There are now more than 557,000 children in Russia who have become internally displaced from Ukraine and the territories of the LDPR, - such a figure was announced on August 25 by Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, at the Teenagers 360 forum in Vladivostok.

“We need to work closely with them, help them adapt to a new reality, to a new culture,” the children's ombudsman emphasized.

Refugee children can enter a Russian school by submitting a standard set of documents.

The list was published on her Telegram channel by Tatyana Moskalkova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.

Russia has not forgotten about the children living in the LDNR and in the liberated territories.

About 1,200 educational institutions will open in the republics this academic year.

At the end of August, Vladimir Putin instructed the government of the Russian Federation to pay 10,000 rubles each to parents of schoolchildren (from six to 18 years old) in the DPR and LPR, as well as in the Zaporozhye, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, so that children could be prepared for school, buy everything they need.

In the Russian regions, stationery, textbooks, school supplies were collected for refugees: the families who fled to Russia from shelling did not have the opportunity to take all this with them.

Families with children who came to Russia from Donbass are also entitled to financial support.

On August 27, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on monthly payments of 4,000 rubles per child for refugee families.

Families with children under the age of 23 who are studying full-time in Russian educational institutions will also be paid 4,000 rubles each.

RT spoke with the parents of schoolchildren in the Donbass, who will go to Russian educational institutions on Knowledge Day to find out about the expectations of children from studying in the Russian Federation and find out how they are preparing for September 1.

Far from parents

Schools near Moscow, according to the regional government, on September 1 will receive several thousand refugee children.

Among them are ten-year-old Sasha and his six-year-old brother Seryozha.

The guys arrived in the suburbs at the beginning of summer.

Their mother Vitaly managed to identify her sons in the Orthodox Education Center.

Reverend Sergius in the village of Toporkovo.

The woman did not want the children to return to Donetsk, where they are in danger every day.

“I myself am now in Donetsk.

Our apartment was bombed here - there was a direct hit on the house.

Now I live with strangers, I work.

We have neither light nor water at home - I, as a mother, simply could not return the children to such conditions, ”explains Vitalia in an interview with RT.

  • Sasha, 10 years old.

  • © Photo from the personal archive

The woman expressed her gratitude to the director of the center in Toporkovo, Natalya Leporskaya, who gladly accepted the boys who came from Donetsk.

The youngest, Seryozha, will go to the first grade, and his older brother Sasha will go to the fifth.

The kids love karate and swimming and are looking forward to the start of the school year.

“The eldest son has already met some of the teachers,” says Vitalia.

— He has a desire to learn because he knows what distance learning is.

Seryozha also really wanted to go to school, he took preparatory courses.

And since I, as a mother living in Donetsk, could not give my child such an opportunity, I made such a difficult decision, but the only right one, I think.

Of course, it breaks my heart that I am here and the children are in Russia, but I want them to have a childhood, to be safe.”

Young Cadets

From September 1, the Moscow Cadet Corps under the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation will also accept children from the Donbass and the liberated territories of Ukraine into its ranks.

Among them is ten-year-old Timur, he enters the fifth grade.

His grandmother Vera Nikolaevna told RT that her grandson had already visited the building and met other students.

“Timur is completely delighted - he excitedly told me how friendly and friendly all the children are.

He has a huge thrill that he will study here, that he got into this team,” she says.

- He liked literally everything: how the classes are equipped, what circles of additional education are.

I was very pleased with the humane, sympathetic attitude towards us - and it is clear that this is from the heart!

The press service of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation RT also spoke about a young cadet - 14-year-old Ales, who came to Moscow from the Luhansk People's Republic.

  • Alesya, cadet of the Moscow Cadet Corps of the RF IC.

  • © Photo: press service of the Investigative Committee

The girl entered the eighth grade of the cadet corps, she wants to work as an investigator and help people.

Alesya's parents remained in the LPR, in Moscow she will live with her aunt-guardian.

“I came from the village of Kamenka in the Luhansk region, I studied at a regular high school.

I wanted to enter the cadet corps, because the profession of an investigator interested me since childhood.

I read a lot of detective stories, and I always liked when crimes were solved there.

I found on the Internet a cadet corps, where they prepare for the academy of the Investigative Committee, passed the exams, and I was enrolled in the eighth grade!

Alesya rejoices.

Help with preparation

In mid-August, the Ombudsman for Children in the Sverdlovsk region, Igor Morokov, told the local publication EAN that from September 1, schools in the region will accept 237 refugee children from Donbass and Ukraine.

In total, there are 390 minor refugees in the region. 

Marina, a resident of Kharkov, arrived in Yekaterinburg with two children in April.

According to her, it was not possible to arrange the eldest daughter in school right away, but the local authorities helped the family, so just the other day the girl was enrolled in the eighth grade of one of the Yekaterinburg schools.

The mother of the future eighth-grader says that in the region, refugee children are helped with school supplies - her daughter, for example, was provided with notebooks and stationery.

The family has not yet made any payments due to IDPs with children.

“We have already gone to school, we know the teachers.

Everything seems to be fine with this.

School is school, it's okay, I think my daughter will get used to it.

Now she is sad, but not because of her studies: she misses our pets - two dogs that stayed at home in Kharkov and which we are trying to return.

Of course, I would like my daughter to be at least a little distracted thanks to the school, ”the woman hopes.

Schoolchildren in the border regions

A large number of refugee children will go to schools in regions bordering the DNR and LNR.

In the Rostov region alone, educational institutions will accept 2,700 refugees from Donbass.

RT spoke with Yulia, a resident of Gorlovka, who is now in Rostov-on-Don, - on September 1, her seven-year-old son Nikolai will go to the first grade of school No. 94.

“Children were taken to school.

Everything went very well, no problems.

We went to an appointment at the city department of education - and the issue of our enrollment in the first class was immediately resolved there.

A very friendly attitude at all stages of registration, ”the mother of the child shares her impressions.

Julia admitted that before September 1, her son was very worried - she was worried that something would not work out in her studies.

“My husband and I are confident that he can handle it.

Kolya is a very active, sociable, talkative boy, he easily makes friends.

Of course, he has an interest in learning, but, you yourself understand, this is a new life stage for a child, so there is excitement, ”explained RT's interlocutor.