Key Takeaways
- The Alabuga Special Economic Zone, a key drone production facility for the Russian military, has begun recruitment efforts aimed directly at teenagers from occupied Ukraine.
- Russian and occupation officials are highlighting Russian efforts to militarize schools in occupied areas in advance of the 2026-2027 school year.
- The Russian security apparatus is artificially manipulating border laws to create the impression that occupied Ukrainian territories have been fully integrated into Russia.
- The Luhansk Oblast occupation administration is reckoning with significant medical staffing shortages, including in part by relocating Russian doctors to work in occupied areas.
- Occupation administrations continue to profit from the seizure and sale of stolen Ukrainian assets.
Deportation and Forcible Transfer of Ukrainian Citizens, Including Children
The Alabuga Special Economic Zone (ASEZ), a key drone production facility for the Russian military, has begun recruitment efforts aimed directly at teenagers from occupied Ukraine. The Kherson Oblast occupation administration and occupied Zaporizhia Oblast-based outlet Zaporizhia News Agency (ZONews) reported on August 15 that the Alabuga Polytechnic Education Center has begun recruitment for students aged 15 to 21 from occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts.[1] Alabuga Polytechnic is a technical college located on the premises of the ASEZ, which is Russia’s main production hub for strike, decoy, and reconnaissance drones used in the war against Ukraine.[2] Alabuga Polytech’s website was specifically advertising recruitment for students from occupied Crimea and Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts as of August 20, 2026.[3] Alabuga Polytech promises to cover the cost of the first year of tuition for students from occupied Ukraine, and prominently advertises hands-on work experience and future careers at the ASEZ as part of its recruitment pitch. Education at Alabuga Polytech is split between theoretical classroom study and practical training at the ASEZ, suggesting that Ukrainian youth are likely expected to work on production lines at the ASEZ as part of their study contracts.[4] Several independent investigations have concluded that Alabuga Polytech uses predatory and aggressive recruitment strategies to target youth, indoctrinate them, and funnel them into the larger ASEZ labor pool.[5] Foreigners who have worked at the ASEZ have reported inhumane and dangerous labor conditions.[6] Russia relies heavily on foreign labor at the ASEZ to maintain high drone production rates for near-nightly large drone strikes on Ukraine.[7]
Sociocultural Control
Nothing significant to report.
Militarization of Occupied Areas
Russian and occupation officials are highlighting Russian efforts to militarize schools in occupied areas ahead of the 2026-2027 school year. Russian Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov visited School No. 25 in occupied Simferopol, Crimea, on August 17 to review preparations for the upcoming school year.[8] Images from the visit show Kravtsov and Crimea occupation head Sergei Aksyonov looking at rifles and ammunition, which are likely part of teaching materials for the now mandatory “Fundamentals of Homeland Security and Defense (OBZR)” course. Aksyonov highlighted the fact that School No. 25 has opened a museum dedicated to Russia’s war in Ukraine and has integrated military-patriotic programming into the school’s operations, including through visits by active-duty Russian personnel, volunteer activities, and “Lessons on Courage.” Russia has used the Lessons on Courage program to expose children and youth in occupied Ukraine to active-duty and veteran Russian military personnel as a way of normalizing Russia’s war in Ukraine.[9] Chair of the Commission of the Public Chamber of occupied Crimea for Education, Science, and Educational Activities Natalia Reznichenko told pro-Russian radio station Radio Sputnik Krym on August 16 about other preparations in Crimean schools in advance of September 1.[10] Reznichenko stated that the Russian Ministry of Education is trying to standardize education across Russia and occupied Ukrainian regions, and has introduced the new mandatory “Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia” and OBZR courses in line with presidential decrees. Reznichenko also noted that schools in occupied Crimea will begin testing a behavioral assessment model for grades two through eight, which Ukrainian officials have warned could endanger schoolchildren and impose punishment for any perceived anti-Russian sentiment or behavior.[11] Russia has been institutionalizing the militarization of schools in occupied Ukraine since 2014 but has significantly scaled up these efforts since 2022.[12] Federally mandated courses such as the Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia and OBZR represent the increased formalization of militarization programs for children and youth.
Administrative and Bureaucratic Control
The Russian security apparatus is artificially manipulating border laws to create the impression that occupied Ukrainian territories have been fully integrated into Russia. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) published two draft orders to the Federal Portal of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts on August 12 that propose the elimination of the state border status between Russia’s Rostov and Voronezh oblasts with occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as the elimination of the state border between occupied Crimea and occupied Kherson Oblast.[13] These new orders would undo previous FSB decrees that required those traveling between Russia and occupied Ukraine to undergo inspection procedures as though they were crossing state (national) borders.[14] The FSB justified the new orders as a result of the “admission” (annexation) of occupied Ukraine into Russia. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the draft orders on August 14 and stated that they are intended to “create the appearance that the Ukrainian territories seized by Russia are supposedly an integral part of the Russian Federation and have been finally integrated into its administrative system.”[15] The Ministry emphasized that these drafts have no bearing on Ukraine’s internationally recognized legal borders. The Russian government has taken steps to claim that there are no borders between Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories since 2022, but Russian security forces have continued invasive and stringent border control practices nonetheless.[16] Russia uses such border checks as a mode of filtration, intended to surveil and punish residents of occupied areas for perceived anti-Russian or anti-occupation sentiment.[17] These repressive tactics are likely to persist even if the draft FSB orders are codified.
Occupation Administration Mismanagement and Internal Dynamics
The Luhansk Oblast occupation administration is reckoning with significant shortages in medical staffing, including in part by relocating Russian doctors to work in occupied areas. Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) occupation Minister of Health Natalia Pashchenko told Kremlin newswire TASS on August 13 that medical facilities in occupied Luhansk Oblast are only 60-percent staffed.[18] Pashchenko clarified that full-time physician positions are 44 percent staffed, while full-time nursing positions are 60 percent staffed, amounting to a total shortage of 5,000 doctors and 8,000 mid-level medical professionals. Pashchenko later stated on August 15 that 35 Russian doctors and 15 mid-level medical workers plan to work in occupied Luhansk Oblast in 2026 as part of the “Zemsky Doctor” program, which incentivizes Russian medical professionals to move to small towns and villages, particularly in occupied Ukraine, in exchange for salary benefits. Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine has led to severe shortages in medical professionals, and many occupied areas have faced total collapse in healthcare due to a lack of doctors and the inability of Russian occupation officials to remedy the situation.[19] Russian occupation officials have used Zemsky Doctor and the promise of subsidized housing to attract Russian healthcare workers to occupied areas in the hopes of addressing challenges within the medical system, but challenges still persist, and the medical situation in many occupied areas is dire.[20]
Physical and Legal Repressions
Nothing significant to report.
Economic and Financial Control
Occupation administrations continue to profit from the seizure and sale of stolen Ukrainian assets. Chairman of the Crimea occupation council Vladimir Konstantinov claimed on August 15 that the Crimea occupation administration has seized, nationalized, and sold seven properties “owned by enemies of Russia,” since the beginning of 2026, generating 621 million rubles ($8 million) for the occupation administration’s budget.[21] These properties include apartments, hotels, and businesses that Ukrainian nationals owned prior to the 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea. Konstantinov claimed that the Crimea occupation administration has nationalized 83 properties since 2023 alone, reaping 13.6 billion rubles ($164 million) in revenue. Russian occupation administrations, particularly Crimean occupation officials, have frequently used property seizures and nationalizations for the dual purposes of punishing Ukrainians by robbing them of their real estate assets while generating profit for government budgets.[22]
Information Space Control
Nothing significant to report.
Infrastructure and Development Projects
Nothing significant to report.
[1] https://gov.khogov dot ru/news/postuplenie-bez-oge-i-ege-alabuga-politeh-priglashaet-studentov-iz-hersonskoj-oblasti/; https://zonews dot ru/news/alabuga-politeh-objavil-nabor-abiturientov-iz-zaporozhskoj-i-hersonskoj/
[2] https://understandingwar.org/research/adversary-entente/adversary-entente-cooperation-at-russias-shahed-factory-threatens-global-security/?utm_source=x&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=aetf
[3] https://education-program dot ru/?utm_uid=uid-b6e740c0-fbc7-4bec-8006-f52ca7dba43c&utm_role=%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82&utm_roleCode=applicant&uid=uid-b6e740c0-fbc7-4bec-8006-f52ca7dba43c
[4] https://zonews dot ru/news/alabuga-politeh-objavil-nabor-abiturientov-iz-zaporozhskoj-i-hersonskoj/
[5] https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/foreign-youth-exploited-for-military-drone-production-at-the-alabuga-specia; https://www.rferl dot org/a/alabuga-polytechnic-kyrgyzstan-school-recruitment-chui-russia-tatarstan/33495162.html; https://www.pravda.com dot ua/eng/articles/2026/05/26/8036479/; https://apnews dot com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drones-shahed-africans-11602ab837f0ff4635926d884b422185
[6] https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drones-shahed-africans-11602ab837f0ff4635926d884b422185
[7] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-12-2026/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-13-2026/
[8] https://crimea dot ria.ru/20260817/glava-minprosvescheniya-rossii-posetil-shkolu-simferopolya-1158561593.html
[9] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment_7-10/; https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/27826537
[10] https://radiosputnik-crimea dot ru/20260816/kak-izmenitsya-obuchenie-v-shkolax-s-1-sentyabrya—ekspert-1158421082.html
[11] https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/russian-occupation-imposes-behavior-grading-on-students-in-occupied-territories/
[12] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-template-january-30-2026/; https://understandingwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/24-210-0120ISW20Occupation20playbook.pdf
[13] https://regulation.gov dot ru/projects/170207/; https://regulation dot gov.ru/projects/170208/; https://meduza dot io/news/2026/08/13/fsb-likvidiruet-granitsu-mezhdu-rossiey-i-anneksirovannymi-territoriyami-ukrainy
[14] https://t.me/agentstvonews/16782
[15] https://mfa.gov dot ua/news/komentar-mzs-ukrayini-shchodo-planiv-rf-skasuvati-prikordonni-zoni-z-timchasovo-okupovanimi-teritoriyami-ukrayini
[16] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-5/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment_12-17/
[17] https://dovidka dot info/en/what-to-do-if-you-were-taken-out-of-ukraine-by-force/; https://2021-2025.state.gov/russias-filtration-operations-and-forced-relocations/
[18] https://tass dot ru/obschestvo/28007907
[19] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-november-26-2025/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-may-8-2025/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-july-29-2025/
[20] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-template-january-30-2026/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-november-26-2025/
[21] https://crimea.ria dot ru/20260815/prodazha-semi-natsionalizirovannykh-obektov-prinesla-v-byudzhet-kryma-621-mln-1158505406.html
[22] https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-july-17-2025/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-april-10-2025/; https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-may-8-2025/
