Militants in Donbass are actively recruiting children to participate in hostilities - US State Department
"Political instructors" of hybrid Russian army recruit minor residents of the temporarily occupied areas of Donbass in the ranks of illegal armed groups. It is stated in the annual US State Department report on the situation of human trafficking in the world which was published on agency website on June 30th, - reports LIGABusinessInform.
"It has been repeatedly reported, including the OSCE reports, that children aged 15 to 17 are actively recruited to participate in the militarized youth groups, where they are trained in military affairs. Teenagers who succeed in this are campaigning to create their subversive groups for participation in fighting. 12-year-olds were seen in one of these "battalions","- said the report.
In particular, teenagers and children are used by pro-Russian militants as informants and human shields for their positions. Earlier the Ministry on temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons reported that there were 450 thousand children in the occupied area.