Nursery school children have been dragged into Russia's pro-war 'Z' propaganda campaign with Vladimir Putin even demanding shows of loyalty from youngsters.
Kindergartens across Russia's 11 time zones have been strong armed into showing their "patriotism" by posing with the infamous 'Z' pro-war symbol.
In what appears to be an orchestrated propaganda campaign educational and public bodies all outwardly showed support for the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's smallest children were apart of this PR stunt as in eastern city Ussuriysk, almost 6,000 miles from Kyiv, children around the age of four were lined up in a Z-shape.
They were given Russian flags to wave as a patriotic song 'Go, Russia ' blared from the loudspeakers.
Some of the youngsters also waved cutouts of doves of peace.
The song’s lyrics include: "There is fire and strength in the word Russia, and victory flame. We raise the flag of Russia."
It didn't stop there, in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia, more children, this time aged around three, were posed with a large letter Z.
At nurseries in St Petersburg, children were instructed to make cardboard tanks and military-themed drawings.
Teachers at Kindergarten No. 11 in Vyborgsky district posed in Z-formation, as they did at Kindergarten No.116.
The letter 'Z', not from Russia's Cyrillic alphabet, was attached onto a number of Russian ranks and personnel vehicles that were invading Ukraine.
Since it has been commandeered for propaganda purposes.
More major shows of patriotism and pro-war propaganda using the Z-insignia are expected on Friday as Russia marks its eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Some have reported that the Z-propaganda wave was created by head of RT Margarita Simonyan, one of Putin's leading cheerleaders, who has not denied the claim.
Meanwhile, Moscow continue to claim they are acting defensively and the invasion is going to plan, even as it stretches into its fourth week.
Russia has not updated its official death toll for weeks, but it is believed to stretch well into the thousands now.
As of March 2, the country had declared 498 troops had died and 1,597 were wounded in the initial days of fighting.
At the time, these figures were believe to be less than the true number and there are now suspicions the authorities fear a public backlash if the real toll becomes known when Russian forces have so far failed to fulfil the aims of the invasion.
“Why else have they not tried to offer a new death toll figure?” asked a Western diplomat familiar with Moscow’s ways.
A Russian source with close military connections said the public would be "horrified" when they discovered the true war toll.
