Yaroslav and Nazar, 11 each, carry a khaki jacket, a wooden rifle and a plastic submachine gun. When they are not taking their class online, they are manning a fake “checkpoint” in the road and arresting passers-by. Since the beginning of the summer, on the roads of the province of Donetsk in the part of Donbass under Ukrainian control, or even on those of the Kharkiv region, dozens of children have been playing this game.
Some collect funds for the army by giving the military salute to the passage of the many army vehicles that criss-cross the surroundings, only a few tens of kilometers from the front. Others have fun and collect sweets or fruit given by passers-by.
“We’re here to stop cars and check if people are Russkoffs or not,” Nazar said with his most serious and nasty air possible. A few dozen kilometers further, Maksym, 10, wears a military vest covered with badges, a plastic helmet and a wooden assault rifle. He salutes the military and raises funds for them. “I gave the army 15,000 hryvnias (400 euros),” he says proudly.
Not very talkative, the boy simply adds that he “likes to help people and make them laugh”, before returning to his post with a fake cannon, a fake rocket and a Ukrainian flag.
