• builds a network of regional centers and establishes special centers of military-historical culture,
• organizes military-historical camps for children. 

On February 25, 2022, the company issued a statement "on the situation in Ukraine", where it voiced its commitment to the so-called "SMO," in particular, they expressed the hope for the rapid expulsion of NATO from Ukraine, and supporters of Bandera and Shukhevych. During the full-scale invasion, the organization’s members raise money to help the Russian army. In the temporarily occupied regions, representative offices of the society are opened. They help to erect monuments in TOTs to the so-called "heroes of Russia," and the memorial complex on the Savur-Mohyla mound is being restored . In addition to local events, the annexed Ukrainian territories are covered by the All-Russian projects of the Society, for example, the literary contest "Heroes of the Great Victory — 2023". 

3.4.6. "All-Russian Public Movement «Father sof Russia» 

The organization was founded in 2021, and advocates for the preservation of traditional family values, honors the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, specializes in raising children and promoting the features inherent in the "real Russian husband and father." 

In 2022, the Fathers of Russia signed a cooperation agreement with the pro-Putin United Russia party. Organizations plan to develop their cooperation in the following areas: 

• development and promotion of mentoring practices for children and young people,
• sports and a healthy lifestyle, 
• ensuring the preservation of cultural heritage and historical memory,
• military-patriotic education, 
• ensuring security, providing targeted assistance to families with children in difficult life situations, 
• orientation towards family values in the Russian Federation, 
• affirmation of the authority of the traditional family.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the organization has been transferring humanitarian aid to the military and civilians in the occupied territories. 

In 2023, the movement launched the "Father of the Soldier" project, the quintessence of which was the awarding of parents of soldiers fighting in the so-called "SMO," as well as parents fighting with their sons. The Fathers themselves tell: “We met with the warriors to support their combat morale, we talked with the local population about traditions, raising children and civic responsibility for the future of the country, arranged film screenings of patriotic films, handed over to young people the ‘Husband and Father Code’ developed by our movement, and, of course, ​​continued to provide humanitarian assistance: handed over equipment at the request of fighters, brought basic necessities to children's institutions and delivered hygiene kits for large families and families with disabled children.”

3.4.7. Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives

Founded in 2021 by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Foundation provides grant support to projects in the fields of culture, art, and other creative industries. For the most part, it finances “patriotic” projects beneficial to the regime, many of which are aimed at the militarization of the cultural space of the Russian Federation and the occupied territories, their Russification, and de-Ukrainization. 

On its website, the fund summarized the areas for which it allocates funds. Projects targeting the occupied territories are held under the title “We are together” and cover the following topics: 

• projects aimed at integrating TOTs into a single cultural, educational, and civilizational space;
• initiatives promoting the development of intercultural ties, strengthening the sense of community and unity;
• projects about feat and heroism, self-sacrifice, and courage.

In the autumn of 2023, the institution announced the winners of a special competition in the field of culture and art. They include propaganda projects about the war, in particular, the series "Peaceful Atom" about the physicist who is going to restore the ZNPP. According to the authors, the series aims to " restore the cultural and information space of Russia and the liberated territories," and they plan to show it in schools. In 2023, the fund financed about 100 projects aimed at the occupied territories, totaling more than 819 million rubles (almost $9 million). 

3.4.8. Autonomous Non-Profit Organization "Russia Is The Land of Opportunities" 

The organization was founded in 2018 by the President of the Russian Federation. Its members hold competitions, Olympiads, and propaganda youth forums, such as "Taurida" in the occupied Crimea. The most popular project of the organization is the "Leaders of Russia." It serves as a "social elevator," since its winners get a chance to work in Russian government agencies or large companies.

On January 8, 2023, the organization opened an office in Luhansk, on November 3, 2023 — in Donetsk, and is still on the planning stage with opening representative offices in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. 

The organization launches patriotic contests and programs for children and young people from the occupied territories to facilitate their assimilation into the Russian space. For example, the winners of the essay contest "Write the Future" get the opportunity to travel around Russia through another project — "More Than a Trip". At the same time, there is a social project for demobilized students from the so-called "L/DPR" — "Thank You, Brothers". Its participants undergo internships in Russian companies, study, and speak at youth forums. 

A separate platform of the organization is the "Territory of New Opportunities." It was created for the residents of TOTs. Previously, its VKontakte page was an account of the “Write the Future” contest but in March 2023, it changed the name and began writing about other projects of the organization where young people from the occupied territories took part or may join. 

3.4.9. The "Co-Working" Fund

The Foundation for Support of Educational and Humanitarian Initiatives "Co-working" works with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill. In 2023, the foundation signed cooperation agreements with the "authorities" of the occupied territories: June 2 — in Donetsk, March 30 — in Luhansk. 

With the assistance of the Presidential Grants Fund, the organization offers a grant call "Together we are strong" in the occupied territories. Its goal is to strengthen the civil society in the occupied territories by implementing joint initiatives to promote traditional spiritual and moral values. Within the program, study modules, internships in Russian non-profit organizations, cycles of master classes, trainings, seminars were planned. The competition’s final event was the three-day "Forum of the Active Community of Donbass" in Rostov-on-Don, where Patriarch Kirill spoke. 

3.4.10. Zakhar Prilepin Foundation

Zakhar Prilepin (real name — Yevgeny) is a former deputy of the Russian State Duma, the leader of the political party "Fair Russia — Patriots — For Truth," a writer and propagandist. He was an adviser to the leader of the so-called "DPR" in 2015, and a few years later, he became the deputy commander of the battalion of the special unit of the so-called "DPR" in charge of personnel management. He was also a major in the so-called "DPR army." His party has an imperial goal and builds its activities on the statement that "Russia is an Empire, it has always been, is and will be one," and "Donbas should return to Russia because it paid the highest price for it."

Since 2014, it has been collecting and delivering humanitarian aid to Donbas. In 2017, Zakhar Prilepin, together with friends Dmitry Kuznetsov and Sergey Yershov, registered the Zakhar Prilepin Charitable Foundation to "help the population of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia." The Foundation raises funds for equipment and other assistance to the Russian military and conducts cultural events to attract and consolidate society in support of the so-called "SMO."

In the cities of TOTs, Zakhar Prilepin's offices are being opened. In addition to humanitarian aid, they are also implementing the Eurasian cultural integration program "MOST". 

3.5. Russian Children’s and Youth Organizations

From Russia, youth organizations have spread to the occupied territories, promoting patriotism, imposing Russian cultural values and ideals on children and young people, trying to incorporate them into Russian society as soon as possible. 

3.5.1. “Movement of the First” 

"Movement of the First" is a children's and youth organization created at the end of 2022, which Vladimir Putin initially proposed to call the "pioneers". It has central government support and funding. It is controlled personally by the President of the Russian Federation. It united the "Youth Army" and other Russian school organizations. 

The cells of the movement are created in each school, thus, it covers a lot of students: in the TOTs, in November 2023, more than a thousand representative offices were opened. Its participants can be students from 6 years old and be members until graduation from a secondary school or VET school. The purpose of the movement in the Ukrainian territories is to instill in children love and a sense of "attachment" to Russia. 

3.5.2. “Youth Army” (“YunArmy”)

It was established in 2016 with the support from the RF Minister of Defense, Shoigu. With the “Movement of the First,” the “YuArmy” became its part. You can become the “YunArmy” from the age of 8.

The movement was created for militarization, mobilization, and military training of young people, "education of the citizen and patriot." "YunArmy" members are encouraged to admire the history and greatness of Russia, to be ready to sacrifice their lives for it, to follow an example from World War II veterans and heroes of the so-called "SMO," to learn to use weapons, to drill in tactical and marching. 

Branches of the “YunArmy” were created in all occupied regions, and in the so-called “L/DPR” they have de facto existed since 2019. there were their own groups "Young Guard — Youth Army", which conceptually were a copy of the all-Russian movement, as noted by the propaganda media. However, the creators of the Donetsk movement emphasized their differences: their presentation includes slides talking about the difference between emblems, form, and anthem (although the fact is that everything, except the anthem, is quite similar). There is no such information about the Luhansk organization, although in photos on social networks, their patches are similar to those adopted in the "DPR".

In the spring of 2022, the Donetsk and Luhansk "Youth Armies" merged with the All-Russian movement and transferred their entire material and technical base to the latter. In November 2023, the first branches appeared in Genichesk and Melitopol. 

3.5.3. “Volunteers of Victory” 

All-Russian volunteer movement, founded on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Its head is Olga Zanko, a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from United Russia. The movement is financed from the Russian central budget. 

As indicated on the website of the “Volunteers of Victory,” they organize "victory parades," take care of veterans and restore "memorial sites" preventing the world from forgetting the "true history." According to its executive director, at TOTs, the movement mostly works to preserve the memory of the events of the Second World War and the contemporary Russian-Ukrainian war (the project "The Word of the Winner. Donbas" where participants record the stories from World War II veterans living in the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, separatists, and Russian soldiers). 

The organization has been working in TOTs since 2019. According to the head of the Donetsk department of the movement, they were the first of the Russian youth organizations who "entered" the so-called "L/DPR." Since then, they have been engaging young people from Donetsk and Luhansk (as international representatives until 2022) into their projects to promote Russian history and military glory. 

In 2022, the movement won a grant of 9.2 million rubles for the development of its own activities in TOTs from the Presidential Grants Fund. Later that year, they received almost 3 million more from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives to produce a booklet and exhibition with veterans' memories of the Second World War. Since then, the Victory Volunteers have been helping the Russian army, promoting Russian culture and values among the locals (holding lectures for students and schoolchildren about the "great Russian victory," talking about the alleged belonging of the occupied territories to Russia) and helping to organize holidays and events related to "May 9".

3.5.4. Russian Union of Youth (RUY)

It is yet another organization is trying to drag Ukrainian youth into the Russian world because of youth policy. 

The organization's goal is described on its website and declares the intention to develop, unite and include young people in the field of youth policy. RUY implements programs and projects related to youth policy, and participates in the preparation of thematic draft laws. 

3.5.5. “Volunteer Squad”

The Volunteer Guard appeared in Russia in 2018 as part of the youth wing of the Combat Brotherhood (an organization that unites RF veterans of various wars). Before the full-scale invasion, its participants recorded patriotic videos about World War II, helped veterans, and participated in pro-government rallies. Over time, the Volunteer Company synchronized its activities with the Young Guard of United Russia and joined the YGUR rapid response group, which perform "unofficial tasks," such as spying on the opposition, attacking journalists, and staging provocations. 

Also, the Volunteer Squad, together with the YGUR, organize rallies in different cities in Russia. On February 23, 2022, the Squad held a rally in St. Petersburg in support of the annexation of the occupied regions with the banal name "We do not abandon our own" (Rus. — “Своих не бросаем”), which was attended by about 1,500 people (mostly students). According to the participant and part-time journalist of one of the opposition media who attended the "undercover" event, most of the "activists" did not know the purpose of the rally or were "paid" with money or food. 

Members of the organization help the families of the mobilized soldiers and travel to TOTs regularly to volunteer, for which the Volunteer Squad receives multi-million grants from the President of the Russian Federation. Volunteers put up tents for heating, help dismantle the rubble, and distribute food. Some members of the Squad are going to fight for Russia.

3.5.6. All-Russian public youth patriotic organization of the Russian Union of Afghan Veterans “Legacy”

The organization has operated since 2015. It is engaged in military-patriotic, moral and spiritual, sports, cultural, and historical education of children and young people. It has regional branches in the so-called "DPR" and "LPR". 

"Legacy" raises money to support the Russian army, interacts with IDPs and deported Ukrainians in the Russian Federation, and carries around Russia an exhibition of photographs taken by volunteers of the organization during "humanitarian missions to the Donbas." Before the start of such missions, participants undergo training in Rostov-on-Don, and humanitarian aid is transported to TOTs, World War II monuments are restored, and sports events for children are held. 

3.6. Donetsk Oblast

3.6.1. Russian Center 

“Russian Center” in Donetsk was established in 2017 and headed by the so-called “DPR” leader, Denis Pushilin. According to Ukrainian intelligence data, the center was founded by the “Russian World” foundation (Rus. – “Русский мир”). Since the time of the annexation, the center is supported by the “Presidential Fund of Cultural Initiatives.”

The organization was created to "strengthen the processes of integration of Donbas with the Russian Federation in humanitarian, social and cultural aspects, the creation of strong and sustainable relations between public organizations of the Donetsk People's Republic and the subjects of the Russian Federation." In addition, the Center issued an anti-Ukrainian pseudo-historical "doctrine" under the eloquent name "Russian Donbas" which refers to the inextricable link between the "people of Donbas" and the so-called "Novorossia" with the Great Russian Federation. 

The organization has drawn up its "Integration Program" aimed at the development of sports, education, health care, and patriotic education, preparing the ground for the annexation of Ukrainian territories. At a meeting with journalists, the representative of the "Center" stressed that his "overtask" is the reunification of Donbas with the Russian Federation."

Over the years of its activity, the Center has held many pro-Russian events: 

• brought Russian pop stars to the so-called "DPR", 
• organized the festival "Days of Russia in Donbas", 
• organized forums where famous Russian propagandists, such as Margarita Simonyan, spoke. In 2021, with the support of United Russia, the Center held the forum "Russian Word in the Modern World". 
• invited Russian professors to give lectures on political topics. 

3.6.2. Civic Movement “Donetsk Republic 

It is the largest political and non-governmental organization in the so-called "DPR" that used to be the most popular political party in the occupied Donetsk region and had the largest faction in the so-called "People's Council of the DPR" (quasi-legislative body). The Republic consists of 49 local branches and unites about 250,000 participants (most of them are its members only formally). It includes all ministers and the majority of deputies of the quasi-parliament of the so-called "DPR," all heads of city and district administrations, and members of trade unions. As indicated on the website, the organization "implements 21 large-scale projects covering all segments of society." 

The movement has existed in the Donetsk region since 2005 with the assistance of the Party of Regions. In 2007 it was banned by a court decision for encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine (its participants collected signatures for a referendum on the "independence of Donbas" and the creation of the "Donetsk Federal Republic"). After 2014, when Ukraine lost control over part of the region, the "Donetsk Republic" resumed its political activities, and its participants were among those who proclaimed the independence of the so-called "DPR." After 2022, the "republic" merged with the pro-Putin "United Russia," and members of the movement began to actively join the party. 

Since 2014, the Donetsk Republic has been russifying and militarizing the cultural, educational, and information areas of life of Ukrainians in the occupied territories. Members of the organization organize artistic events that encourage "citizens to serve the Motherland and be heroes" and organize competitions and projects on patriotic themes. 

Work with young people is carried out by the youth cell of the Young Republic movement, which in 2022 became part of the Young Guard of United Russia.

The militarized formation "People's Squad" is a part of the "Donetsk Republic".

3.6.3. “People’s Squad” 

The "People's Squad" has been operating only on the so-called "DPR" territory since its foundation. On April 5, 2022, the organization's headquarters opened in the occupied Mariupol.

The Squad’s main tasks are patriotic education of young people and patrolling the streets. "Squad members" are potential law enforcement officers of the so-called "DPR" and future soldiers of the occupation armed formations. 

The organization also conducts sports events and training. Activists have created a project for the development of computer sports "CyberDonbas." They organize patriotic events, distribute "humanitarian aid," and help to dismantle the debris, which they report on their page in "Vkontakte". 

3.6.4. Republican House of Folk Art and Cinema

The State Budgetary Institution of the Donetsk People's Republic "Republican House of Folk Art and Cinema" (former Donetsk Republican Educational and Methodological Center of Culture and Arts) identified the following areas of work in its work plan for 2023: 

• support and development of types of amateur folk art;
• preservation and development of traditional folk culture, intangible ethno-cultural heritage;
• organizational and methodological support of the activities of club institutions;
• technical and organizational support of events;
• enhanced interaction with the regions of the Russian Federation.

The "House" takes care of the content of the online portal "Culture of Donbass" (where cultural announcements and news of the occupied region are published). It is responsible for children's groups and clubs in the so-called "republic" and their artistic work. The institution promotes Russian folklore in the Donetsk region, which is presented to participants and viewers as native to this territory. For 2023, the "House" planned cultural and social programs and projects for the "Great Victory Day," "9th anniversary of the Donetsk People's Republic," "Day of Russia," and the "80th anniversary of the liberation of Donbas."

One of House’s projects is the Center for Slavic Culture, which unites 15 creative teams from different areas (from dance to photography) and has its own library. Pupils of the center study the culture and creative heritage of the Russian Federation and travel with performances to Russia. 

3.6. Luhansk Oblast

3.6.1. Union of Women of Donbas 

This is a women's association that has existed in the so-called "LPR" since April 2021. Its leader is a collaborator from Luhansk Natalia Priymak. 

The organization stands up for "traditional family values," protects women's rights, and promotes the "right" image of a woman. “We are for a strong family, a happy childhood, traditions, and spiritual values,” the union tells about itself in advertising. 

The Union helps the Russian military and their families, transfers humanitarian aid to the frontline villages, teaches pensioners "digital literacy" (integrating them into the Russian information space), organizes business events for women, and takes care of the health of women and children.

In September 2023, the Union of Women of Donbass became part of the All-Russian Union of Women of Russia (UWR). The cooperation of the organizations began in 2021, when Natalia Priymak, a member of UWR, participated in a forum in Omsk, Russia. 

3.6.2. Civic Movement “Peace For Luhansk Region” 

The largest organization that has existed in the so-called "LPR" since 2014 has about 110,000 members (most of whom are formally its members). Before the Russian annexation, it was a de facto political party, and its members had the most seats in the self-proclaimed parliament of the "republic." The movement’s head is Leonid Pasechnik, concurrently the leader of the so-called "LPR." On September 24, 2022, the United Russia party and the “Peace for Luhansk Region” signed a cooperation agreement, followed by merging the movement's activities with the party. 

At the time of writing the report (December 2023), the organization’s page in the VKontakte was updated only for the time of the so-called "local elections" illegally held by Russia in TOTs. After the beginning of cooperation with the “Peace For Luhansk Region” party, they have mostly organized commemorative events related to the Second World War and the Russian-Ukrainian wars. In addition, they took care of veterans, orphans, and pensioners. Despite being inactive, with its members mainly working for the “United Russia,” certain projects of the organization operate with the party’s assistance. 

In particular, the "LPR Youth Parliament" is responsible for youth policy and is represented in the "LPR People's Council." Its "deputies" meet with Russian politicians to learn from the experience. On its VKontakte page, the organization mostly reposts the posts of the Luhansk wing of United Russia. 

The project "We Remember," launched by the movement "Peace For Luhansk Region," is designed to glorify the victory of the Soviet Union in the Second World War and the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war already distorted by propaganda. 

3.6.3. Scientific and Educational Center For the Study of Russian Culture of Donbas 

The Center was founded in 2020 and is a structural unit of the Luhansk Matusovsky State Academy of Culture and Arts. The Center’s activity is to organize conferences, creative competitions, exhibitions and contests to explore Russian culture, study the pseudo-theory of belonging of the "people of Donbass" to Russia, search for "Russian identity" and "scientific" justification of other narratives of Russian propaganda. 

Key declared tasks of the Center: 

• development and support of educational, scientific, social and cultural ties with Russia;
• study of Russian culture and art;
• studying and asserting the archetypal belonging of the people of Donbass to the Russian world and countering the propaganda alien for the so-called "Luhansk People's Republic";
• creation of an educational platform for the development and implementation of programs for the study of Russian culture;
• study of the socio-cultural space of the Luhansk region in the context of the "people of Donbas" belonging to the Russian world.

3.6.4. Center For the Development of Children and Youth Movement

The center is designed to follow the objective of "comprehensive development and upbringing of children and youth". It was registered in 2015. 

The main declared tasks of the Center are: 

• education of patriots, makers of a new type of society aimed at developing the future of the so-called "LPR";
• educating the younger generation in the spirit of respect for the elders, caring for the younger ones, their relatives, friends and family;
• arranging conditions for self-expression of individuals, preparation of children for independent life;
• education of initiative, creativity, organizational skills in the future "intellectual and political elite of the Luhansk region";
• instilling love for work.

The center also implements a Russian Federal project “Navigator of Childhood,” designed to “provide patriotic education for citizens of the Russian Federation.” Within the project, children are encouraged to join Russian volunteer organizations, enrolled into the children’s patriotic movement of the “Eaglets of Russia,” and imposed the love for Russia and its “heroes”. 

3.7. Zaporizhzhia Oblast

3.7.1 “YugMolodoy” 

The "Ministry of Youth Policy of Zaporizhzhia Region" has its own puppet organization "Young South," which has branches in the Kherson region. As of August 2023, the organization had 17 branches in the Zaporizhzhia region: in Melitopol, Akimovka, Pryazovskyi, Vasylivka, Chernihivtsi, Energodar, Dniprorudnyi, Velyka Bilozirka, Primorsk, Tokmak, Kamianets-Dniester, Berdyansk, Kyrylivka, Kuibyshiv, Mykhailivka, Molochansk, Polohy, and Vesele, and several more in the cities of Kherson region. 

The pseudo-publican youth leisure movement was established on July 25, 2022. In fact, it is a center of recruitment and propaganda, where young people are encouraged to work for the benefit of the regime. The movement’s core is made up of United Russia volunteers from the Russian Federation and local collaborators. 

The main activities of the organization:"Young South":

• cooperation with Russian organizations, participation in their events and projects, 
• preserving the memory of the exploits of ancestors and visiting memorable places, 
• humanitarian missions.

Besides, the movement members destroy Ukrainian symbols; they were involved in the deportation of children and adult civilians from the Kherson region, stretch 15-meter St. George ribbons in support of the SMO, help the Russian army, and promote Russian imperial and anti-Ukrainian values among local youth. One of the organization’s main events is, unfortunately, a biannual forum with the same name for young people from all the occupied territories. In the autumn of 2022, Vladlen Tatarsky, a deceased propagandist, conducted a master class for the participants of the event.

3.7.2. “Yug. Sports”

Initially, it was a sports project implemented by the "Young South." However, in August 2023, a separate organization with the same name was created based on the project. Its head was Denys Holub, who appears on the Myrotvorets website, a native of the village of Mykhailivka, Zaporizhzhia region, a student of Melitopol University and a candidate for the United Russia party. 

The movement is designed to develop interest in sports, promote a healthy lifestyle and patriotism. It actively cooperates with the United Russia party and its youth wing. Members of the organization participate in pro-Russian campaigns of the latter: on August 22, a bike ride was held to the day of Russia, where the participants of the "Yug.Sports" distributed tricolors to the audience. 

3.7.3. Public Movement "We Are With Russia"

This collaborationist organization appeared in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region to promote a pseudo-referendum on "joining" the Russian Federation among the local population. The organization's activities are supported by the United Russia Party, the All-Russian People's Front, and the Russian authorities. Vladimir Rogov, a collaborator and co-founder of "We Are Together With Russia," said that "the organization will unite volunteers and specialists from the Zaporizhzhia region and Russia" and “will turn into an effective platform that will accelerate the process of the region's accession to Russia." 

The volunteer headquarters of the organization have been functioning in the region since August 2022. They "communicate" with the local population and collect and distribute humanitarian aid. Before the presidential elections in Russia, the organization's Telegram channel changed its name to "We Are With the President" and actively campaigned to vote for Vladimir Putin. 

3.8. Kherson Oblast

During the occupation of the Kherson region, there were no "own" pro-Russian youth movements and organizations on its territory. Now, there are branches and cells of Russian youth organizations such as the Young Guard of United Russia and YugMoloda from Zaporizhzhia Oblast. 

4. “Great Russian Culture” in the Occupation Telegram Channels

Back in May 2023, OPORA compiled a sample of 640 Telegram channels created to provide information services to serve the needs of the occupation in Ukrainian territories. They include channels of pro-Russian media from the occupied cities and villages, administrative channels of the occupation authorities, local political, charitable, and non-governmental organizations, channels of public figures, channels for the exchange/sale of goods and services, or job search. Our analysis showed that those Telegram channels operate to “import replacement” of Ukrainian and international information resources blocked in TOTs.

To understand how Russian culture is being planted in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, OPORA studied the content of those Telegram channels. We compiled a list of keywords related to cultural spheres in different cases. Thus, we uploaded 817,124 posts with mentions of keywords. Among them, we formed a randomized sample of 2,000 publications for the period from February 24, 2022 to October 15, 2023 for further content analysis. We encoded the selected posts into the following categories: "reports on offline events," "history," "involvement of children," "values and traditions," "sports," "music," "cultural policy," "modern Russian war in Ukraine," "education," "literature," "visual arts," "mentions of personalities," "cinema," "nostalgic content," "theater," "architecture and landscaping," "religion," "Russian language," "other."

4.1. Offline Events

The most frequent announcements we encountered in our sample were notifications of future events or stories about past offline events. In total, the sample contains 863 posts with such mentions. Most often, occupiers cover offline events organized for children or engaging children. They were mentioned in more than a third of posts in this category. 

4.1.1. Involvement of Children

Activities involving children of all ages (from nursery to high school) account for half of all offline events recorded in the sample — 462 publications. Due to this number, a detailed description of children's events can be found in each thematic unit. 

First of all, through the education system and extracurricular life, Russians teach Ukrainian children to "love the family." The so-called "patriotic education" is introduced in regular lessons, "Talks About Important Things," class hours, school holidays, laying flowers at monuments and memorial boards, and making drawings and crafts dedicated to Soviet feats in the Second World War. The ongoing war is not overlooked, either. Children are made to thank the Russian soldiers who destroyed their hometowns and villages for their "liberation." 

The stories of children who grew up in the occupation are also shared on the Telegram. For example, some pages told about a 9-year-old Masha who was born in temporarily occupied Luhansk in 2014, and 9 years later, on Victory Day, she sang a song about "Great Homeland." Ukrainian children are also taught to respect the Russian "Defender of the Fatherland Day": for example, in Bilovodsk, children were prepared for “February 23” in advance. A series of activities were held "in order to familiarize students with the history and traditions of the holiday, to build an understanding of the role of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in ensuring the security of the state and its citizens." Then, the students organized festivals of patriotic songs, made postcards and drawings, wrote letters to the Russian invaders, and on the very day of the "holiday" they handed gifts and sweets to the "Fatherland defenders." However, they teach to love the occupiers also on other days: at the end of May 2023, activists of the "Young South" and "Movement of the First," together with children from Dniprorudne, wrote letters to the Russian military.

Moreover, children are taught "civic education." For example, in Berdyansk, students were told about the Russian constitution to "raise a generation of law-abiding children who will not only demand their rights, as it was in Ukraine, but will also know their duties." Such education is included in the curriculum of the above-mentioned "Talks About Important Things." In addition, for high school students of the village of Vesele, a quiz on knowledge of the Russian constitution was held in the local library. Besides, in the kindergarten No.49 "Riabina” (lit. – Rowan) in Melitopol, a whole "day of Russia" for preschoolers was held under the slogan "We Are Your Children, Russia!" In the morning, a gymnastics class was held under the topic "We Are Different But Not Strangers!" Then, the children watched a puppet show based on the Russian folk tale "Geese And Swans." They made collages on the theme "Day of Russia Through the Eyes of Children" and arranged a flash mob "We Are Your Children, Russia." On May 9, "Zirochka" kindergarten No.2 in Berdyansk held activities “designed to strengthen moral and patriotic feelings."

The occupiers also use provisionally neutral, ideologically untainted excuses to contact Ukrainian children. Representatives of the occupation administrations come to educational institutions for New Year’s parties, Knowledge Day, or Children's Day. They present gifts and greet children. In the temporarily occupied territories, there was a campaign "New Year’s Tree of Wishes," when representatives of the local "authorities" removed decorations from the New Year’s Tree with a wish of a child and made them true. For example, the head of the "Ministry of Transport of the Zaporizhzhia region," Yulia Hubanova, allegedly presented a laptop to a 9-year-old Nastya from the village of Velyka Znamenka, the CEO of the "LPR Post" presented a bicycle to 7-year-old Kira from Luhansk, and a member of the "Joint Chamber of the LPR," Mikhail Gladkov, handed over live New Year’s Trees to schools in Bilovodsk (Luhansk region) so that children "rejoice in the moments of preparation for this wonderful holiday [New Year]." 

Other entertaining activities not dedicated to dates or seasons are also organized for children. Those are concerts with animators, sports competitions, creative events in local libraries, museums or houses of culture, master classes, drawing competitions, etc. Representatives of the occupation administrations hand out gifts to children, make speeches and personally congratulate the winners, which becomes an additional point of contact with young Ukrainians and their parents, especially for representatives of the “United Russia”. For example, activists of the "Young Guard of United Russia" came to the "temporary accommodation center for refugees" in Melitopol and brought animators and water-color makeup artists (in parallel, filtration events must have taken place at the "center"). They organized cartoon and film screenings in Mariupol. Representatives of the “United Russia Women's Movement” staged a concert for children in Makiivka (Donetsk region), and party activists distributed sets of clothes and stationery to first-graders before the start of the school year.

4.1.2. Trips to the Russian Federation

Our sample includes 75 posts mentioning the reasons why Russians took Ukrainian people from the temporarily occupied territories to Russia for short-term or medium-term programs. Here, we can see a variety of cultural exchanges with entities from the Russian Federation and cities, student and school exchanges, competitions with prizes awarding trips to Moscow or St. Petersburg, etc. Thus, the occupiers voluntarily and forcibly take out Ukrainians of all ages and professions, encouraging them to learn their new "homeland" and integrate into the community "at the federal level." 

Such “tours” can be provisionally divided into the following types:

• training programs and thematic conferences for employees in the fields of culture and education;
• competitions and performances of the winners of local children's competitions and sports competitions at the "federal level";
• student exchange programs;
• trips for entrants from TOTs to encourage entry into Russian universities;
• educational trips from patriotic NGOs, trade unions, and other associations.

Most often, trips to Russia are organized for adolescents and students as the most mobile groups. Russians encourage young Ukrainians to enter Russian universities and move to Russia. According to the occupiers, university students in the occupied territories undergo internships and work placements in the territory of the Russian Federation, participate in creative and professional competitions, forums and seminars, go to youth festivals, etc. For example, the occupiers reported on cooperation between the Donbas Academy of Construction and Architecture and the Moscow City, according to which 200 future restorers from Makiivka will undergo internships in Moscow. On the other hand, representatives of the organization "Yug Molodoy" from Energodar were taken to the "largest forum of bloggers in St. Petersburg" for the "Insight People Session." There, they were taught blogging, and after the official part, they were entertained with a cultural program that "helped everyone plunge into the atmosphere of St. Petersburg." Moreover, "the youth of the Republic [of the so-called "DPR"]" attended the Baikal Youth Forum, and high school students from Horlivka were taken to Chelyabinsk under the "University Change" program to get acquainted with the South Ural State Humanitarian and Pedagogical University and play the intellectual game "Russian World".

In addition, children and adolescents were taken for "reccreation" in Russian cities "to rest from their experiences and get acquainted with their peers from different parts of Russia." For example, the "Russian Center" above-mentioned in the report took 200 children from Makiivka, Horlivka, and Donetsk to the "Dmitriatovsky" health center in Taganrog, children from Mariupol "on the initiative of the governor of the Tula region Aleksei Dyumin" took their vacation in Tula, and children from went to the "Brigantine" camp in Cheboksary. The above-mentioned program of "patronage" of Russian regions over Ukrainian cities also operates. For example, children from the temporarily occupied Debaltsevo were taken to "rest" in the Khabarovsk Territory, which is the "patron-region" of the city.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, such "rehabilitation" is often a scenario for the deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation. As OPORA's analysts have previously highlighted, Russians actively manipulate the terminology to avoid legal responsibility for the deportation of children and adults, which is a violation of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the occupiers also tried to refute these facts, repeating the narrative previously described by OPORA about the "evacuation" and the removal of children to rest: they say that the parents voluntarily sent their children to go, "entrusted the Russian education authorities with all responsibility for life and well-being, and ... they can take the children, which, according to Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s President Ombudsman for the rights of the child, Russia is always ready to help." Accusations of deportation of children in Russia are called "waves of the Ukrainian PsyOp." However, the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Lvova-Belova for the illegal deportation and transfer of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, clearly disagrees with this statement.

Children are brought to Russia for holidays as rewards for winning school competitions and creative and sports contests. In particular, the occupiers reported that they brought 300 children from the Kherson region to the New Year party and excursions to the Kremlin, schoolchildren from Energodar were taken to Desnogorsk within the framework of the project "Rosatom School" for winning the song contest, where they were taken to the museum of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka "to raise their morale," and got acquainted with their peers "from other regions of the country." In January 2023, 20 children from the so-called "LPR" were invited to Moscow to participate in the rap play "Flowers under the Hail" which is supposed to tell the "true history of the Donbas through the voices of his children." Our sample also included an eloquently propagandistic publication about how United Russia supposedly "fulfilled the dream of a schoolboy" from Skadovsk: he was eventually able to explore the "city on the Neva River [St. Petersburg] based on the works of Dostoevsky," and earlier "often argued with teachers in the [Ukrainian] school who taught a distorted history." “United Russians” took the boy and his mother on an excursion, after which he "plans to return to St. Petersburg to enter a university in the Northern Capital." 

Adults are also taken to the Russian Federation under the pretext of professional development programs. Artists (musicians, singers, and theater-goers) tour the territory of the Russian Federation. In particular, the delegation of the Donetsk State Academic Philharmonic visited Kemerovo cultural institutions, the Donetsk Academic Symphony Orchestra named after Prokofiev traveled to Russian cities with the "Concert of the Unconquered" program. Furthermore, in October 2023, school teachers from the so-called "LPR" visited the All-Russian Forum of Class Teachers in Moscow, and employees of the Luhansk Republican Universal Scientific Library named after M. Gorky were taken to the All-Russian Library Congress in Nizhny Novgorod.

4.1.3. “Побєдоносіє”

A significant part of the offline events in our sample are various creative projects on the topic of "victory-centeredness." Those are reports on the celebration of victory days in the occupied cities and towns, where residents "can finally freely celebrate under red banners and with St. George's ribbons," events of "national unity" such as cleaning and restoration of Soviet monuments and memorial plaques "by the whole community," educational lectures for people of all ages and professions. 

Given the dates of the publications included in our sample, two "unfortunate" peaks can be seen: around the Russian "Defender of the Fatherland Day" and before Victory Day (the former smoothly flows into the latter). They are held in schools, libraries, museums, at workplaces, telling both about local heroes originating from these settlements who participated in the Second World War, and about memorable places and symbols of those years. For example, on the eve of Victory Day, the Donetsk Museum of Local Lore organized excursions to Savur-Mohyla for everyone; a festival of oratorical art "How the Family Begins" was organized for schoolchildren in Yakymivka (Zaporizhzhia region); students from Melitopol and schoolchildren from Mariupol, together with activists from "YGUR," cleaned local parks and planted flowers at monuments to the heroes of the Second World War on a clean-up activity. In the dilapidated Severodonetsk there was a solemn ignition of the eternal fire, which "was suppressed by the Ukrainian authorities." "Victory-centeredness" also involved the youngest Ukrainians: for the "patriotic upbringing of preschool children," the occupiers arranged the celebration of Victory Day in the nursery-kindergarten No.46 in the city of Khrustalne (Luhansk region), renamed by the Russians to “Krasnyi Luch” (lit. – Red Beam), where they held conversations with children on the Russian reading of the Second World War, showed Russian documentaries and drew drawings for the exhibition "Thank you, Grandfather, for our Victory!".

Moreover, the occupiers hold the "Russia Is Us" festival, which began in November 2023 and will end in May 2024 with a large gala concert in honor of the Russian Victory Day. During this time, there will be online events of various formats dedicated to memorable dates during this period. The stated goal of the festival is "the integration of Donbas into the cultural space of the Russian Federation through the broadcast and demonstration on the Internet of creative routines and talents of residents of Donbas and Omsk region." The event is organized by the "Public Chamber of the DPR" and the "Ministry of Culture of the DPR" together with the Omsk Center for Innovations in the Social Sector with the funding of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives of the Russian Federation. 

However, the occupiers find reasons to celebrate the "great Russian victory" throughout the year. Photographic exhibitions, classroom hours, methodological classes for school and university teachers about the Soviet military victory are held outside the "victory-centered" seasons. For example, in early February 2023, the local history museum of Dniprorudne (Zaporizhzhia region) hosted a special exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, in mid-January 2023 in Primorsk (Zaporizhzhia region) created the exhibition "Our Countryman Dolganov Vasyl Mykolayovych — Participant in the Defense of Leningrad," in July 2022, a modern Russian film about the war, "Red Ghost," was shown in the house of culture of Nova Kakhovka (Kherson region), and by the day of the Russian flag in August 2022 in Melitopol, they told about a native of this city who "stormed Berlin". 

4.1.5. Cultural Spaces

The occupiers actively use cultural spaces, including museums and libraries, for propaganda. They report on excursions and lectures about the history of the city or region and the prominent people who come from there. However, such enlightenment is limited mostly to the Soviet period, culture, and the pantheon of heroes. Publications about the events of the Russian Empire are less common. Museums play an essential role in the functioning of the Russian "victory-centeredness" because they host exhibitions, special or guest displays from Russian museums, lectures for school and university teachers on how to talk about the Russian “victory". 

For the most part, museum events are aimed at schoolchildren and students, although there are also open events for residents "and guests of the republics" of any age. Sovietism is also implanted because of seemingly ideologically neutral topics. For example, an exhibition "What Kind of Sweets Are So Strangely Dressed" was arranged for schoolchildren of Melitopol. It was supposed to tell middle school students about the history of chocolate. However, instead, schoolchildren were explained how "candy wrappers can tell about various historical events" and presented a series of wrappers on "Russian Army of 1812". Also, in the museums of the temporarily occupied cities, exhibitions were arranged to get acquainted with Russian culture and traditions: Berdyansk schoolchildren were taken to a special display of the local history museum "Our Handsome Russian Samovar," where they discussed the "traditions of Russian tea drinking".

Libraries serve as a space for affirming the myth of the "great Russian" literature in TOTs. Thus, in Mykhailivka (Zaporizhzhia region), book exhibitions were held for the birthday of the Russian writer Valentyn Pikul. In Tokmak (Zaporizhzhia region), Volodymyr Mayakovsky's birthday was celebrated. A library in Luhansk arranged a "literary and musical living room" dedicated to Mikhail Lermontov. In the village of Vesele, Melitopol district, the days of the Russian language and Alexander Pushkin were celebrated. 

Although municipal libraries can hardly be called a point of attraction for the population, librarians are actively working with children. They are trying to turn libraries into comfortable spaces where children can spend several hours under the supervision of adults, and with benefits. However, the occupiers receive the most significant "benefit" in this situation because such events turn into hours of ideological education. Firstly, the space immerses children in the context of " great Russian literature" with the corresponding collections of books. Secondly, some of the events are directly propagandistic: for example, in Vovchansk (Zaporizhzhia region), children together with librarians created crafts on the theme "Your Feat Is Immortal" and read Soviet military poetry. In Melitopol, they were listening about the author of Russian cartoons "Prostokvashino" and "Cheburashka." In Luhansk, they participated in a competition for the best illustration for books of Russian classics.

In addition, libraries organize various "ideologically neutral" events for children, such as "fun starts," reading fairy tales or mother's day celebrations, or on March 8. However, even when talking about foreign authors, the organizers draw parallels with Russian literature: in Melitopol, at an exhibition dedicated to the British writer John Galsworth, they emphasize how highly the author valued Turgenev and Tolstov. In Yenakiieve (Donetsk region), during a theatrical event, the characters of Mary Poppins and Baron Munchausen sang ditties of the Russian Baba Yaga to the children.

4.1.6. Getting to Know Russian “Multiculturalism”

Occasionally, the TOTs host concerts, festivals and other events designed to introduce Ukrainians to the art, culture and traditions of the peoples living in the territory of the Russian Federation. Elements of this "National Imposition" can be seen at events on any topic — from literary readings in libraries to celebrations on March 8, where they sing Russian ditties, "Cossack" choirs perform and demonstrate Russian folk dances. 

Our sample also includes special events dedicated to the traditions of different peoples of Russia. A dance concert of the peoples of the Caucasus "Youth of Dagestan" was organized in Genichesk, "Knowledge Society" organized a screening of the documentary film "From Russia with Love. The Chechen Republic," the “Interregional Festival of Cossack Culture "Crimean Tulumbaz" was held in Melitopol. In the Ivanovo community (Kherson region), they held a campaign "Culture of the Peoples of Russia" where residents were offered to "get acquainted with folk games from different parts of the Russian Federation," play "intellectual games" and get the opportunity "to learn more about the culture and traditions of the peoples of Russia, as well as actively spend time on sports and intellectual entertainment." In Khrustalne (Luhansk region, renamed by the Russians to Krasnyi Luch), students of the children's art school played a reporting concert called "Heart Motives of My Motherland" dedicated to the "Year of Russian Culture." The children played pieces by Russian composers, Russian folk songs, plays by contemporary Russian composers, and war songs. 

4.2. Literature

Our sample included 143 publications referencing literature and poetry. First of all, Russians actively and solemnly fill school libraries with Russian literature. In particular, the deputy head of the “United Russia” faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation handed over to the children's libraries of Kherson books from the cycle "Russian historical prose," the "Piter" publishing house handed over to the libraries of the so-called "LPR" children's and adult books that "answer questions that concern absolutely any normal person trying to understand modern history,... to fill the holdings of Russian-language literature that had been emptied by order of the Ukrainian authorities," and in September 2023, the activists of the Russian "People's Front" brought to the village of Zorya (Zaporizhzhia region) "the first books in Russian" (allegedly at the request of local librarians), which "completely met the need for children's literature" because, according to the "deputy of the People's council of the LPR" Pavel Pivalov, "children should read literature in the language in which they pronounce their first words, and it is Russian in our region — the language spoken by their mother, father, grandmother, and the whole family." 

The delivery of Russian literature to TOTs also takes place within the framework of the so-called "patronage" program. For example, the occupiers reported that in this way, the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Dagestan transferred more than 2,000 books to the libraries of the Berdyansk district of the Zaporizhzhia region. Reporting that United Russia transferred 40,000 copies of children's literature to the Gorky Library in Luhansk, the deputy of the Council of the Russian Federation commented that "recently liberated settlements are in dire need of high-quality literature for the younger generation and Russian textbooks that do not distort history and bias towards traditional values." His colleague Viktor Vodolatsky highlighted the gratitude to the library staff for preserving the culture of the "Russian World."

Through "educational" content in Telegram channels, during events in libraries, educational institutions and cultural centers, the occupiers introduce the residents of TOTs to Russian classics and modern Russian literature. Pushkin is especially actively promoted in the posts from our sample. The occupiers tell about “new editions of Pushkin, which still smell fresh from the printing house” brought to local libraries, and the celebration of the day of the Russian language, which is acknowledged in Russia as “Pushkin Days”: in kindergartens, a competition for reading Pushkin's fairy tales was held, cartoons based on these fairy tales were shown in the houses of culture, and thematic exhibitions and reader discussions continued in local libraries. 

Valentin Pikul, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Lermontov, Anna Akhmatova, Konstantin Simonov, Yulia Drunina, Maryna Tsvetaeva, Ivan Turgenev, Lev Tolstoy, Eduard Uspensky, Mikhail Prishvin, Dostoevsky, Gribovyedov, Joseph Brodsky, Fedor Tyutchev, Alexander Blok, Anton Chekhov, Alexander Kuprin, Nikolai Leskov, Alexander Ostrovsky were also celebrated at special library exhibitions, events and posts in Telegram channels. In the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, an exhibition "Sergey Mikhalkov, a Good And Cheerful Talent" and a "literary journey" "Our Beloved Mikhalkov" were arranged for elementary school students. 

Modern Russian literature is also present in TOTs, especially texts with disinformation about the Russian war in Ukraine. For example, Mariupol hosted the "largest international festival of fiction" called "Stars Over the Donbas" where "writers, publishers, critics, journalists, illustrators and artists gathered." On June 21, 2023, a "day of remembrance and mourning for children who died in the LPR" was held in Moscow, where "public figures of the Luhansk People's Republic presented the second supplemented edition of the book "Executed Childhood of Donbas" created with the support of the National Center for Missing and Injured Children, which is called a" documentary book". 

Telegram also promotes the materials of the video project "POEZOFRONT" which the occupiers call "the chronicle of the war, creatively reinterpreted and expounded in the language of poetry," "designed to show the reality in which the residents of Donbas have existed for 9 years." The project includes a video where famous Russian artists read poems about the territories occupied by their country with the eloquent names "There Is No Fascism," "Donbass Cannot Be Beautiful" and "The War Kills." 

Much was said about the propaganda books: "Denazification of Ukraine. The Country of Unlearned Lessons ”by Armen Gasparyan, “The Black Book. Atrocities of Modern Banderovites — Ukrainian neo-Nazis 2014–2023" authored by the head of the “International Public Tribunal for the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis," Maxim Grigoriev, and Professor Mikhail Myagky, where "terrible testimonies and facts of torture, violence, murders committed and carried out by Ukronazis and servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" are provided. 

In addition, the occupiers and local collaborators write "chronicles." In our sample, we recorded a message about the presentation of the book "Chronicle of the Courage of the Miner's Land" in the temporarily occupied Donetsk and the preparation of the "chronicle" of "Luhansk State Academy of Culture named after M. Matusovsky. Events and People” in the temporarily occupied Luhansk. They also willingly publish poetry from subscribers dedicated to the Russian war in Ukraine and the support of the fighters of the so-called "SMO", and poems by the "liberators".

4.3. Music

Music was mentioned 232 times in our dataset. Mostly, it was about the visits of Russian artists to TOTs, tours of local singers and musicians in Russia, and festive concerts — from memorable days like "Victory Day" to the celebration of the day of a medical officer in local cultural centers, or creative competitions for children and adults. 

First of all, music is an instrument of patriotic education. TOTs hosts concerts in cultural centers, philharmonic halls, educational institutions, and outdoors. They are dedicated to historical songs (mostly from the times of the USSR, particularly from the Second World War) and modern military-patriotic achievements. For example, in Bryanka (Luhansk region), to honor the anniversary of the entry of the so-called "LPR" into the Russian Federation, the "Golden Hive" kindergarten No.4 organized a musical and sports event "All the Strings of the Heart Sing About You, Russia!..." There, children sang songs about peace, read poems about the state symbols of "their native country" (i.e., Russia), pulled together Russian flags from white, blue and red cubes and played Russian folk games. According to the occupiers, “despite their age, they [the children] already know that they are Russians.” 

Music also serves to promote "fraternity" between cities. The occupation-affiliated Telegram channels reported that in St. Petersburg, Mariupol singer Diana Hadzhinova sang the song "St. Petersburg — Mariupol" written by St. Petersburg singer Inna Bednykh, the military-patriotic ensemble "Katyusha" from the Moscow region was brought to Berdyansk to celebrate the City Day. Mariupol even had a veteran of the Russian Airborne Forces, Anatoly Dzhumaev, the head of the military-patriotic clubs "Vytyazy", "Vympel" and "Family" singing patriotic songs. 

Occasionally, there are concerts of Russian classics. For example, a pianist Valentina Lisitsa had a tour in the temporarily occupied cities of the Kherson region, where she performed the works of Serhii Rakhmaninov and gave musical master classes to children. Online concerts dedicated to Rachmaninoff were also given by the Donetsk Philharmonic, and in April 2023, the artists of the institution brought the concert "Music of the World. Donbass is Russia" to Russian Volgograd. The Mariupol Variety Symphony Orchestra also went on a tour to Russian cities with the "We Are Russia" program. 

As to contemporary music, a concert of "hits of the Russian stage" called "In Honor of Memorable Days" was held in Genichesk. The Russians also sing on Azovstal, which was destroyed by them and became the last "safe haven" for the defenders of Mariupol and local residents during the siege of the city. In August 2022, a concert was organized for members of the military from Russia and the so-called "DPR", where they were entertained by the Russian rock band "Dekabr". 

Russian musicians who joined the propaganda of the so-called "SMO" are actively promoted online. They are Yulia Chicherina, who is called "an active participant in the integration processes of the Donbas and the South of Ukraine into the Great Russia," Viktor Sorokin, who was "known and appreciated" by the former leader of the "DPR" Aleksandr Zakharchenko. With a broad representation of the Russian stage, the celebration of May 9 took place at the Savur-Mohyla in Donetsk: Grigory Leps, Rodion Gazmanov, the group "Zveroboy" and others came there with a concert. The band "Zveroboy" is regularly promoted in the occupation Telegram channels because they actively support the so-called "SMO" and dedicate songs to the Russian army. 

4.5. Visual Arts

In our sample, we recorded mentions of the following visual arts: cinema, fine arts, and photography. 

Publications with references to fine arts and photography most often relate to the involvement of the local population in the creative understanding of life in the “Russian world, its history, and values,” as they label it. The occupiers encourage artists and activists willing to cooperate with the regime to create murals, exhibitions of photographs and paintings, and subsequently, invite citizens to attend those events. In October 2023, an exhibition of works by local masters of [Russian] folk art was held in Mariupol, timed to coincide with the "Matryoshka Day," and an interactive museum photo zone "Let's Bow to Those Great Years..." was arranged for students and the team of Melitopol Vocational School No.1, where those who wished could "plunge into the atmosphere of the dugout and soak in the grandeur of the moment...". 

An icon, allegedly melted from cartridges collected at Azovstal, was also shown in the occupation channels — occupiers call it "a symbol of the victory of Russian weapons over Nazism." It is said that the cartridges were melted down by the Guild of Blacksmiths of Donbass, and coal was collected in the Ilovaysk mine (Khartsyzsk district, Donetsk region). Then, a frame was made for this "creation." Finally, the "young guardsmen" consecrated the icon in the church in Volnovakha and presented it to the vice-speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Anna Kuznetsova. 

Symbols of Russian culture also appear in urban space. In Luhansk, a team of local artists together with artists brought from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg created a series of murals. According to the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and the head of the Eurasian Cultural Integration program, Dmitry Kuznetsov, the task of Russians is "to help the residents of Luhansk not only materially, but also morally." So, they unite artists "from all cities of Russia, so that they together create drawings that would bring joy to local residents in this difficult time." In the "liberated Russian city" of Melitopol, the façade of the "Ministry of Culture" was painted with portraits of "heroes" — Motorola Givi and Vladlen Tatarsky, and activists of the "Young Guard of United Russia" made two "photo zones": the first — with a picture of Cheburashka, which was painted, according to the publication, "an inscription with drug propaganda", the second — with wings in the colors of the Russian tricolor. 

The art of TOTs is actively being transported to Russia. For example, an updated "Embroidered Map of Russia" with fragments of "four new regions" was presented in Moscow, and the exhibition "Donbas. Industrial portrait.”

In the references to cinema that were included in the sample, we mostly see pseudo-documentary about the Russian war in Ukraine and modern Russian cinema, sporadically mentioning Soviet cinema. For example, on the "day of the reunification of Crimea with Russia" in Melitopol, they organized free film screenings of Russian films "Crimea," "Crimean Spring," and "Crimea. The way home." The film "Women of Donbass. We're Together!” about the fate of 30 women who suffered from the Russian war, the films "Doctors of Donbass," "Just About Life With Ivan Okhlobystin" (a series about the "volunteer activity" of a Russian actor in TOTs), "We Do Not Abandon Our Own" (a film based on a story by a museum employee about the humanitarian support of Krasnoyarsk to the temporarily occupied Dovzhansk in the Luhansk region).

Occupation Telegram channels wrote a lot about the Ukrainian "hysteria" around the Russian film "Witness" about the massacre in Bucha. They say that in Ukraine, the then Minister of Culture and Information Policy, Mr Tkachenko, "had already been accused of treason" because "while he was shooting funny TV series, a big movie was shot in Moscow, which will tell a lot to the foreign audience about Ukraine" (by the way, the film failed in the Russian box office). In addition, the occupiers encourage to watch the film “RUSSIA SPEAKS! Zaporizhzhia region" about how "the industry and the agro-industrial complex are recovering after the attacks of the Kiev regime, what is happening to jobs and what course of development" was taken by the Russians. They also advertised the propaganda film "How the Family Begins" shot in schools, libraries, and museums in the occupied territories. The film tells the story of “who Ukraine wanted to raise, instilling the superiority of one nation over another, feeding hatred and fueling Nazism.” 

4.6. Theater

In our sample, we recorded 70 references to the theater. The occupiers are actively restoring the theatrical business (at least in words): Russian theatrical companies come here on tours, Russian theater workers give lectures and master classes, and locally established theatrical companies perform for adults and children on the occasion of holidays, and everyday. The repertoire is dominated by Russian modern plays and classics, with some sporadic international dramas.

The occupation Telegram channels announced that in July 2023, the actors from the Donetsk Drama Theater entered their "home stage" for the first time because "mass events have been banned in the DPR since February 20, 2022 due to hostilities." "Mariupol Republican Theater of the Academic Order ‘Badge of Honor’ opened its 145th theatrical season in Mariupol — the first after the liberation of the city from militants" (Ukrainian, of course). They talked about the plans of the Mariupol Theater to stage the musical "Dubrovsky" (based on Pushkin's novel) with the material and technical support of its authors Kim Breitburg and Karen Kavaleryan, as part of the project "Culture to Help Donbass." Also, the TOTs showed the performances "Blizzard" by A. Chekhov, "Golden Chicken" by Orlov, "Vaodevilles" by A. Chekhov and "Soldier's Soul and Destiny" by O. Tvardovsky.

Announcements of tours of the occupied theaters were also included in our sample. For example, Mariupol theater workers took the play "Chic Wedding" to the TO Urzuf (Donetsk region), the artists of the Luhansk theater went to the so-called "LPR" with the rock opera "Crucified Youth" about "the exploits of the heroes of the underground organization "Young Guard"", and the Donetsk Republican Youth Theater (Makiivka, Donetsk region) showed a one-man show "Random Man" in Mariupol.

Actors from Russia also come to TOTs. For example, the Tula Puppet Theater came to Mariupol with children's performances, giving the locals a bit of "peaceful life, which the Kiev regime took away from kids." The Moscow Theater "Kursiv" brought "to the stage of the Luhansk Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater" the Russian modern play "The Tale of the Snow Bird" and the adult comedy "Hello, Dolly!" based on the play by the British writer John Oxenford. The St. Petersburg State Drama Theater "Comedians" came to Luhansk with the lyrical comedy "Fellow Countrymen" based on the works of the Russian writer Vasily Shukshin. In Melitopol, the Volgograd Regional Puppet Theater showed children the "Aibolit" play. Announcements of visits of Russian artists are published in the occupation Telegram channels under the hashtag "##ПоддержкаРФ [lit. – RFSupport]. 

The occupiers reported that they brought the families of Ukrainians who switched to the Russian side and became "participants of the SMO in the eyes of Russia” to watch “The Nutcracker” in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on New Year's Eve. Theaters from TOTs were also brought to Russia. For example, the Donetsk Puppet Theater toured the Golden Ring of Russia, and the Pavel Luspekaev Luhansk Theater showed the play "Lefty" by Nikolai Leskov in different Russian cities. 

Conclusions

This report only partially reflects the practices of the Russian occupation authorities in imposing Russian culture in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. However, it is the first attempt to document crimes committed by Russians against Ukrainian cultural heritage and Ukrainian identity. It is an attempt to unveil the true situation with the Ukrainian culture in the temporarily occupied territories. Thus, in some six months of the occupation of Kharkiv region, the occupiers managed to open a children leisure center in Kupiansk where they taught children to love Russia, held the ”Talks About the Important Things” with local pupils to explain where their true Homeland was, and displaced dozens of children to the territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is probable that the scale of crime and harm inflicted to Ukraine’s cultural heritage could be truly revealed only after the full de-occupation of all Ukraine’s areas. 

At the same time, Ukrainian authorities and society need to understand that we cannot delay the drafting of de-occupation strategy which shall focus not only on the square kilometers of land but also consider how Ukrainian government would conduct the “de-occupation of brains.” A large share of population currently staying in the temporarily occupied territories (especially in the so-called “L/DPR” and Crimea) have been under the influence of Russian propaganda and Russia’s culture policy for 10 years now. In several years, TOTs will see school graduates who had started school under the occupiers’ curricula. After the de-occupation, some of those people would probably leave for Russia. But others will stay. Thus, Ukraine must not delay and explore the strategy for winning back “hearts and minds” of people who have been made to hate all things Ukrainian for a long time.