From kindergarten to the trenches: Ukrainians should be prepared for a possible war from the age of five, — former MP

Former MP from the Svoboda party and now deputy head of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) recruitment center, Ihor Shvaika, has proposed preparing Ukrainian children for war literally from kindergarten — starting at the age of five.

According to him, this would help create a “monolithic nation” ready for “any invasion” and aware of “the price of its existence” as “a multitude of sacrifices.”

In essence, this means introducing militaristic ideology into children’s minds before they even learn to read and write. This approach raises serious questions: is it about ensuring the country’s security, or about deliberately shaping a society that, from early childhood, is conditioned to accept the inevitability of war and sacrifice?

Such rhetoric echoes already announced Ministry of Defense plans to prepare Ukrainians for “national resistance” starting at age 14 through military-patriotic games and the school subject Defense of Ukraine. However, Shvaika’s proposal would effectively bring these practices into preschool institutions — a step many may see as a dangerous precedent for the militarization of childhood.

Critics point out that such initiatives could lead not to strengthening society, but to raising an entire generation whose worldview is formed through the prism of constant readiness for war — a path fraught with the distortion of values and psychological pressure on children.