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According to a statement from the press service of the presidential envoy to the Russian Far East, Yuri Trutnev, over nine thousand Russian schoolchildren from 11 regions of Russia are set to attend Voin [Warrior] military-patriotic camps. These camps will provide the students with gun and tactical training, as well as education on the “fundamentals of national security of the Russian Federation.” Additionally, the students will have the opportunity to meet participants of military operations in Ukraine.
According to the report, “military-patriotic programs will commence from June 1 to 10 in 11 regions of Russia. These programs will take place at summer health camps and are organized by the Center of Military and Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth, known as Voin.
The camps will be hosted in various regions of Russia, namely Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tatarstan, Chechnya, Khabarovsk Krai, Belgorod, Kemerovo, Pskov, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. These camps are specifically designed for teenagers aged between 14 and 17 years old.
“Throughout the camp sessions, the young participants will engage in various activities aimed at developing their understanding of the fundamentals of national security in the Russian Federation. They will receive training in areas such as gun handling, tactical maneuvers, engineering skills, tactical medicine, communication organization, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) piloting. The skills acquired will be reinforced through military-sports games conducted as part of the camp program,” the envoy's office reports.
Recently, it was reported that both Yuri Trutnev and Sergei Kirienko, first deputy head of the presidential administration, have put forward a proposal “to revive a system of voluntary military and sports training, along with patriotic education, in Russia.”
According to Taiga's report, it was initially expected that Sergei Avakyants, the former Commander of the Pacific Fleet who was recently dismissed, would assume the leadership role at the headquarters of the Voin Center for Military and Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth. However, the publication discovered that there are no legal entities associated with Avakyants listed in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
An autonomous non-profit organization for additional vocational education called the Center for the Development of Military and Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth was registered in Moscow on December 1, 2022. The organization is led by Nikolai Yazynin. The center is situated at 7 Radio Street, which is also the registered address for other entities such as the International Federation of All-Style Karate, Federation of All-Style Karate of Russia, Association of Russian Kyokushin, Moscow Institute of Professional Retraining and Professional Development of Teachers, and the Russian Union of Martial Arts. It is worth noting that the latter two organizations are headed by Trutnev and Kiriyenko, respectively, Taiga reports.
The Center for Development of Military and Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth has already obtained a license from the Moscow Department of Education to provide additional education services.
Meanwhile, an autonomous non-profit organization called the Center of Military and Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth “Sakha Bootur” (Sakha Warrior) was registered in Yakutia in April 2023. Andrei Artamonov, who has been referred to by local media as “the USSR's first professional in full-contact karate” and a two-time champion of Leningrad, was appointed as the head of the organization. Artamonov has been linked to the Russian Union of Martial Arts. He also went to fight in Ukraine as a volunteer.
According to Taiga's report, the Russian Union of Martial Arts, which is co-chaired by Kiriyenko and Trutnev, was awarded a contract by the Department of Physical Education in Rostov-on-Don in 2011. Additionally, in 2017, the Union secured a sponsorship contract worth 15 million rubles from Alrosa. This sponsorship was granted in exchange for featuring the company's name on products created for karate competitions.