Original Russian-language methodological manual produced by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs for officials, teachers and youth workers in the four occupied regions. The document was created in electronic form on 27 to 28 February 2025 and carries the agency's registration number on every page. It is reproduced here from the copy in the TOT Insights source collection.
The manual is the clearest official statement that Ukrainian national identity is treated by the occupying power as a security problem. Its introduction states that among young people of the four regions "a serious threat is the spread of the ideology of terrorism, extremism and neo-Nazism, the historical basis of which is Ukrainian nationalism", and that for this population "the question of deradicalisation and integration into Russian society on the basis of legal, historical and cultural enlightenment, and of overcoming Russophobia and the attitudes of Ukrainian nationalism, is acute". Section 1 is titled "The development of Ukrainian nationalism". Sections 2 to 4 describe how children and young people are said to be recruited by "extremist, terrorist and neo-Nazi organisations, including of a sabotage and reconnaissance character". Section 5 sets out the "subjects of prevention" at regional and municipal level, listing the FSB, Rosgvardia, the Interior Ministry and the prison service alongside education and youth-policy bodies. Sections 6 and 7 prescribe general, targeted and individual preventive work and monitoring of young people. The manual is cited in TOT Insights research on the nationalities strategy (DOC-133), on the militarisation of education and on the framing of Ukrainian identity as extremism.
If the document does not display in your browser, click here to open the PDF directly.
Structure
Introduction; Section 1, The development of Ukrainian nationalism; Section 2, The threat and causes of the involvement of children and young people in terrorist, extremist and neo-Nazi organisations; Section 3, Contributing factors; Section 4, Methods of recruitment and of influence on the intended "victim"; Section 5, Organisation of the subjects of the prevention system at regional and municipal level; Section 6, General, targeted and individual preventive work; Section 7, The role of monitoring; Conclusion; Annex 1, List of terrorist organisations; Annex 2, Formats of preventive events; Annex 3, Resources; Annex 4, Expert authors.
Introduction (p. 3)
"In the youth environment of the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Kherson Oblast a serious threat is the spread of the ideology of terrorism, extremism and neo-Nazism, the historical basis of which is Ukrainian nationalism." ... "For this category of persons the question of deradicalisation and integration into Russian society on the basis of legal, historical and cultural enlightenment, and of overcoming Russophobia and the attitudes of Ukrainian nationalism, is acute." The sources of threat are described as "predominantly external resources, above all Ukrainian".
Section 5: subjects of prevention
Lists the bodies responsible for preventive work with young people, including the Federal Security Service, the National Guard (Rosgvardia), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Penitentiary Service, together with education authorities, youth-policy bodies, cultural institutions and non-governmental organisations, and describes their coordination through regional anti-terrorist commissions.
Sections 6 and 7
Prescribe the identification of "risk groups", individual work with young people showing "signs of radicalisation", monitoring of social networks, and reporting to the competent bodies.
Analytical note
The manual supplies the operational chain that the nationalities strategy leaves implicit. It defines Ukrainian nationalism as the historical root of extremism, instructs teachers and youth workers to monitor for it, and names the security services as partners in the response. The document should be read as evidence of policy, not as an accurate account of the young people it describes.