School in Bulgaria under scrutiny over pupil month-long programme in Russian-controlled Crimea

A secondary school in northeastern Bulgaria has come under public scrutiny after sending an 11th-grade student to a month-long educational programme in Yalta, in Russian-occupied Crimea, despite Bulgaria and the European Union officially recognising the peninsula as part of Ukraine.

The case, first reported by Bulgarian education news website Danybon, concerns the “Sava Dobroplodni” Secondary School in the city of Shumen. The controversy emerged after the school published a Facebook post praising the student’s participation in a programme at the Artek youth centre in Crimea, referring to the location as part of Russia.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of growing international concern over the fate of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories, including Crimea. Since the start of the war, thousands of minors have been forcibly transferred to Russia or to areas under Russian control – a practice condemned by international organisations as illegal deportation. Many are placed in state-run education programmes designed to erase Ukrainian identity and promote loyalty to the Russian state through language, history and militarised “patriotic” training.

Russia designated Bulgaria an “unfriendly country” shortly after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year. The Bulgarian government, in line with EU policy, does not recognise Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and considers the territory occupied Ukrainian land.

According to the school’s post, the student travelled to Yalta as a prize after leading a team that won an international competition titled “Tourist Code of My Country, City, Settlement, District – PRO-Tourism”. The school’s post described the visit as an educational stay in Russia. Checks by EUalive found that participants in the current edition of the competition came primarily from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Danybon has formally asked Bulgaria’s Ministry of Education and Science to investigate how a Bulgarian minor was able to spend a month in occupied territory during an ongoing war, and whether the trip had been authorised by relevant authorities.

The Shumen case is not an isolated incident. In recent years, the school has repeatedly appeared in reports highlighting close ties with Russian educational and cultural programmes. In July 2024, the school’s website announced that five students from grades eight to ten would attend summer training at the “Phystech Lyceum” near Moscow, as part of the international exchange programme “Zdravstvuy, Rossiya!”.

The students, all enrolled in specialised IT classes with intensive Russian-language instruction, were selected through a competition prepared by their Russian language teacher. According to the school, participants demonstrated “excellent knowledge of Russian history and culture” and were among 700 children worldwide chosen for the programme. Organisers covered all costs except airline tickets.

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In September 2025, the school reported student participation in a “World Youth Festival” in Nizhny Novgorod. In March last year, Bulgarian National Radio covered another case in which a school team returned from Moscow with first prize at an international tourism-themed competition.

Despite the extensive online presence of these activities, the school’s official website contains no mention of the Crimea visit itself. Its annual activity plan, however, includes celebrations such as Russia’s Maslenitsa festival, scheduled for late February.

The recurring exchanges have prompted broader questions about oversight. Media outlets have asked how contacts with Russian institutions are maintained, who finances the trips, whether the regional education inspectorate has approved them, and how student absences during the school year are justified. No official answers have been provided so far.

The issue comes amid growing international concern over Russia’s use of education as a tool of state ideology. In 2023 alone, Moscow allocated some $46 million from the federal budget to so-called “patriotic education”, including militarised school programmes and youth movements aligned with the Kremlin.

According to Velina Todorova, a Bulgarian legal scholar and vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, cited by EUalive’s partner Segabg.com, Russia actively promotes political ideology and narratives justifying armed conflict through schools, particularly in occupied territories. She has warned that children are taught loyalty to the Russian state and that military service is presented as the highest expression of patriotism.

This policy has drawn particular condemnation in relation to Ukrainian children from occupied regions. Thousands have been forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian-controlled territory, a practice described by international bodies as illegal deportation. Many are placed in educational institutions where Russian identity, language and military values are systematically imposed.

In Crimea and other occupied areas, education is reinforced by compulsory extracurricular activities such as “Lessons in Courage” and paramilitary youth organisations including Yunarmiya. These structures, experts warn, aim to erase Ukrainian identity and prepare minors for future military service against their own country.

EUalive sent questions to Bulgaria’s Ministry of Education regarding the Shumen case and the broader pattern of exchanges with Russian institutions. No response had been received at the time of publication.

Caption: Illustrative image from the website of the “Tourist Code of My Country, City, Settlement, District – PRO-Tourism” competition.