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DONALD Trump issued a bleak warning that Putin wants to “keep killing people” after Russia launched its largest-yet barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine.
In a mid…
TWISTED Putin’s brainwashing programme has plunged to new depths with a dystopian propaganda cartoon aimed at toddlers.
The animated kids’ show uses toddler versions of world leaders to plant pro-Putin and anti-Western sentiments before kids can even walk or talk.
Sandpit features animated versions of Putin, Trump, Macron, Musk, Erdogan and Kim (top left to bottom right)[/caption]
A gentle, wide-eyed Putin with a bear and a ship symbolising the Black Sea Fleet[/caption]
Putin’s chief propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov, spearheaded the new show called Sandpit.
The producers say its aim is to “instil patriotism from an early age” and teach Russian infants to “discuss geopolitics”.
A 30-second trailer posted on Solovyov’s Telegram account shows toddler versions of Putin, Trump, Macron, Musk, Erdogan and Kim Jong-un chatting on a video call.
At one point, Kim tells Macron he shouldn’t be allowed to hang out with the others because “you’re always with your grandma” – a jibe at the French president’s wife, Brigitte, who is 24 years his senior.
When Trump asks why their call is taking place on a Russian video app, Putin fires back with a jab at Western technology: “Because your Skype cut out, that’s why.”
Speaking to The Sun, Dr Alasdair McCallum, a Russian propaganda expert at Australia’s Monash University, says: “The Sandpit cartoon is taking things to new extremes.
“You have these quite bizarre AI-generated cartoons aimed at toddlers.
“The aim is to indoctrinate from as early as possible – before they can even walk.”
Dr McCallum thinks the message in the trailer couldn’t be more obvious.
He explains: “The idea is that Russia is strong and the West is weak, so Trump, Macron and Musk are depicted as goofy and incapable of making strong decisions, whereas the little toddler version of Putin is very strong and composed.”
Putin, whose face appears kind and calm, is shown wearing a crisp white judo uniform.
Next to the Russian president sit a teddy bear, a symbol of national identity, and a black toy ship, representing the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet.
Meanwhile Kim, who is currently sending troops and weapons to back Putin’s war in Ukraine, comes across as missile-mad, gripping a toy rocket tightly with both hands.
Towering missiles also loom in the background of the dictator’s room – which, with its lack of windows, resembles a bunker.
And to drive the point home further, Kim’s email address – BigBadaBoom@pyongyang.kp – is a blatant nod to explosions, paired with the mock domain of North Korea’s capital.
Erdogan, whose email address is LuxuryTurkey@booking.com, is also portrayed in a wildly exaggerated style.
Wearing the traditional fez, the Turkish president appears against an ornate, Ottoman-inspired backdrop.
While presidents like Erdogan and Macron show cracks of anxiety, Trump and Musk grin smugly.
The businessman-turned-president sits in a gaudy room, while the Tesla CEO appears fixated on his toy car.
The cartoons even have their own avatars: Putin is a bear with a red star, Kim is a mushroom cloud and Trump is the pope blessing worshippers.
Many of the references will sail right over kids’ heads, Dr McCallum admits, but he says they serve the additional aim of shocking the rest of the world.
He explains: “A lot of Russian propaganda has a kind of shock element to it.
“This is why you often see extreme messages about the amount of nukes they could drop on Britain.”
He believes the timing of the show’s launch is far from a coincidence.
UK intelligence revealed in early June that Russia has suffered huge war losses, with about one million of its own soldiers either killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine since February 2022.
Sandpit aims to ‘instil patriotism from an early age’, according to its producers[/caption]
A missile-mad Kim Jong-un is shown holding a toy rocket[/caption]
A distressed Macron is teased over his older wife Brigitte, who is called his ‘grandma’[/caption]
Putin has ramped up propaganda aimed at children[/caption]
“They need to replenish that manpower, they have to try to indoctrinate them early,” says Dr McCallum.
But he finds it hard to imagine any of Solovyov’s eight privileged, Western-educated kids – born to three different women – dying on the front line in Donetsk.
“It’s always the lower echelons of society that get fed into this propaganda mill and then go to fight and die,” he adds.
Sandpit comes as the Kremlin ramps up efforts to target children – both Russian and Ukrainian – with state propaganda.
At Russia’s Victory Day parades, prams are turned into cardboard tanks and babies are dressed in tiny army uniforms.
Youth groups like Yunarmiya, along with school visits featuring war veterans, actively expose kids – even as young as preschool age – to the world of weaponry and military culture.
While boys are targeted with militaristic messaging, girls are fed pro-natalist narratives, pushing them toward motherhood and care-giving roles, says Dr McCallum.
Teenage girls are reportedly paid as much as £1,000 to have babies in more than 10 regions across Russia, including Oryol and Yaroslavl in the west, and Kemerovo in Siberia.
A TV show previously called ‘Pregnant at 16’ – intended to discourage teenage pregnancies – was rebranded as ‘Mama at 16’ in January.
Each episode now opens with the more optimistic phrase “I’m expecting a child” instead of the former “I’m pregnant”.
The channel that airs ‘Mama at 16’ also broadcasts similarly themed shows like ‘Supermum’, ‘Maternity Ward Days’, ‘Call Me Mum’ and ‘Mama at 45’.
Its website reads: “Yu is a reality show network about the most important things for a young woman: family, children, mother-in-laws, mums, friends and, of course, love.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and leading TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov[/caption]
VLADIMIR Solovyov is a leading TV presenter and pro-Putin propagandist.
Born in 1963 to a Jewish family in Moscow, he has hosted the prime-time show Evening with Vladimir Solovyov on state channel Russia-1 since 2012.
Known for his staunch support of Putin’s policies, Solovyov has been a vocal advocate for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Solovyov was sanctioned by the EU and banned from entering its member states.
Solovyov at the time said: “Today is the day that a righteous operation was launched for the de-Nazification in Ukraine.”
In August 2022, following proposals by some EU countries to ban tourist visas for Russians, Solovyov even suggested missile strikes on Berlin, Paris, London and Brussels.
At school, children face mandatory weekly lessons called “Conversations about Important Things”, where patriotism is drilled in and dying for the Motherland is glorified.
The course was introduced in September 2022 – eight months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In September 2023, new history textbooks were distributed across Russian schools that glorify Russia, omit criticism of Stalin and portray the West as aggressors.
Children are taught that Ukraine is a “Nazi state” and that Russia’s invasion is justified – no different to Putin’s claim that it’s “a question of life and death, the question of our historic future as a people”.
Dr McCallum explains: “A central element of Russian propaganda is that Russia and ethnic Russians were the sole victors over Nazism and that Ukraine is an artificial Nazi state.
“But this doesn’t gel with the reality of a Jewish president [Zelensky] and support from European countries.”
Russian children enrolled in the Youth Army are seen trying on gas masks[/caption]
The Kremlin is trying to boost support for its military among children[/caption]
Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Russians do not rely solely on state-controlled TV.
Dependence on state TV dropped sharply from around 90 percent to just over 60 percent from 2013 to 2021, according to the Atlantic Council.
Meanwhile, over 85 percent of Russians are said to have internet access.
Despite increased Kremlin censorship, independent platforms like YouTube and Telegram remain accessible in Russia.
Many people also use virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass restrictions.
The majority of Russians still back the war in Ukraine, according to the latest 2025 surveys from Levada Center, Statista, and VCIOM.
But the data reveals a growing appetite for peace talks.
Younger generations, in particular, show lower support for the conflict compared to their elders.
However, experts warn that public surveys on Russian support for the war should be taken with a pinch of salt, as censorship and fear of repercussions can dictate people’s responses.
Over 500 Russian teenagers have been arrested at anti-war rallies since 2022, according to human rights group OVD-Info.
One of them, Arseny Turbin, was just 15 when he was arrested and accused of joining the Freedom of Russia Legion – a group made up of Russian citizens fighting alongside Ukraine.
He was also charged with distributing leaflets critical of Vladimir Putin and the war.
Arseny was sentenced to five years in a youth detention centre in November last year – where he remains to this day.
A classroom of Russian children in Moscow[/caption]
A Russian boy examines an AK-74 Kalashnikov assault rifle at a military exhibition[/caption]
A Russian military officer accepts flowers from a girl during Victory Day parade[/caption]
By Sayan Bose
VLADIMIR Putin is brainwashing schoolchildren to stop them from becoming critics of his regime, experts say.
Since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has ramped up efforts to control the younger generation and dissuade them from becoming critics of the state.
At the heart of this campaign are the so-called “Three Pillars” of propaganda that the Kremlin introduced to promote pro-Putin ideologies.
Tactics like compulsory patriotic education and drastic changes in Russian history that fit the Kremlin’s narrative have been introduced alongside active military-patriotic activities.
Russia experts say that the regime – convinced it is at war with the West – needs support from its citizens more than ever.
Experts argue that by indoctrinating a new generation of patriots, the Kremlin aims to push anti-Western ideology and stop young people from turning against Putin’s regime.
Mikhail Komin, a Russia expert from the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Sun: “Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has realised he needs a more loyal public and the influence he had on them was not enough.
“So now he is brainwashing the children from kindergarten up to the youth studying in universities.
“The Russian regime believes that a real rivalry with the West, a war with Nato has now begun and the whole world is watching it so Putin is trying to control as much population as he can.”
Dr Maxim Alyukov, a King’s College Russia program research fellow, said Putin views children as a potential threat to his iron-fist regime.
He told The Sun: “By shaping students’ views early, the government hopes to influence their political attitudes and ‘inoculate’ them before they reach adulthood, become interested in politics, and potentially become an audience for the opposition.
“Children are often used as a pretext for justifying more repressive measures. Framing repressive measures as necessary for the protection of children tends to receive less public resistance.
“Many repressive policies, such as anti-LGBT measures, internet censorship and many others, were introduced in Russia using children as a justification.”
A WAVE of Russian drone attacks struck Ukraine overnight just hours after a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin ended with “no progress at all”.
Explosi…
UKRAINE killed the deputy commander of Russia’s navy who was plotting a new invasion.
The Hero of Russia, Major General Mikhail Gudkov, 42, was killed in a missile strike in Kursk…
A CHILLING audio clip has emerged revealing the moment Russians shot down a passenger plane on Christmas that left 38 people dead.
New evidence suggests the Russians knew the obj…
NORTH Korea is reportedly planning to send 30,000 more troops to fight alongside the Russians against Ukraine.
It comes just a day after tyrant Kim Jong-un wept over the coffins …
SICKENING footage of a Ukrainian prisoner being dragged across a road to his death by evil Russian invaders has been released.
The defenceless prisoner of war (PoW) can be seen hogtied and strapped up to the back of a motorbike by a rope.
Sickening footage shows a Ukrainian PoW being hogtied by the side of the road and strapped to a motorbike by the Russians[/caption]
The PoW was dragged across an empty road to his death[/caption]
Two of Vladimir Putin’s men can be seen taking part in the fatal act as one sits on the bike and the other drags the PoW into position[/caption]
Disturbing video shows the fiend callously driving his military motorbike down an empty road in Russian occupied Ukraine.
The Sun is choosing not to show the footage due to its barbarity.
Two of Vladimir Putin’s men can be seen taking part in the fatal act as one sits on the bike and the other drags the PoW into position.
Moments later, aerial video captures the men driving away as the prisoner is taken along with them.
It is unclear exactly where the footage is filmed from.
It has now been blasted by Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets who blamed it on Putin’s brainwashed invaders.
Lubinets said: “A video is being circulated on social media: it shows a man tied to a motorcycle and dragged along the road.
“This is demonstrative cruelty and another war crime by the Russian Federation.”
He has contacted the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross over the alleged atrocity which – if confirmed – amounts to a heinous war crime.
It would be a “gross violation” of the Geneva Conventions and International Humanitarian Law.
“Russia is acting like a terrorist state,” Lubinets continued.
“And it must bear fair responsibility for every crime.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office reported on May 23 that 75 criminal cases involving the killing of 268 prisoners by Russian troops are being investigated in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.”
Throughout the conflict, Putin’s men have been accused of carrying out brutal war crimes.
In January, Russian soldiers filmed themselves shooting dead six Ukrainian PoWs in cold blood.
Kyiv launched a criminal investigation into the murders and reported the sickening killings to the UN and Red Cross – insisting Russia cannot be allowed to so brazenly flout the laws of war.
The PoWs are seen lying face down on the ground in a wooded area next to a temporary hut.
“This one’s mine,” says one of the executioners after demanding: “Give me two machine guns.”
And last October, a squad of Ukrainian drone pilots were executed by the Russians.
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
A UKRAINIAN prisoner of war who had the words “Glory to Russia” burnt on his skin has said he was left begging to die.
Following his release in a prisoner swap earlier this year, Andriy Pereverzev has revealed disturbing details of his time in captivity, including the sick torture method known as “Calling Putin”.
The Ukrainian POW was captured in February 2024 on the battlefield after being severely wounded.
Despite his pleas to just “end it” and “finish” him off, Pereverzev was carried to an encampment where he was brutally tortured.
Speaking for the first time about his experience, Pereverzev told how he was mercilessly electrocuted by Vlad’s troops seeking intelligence.
He said: “While they were carrying me. I kept asking them, ‘Finish me off. Just end it, but they didn’t.
“They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again.”
As well as being horrifically beaten, the POW described how he had the words “Glory to Russia” burned on his skin whilst in captivity.
A disturbing photo emerged earlier this month showing the mutilated soldier.
Nine of the unmanned vehicle aces were filmed being shot dead after being stripped to their underwear.
Russia’s dictator is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) after tens of thousand of Ukrainian children have been snatched by Russia in recent years.
It comes as fighting between Russia and Ukraine has continued to escalate – over three and a half years into the conflict.
One of Putin’s top commanders was wiped out this week following the first Brit-made Storm Shadow blitz in months.
The deadly strike hit “the headquarters of the 8th combined arms army of the Russian Armed Forces” in occupied Donetsk – killing Colonel Ruslan Goryachkin.
Russia has unleashed deadly strikes almost every night in recent weeks as they look to steal away more land from Ukraine before agreeing to a peace deal.
The strikes came as Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg hit back at Putin over delays in the peace process.
Kellogg targeted the dictator’s mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov as he slammed him, saying: “Peskov’s recent comments on the state of negotiations are Orwellian.
“Russian claims that it is the US and Ukraine stalling peace talks are unfounded – President Trump has been consistent and adamant about making progress to end the war.
“We urge an immediate ceasefire and a move to trilateral talks to end the war. Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine.”
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court over war crimes[/caption]
In January, Russian soldiers filmed themselves shooting dead six Ukrainian PoWs in cold blood[/caption]
Ukraine ‘used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles’ to strike military targets in Russian-occupied Donetsk[/caption]
THIS is the dramatic moment Russians sprinted in terror as Ukrainian kamikaze drones blitzed one of Vladimir Putin’s weapons strongholds.
Explosive footage showed the Lyutyi…
A SECRETIVE Russian “killer satellite” deployed in space was detected launching another mysterious flying object near a US spacecraft.
Kosmos-2558 is a Russian militar…
VLADIMIR Putin’s officers have been killed in droves in the first British-made Storm Shadow strike in months, reports claim.
Bombshell footage showed the damage in Donetsk amid claims of “massive casualties among Russian officers” and the “crippling” of a mad Vlad fighting force.
Ukraine ‘used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles’ to strike military targets in Russian-occupied Donetsk overnight[/caption]
Preliminary reports indicate that a fire broke out at an oil depot following an overnight Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied Luhansk[/caption]
A firefighter works to put out a fire at the market hit by recent shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike[/caption]
If confirmed, it would be the first use of the British-supplied missiles in months.
Red-faced Russian authorities admitted only that a woman had died and three people were wounded, including a teenager.
A building collapsed in the combined missile and drone strikes, with fire spreading to nearby shops, according to Russian reports.
And both Russian and Ukrainian sources revealed Britain’s state-of-the-art Storm Shadow missiles were involved in the major strike.
Ukrainian sources said the strike was on the Donetsk Research Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals – a military target used by Russian occupiers.
Ukrainian channel Supernova+ said the strike was on “the headquarters of the 8th combined arms army of the Russian Armed Forces”.
The report revealed: “The building is penetrated to the basement. [The dead] are being taken out in batches.”
And journalist Ivan Yakovina said: “Clear results of the recent Nato summit – cruise missiles supplied by the UK and France today destroyed the headquarters of the 8th Combined Arms Army in Donetsk and a massive depot with an oil terminal in Luhansk.
“There were massive casualties among Russian officers at the HQ.
“They were confident that Ukraine no longer had the means to strike at such depth, so they didn’t even bother to go down to the shelter during the alert.”
He added that the result of this was “dozens killed and wounded – an entire army has been crippled”.
Other reports say the site hit was a key place for works on UAVs and electronic warfare in the latest devastating loss for Putin.
Russian head of occupied Donetsk region Denis Pushilin said 26 missiles, drones and 155-mm artillery were unleashed by Ukraine, causing significant damage to various infrastructure.
Until today, there have been no confirmed reports of Storm Shadows being deployed since November last year.
Britain’s bunker-busting Storm Shadow rockets are a nightmare for enemies as they are capable of dodging air defences.
The £800,000 missiles – already being fired within Ukraine – use GPS to precisely hit targets, and can travel at 600mph.
France‘s equivalent is known as SCALP‑EG.
In November last year, the US authorised Ukraine to use American long-range missiles called ATACMS against targets inside Russia.
Bombshell footage showed the damage in Donetsk[/caption]
An industrial facility and several residential buildings were damaged in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia[/caption]
In the same month, Britain gave the green light for Ukraine to fire our Storm Shadow missiles at Russia.
France has supplied its Scalp missiles to Ukraine, and reiterated in November that strikes on military targets inside Russia were an option.
Major fires were also seen in neighbouring Luhansk, also Russian occupied, with reports that an oil terminal was hit.
This followed an unconfirmed Russian claim that the entire territory of the Luhansk region was now in Putin’s hands – a longtime aim for the mad dictator.
But there was no independent verification of the claim by puppet leader Leonid Pasechnik.
Meanwhile, Ukraine targeted Russian region Rostov, and the Crimean Bridge linking the Black Sea peninsula to Russia’s mainland was closed.
Explosions and sirens could be heard in Saratov and Engels – a key base for Russian strategic bomber aircraft.
Russia staged attacks on the Zaporizhzhia region with an enterprise and private houses hit – unleashing fiery chaos.
Ukraine also targeted the Izhevsk electromechanical plant Dome in a drone strike, which makes air defence systems and drones.
The strikes came as Donald Trump’s special representative Keith Kellogg hit back at Putin over delays in the pace process – targeting the dictator’s mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov.
He slammed: “Peskov’s recent comments on the state of negotiations are Orwellian.
“Russian claims that it is the US and Ukraine stalling peace talks are unfounded – President Trump has been consistent and adamant about making progress to end the war.
“We urge an immediate ceasefire and a move to trilateral talks to end the war. Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine.”
SECURITY expert David H. Carstens believes Putin has four key vulnerability and ‘will die like Hitler’.
The ex-commander told The Sun: “2025 could be the costliest year of the war for Russia in terms of casualties, look, troops are not a limitless resource. So that’s, shall we say, risk number one for Putin.
“Number two is despite Russia’s ability to suffer, the fact that the economy is very fragile.
“If there is some sort of an economic shock, like a massive drop in fuel prices or the loss of a strategic trade partner, I think the system could destabilize.
“Risk or threat to Putin number three is that Putin depends on this very small inner circle.
“His security services, the FSB, his oligarchs, some loyalist military commanders.
“If there are continued war failures, if there is, you know, continued use of soldiers, you know, en masse, rushing Ukrainian defenses, creating these high casualty events, lack of confidence will rise, and this could fracture the inner circle.”
Carstens warned Putin could face the same fall from power as Hitler and end up dead like the Nazi dictator.
“I’ve got to reach into history for the threat to Putin number four. I just don’t think Putin has read his history when it comes to overreach,” he added.
“So Russia is incredibly overextended in Ukraine.
“And it is this exact same type of overreach that ultimately defeated Hitler in his conquest of Europe.
“So I think Putin has fallen into the same demise, is getting mired down in a conflict he cannot sustain, and that as well is part of his Achilles’ heel.”
Russia staged attacks on the Zaporizhzhia region[/caption]
Major fires were also seen in neighbouring Luhansk[/caption]
Firefighters work to put out a fire at the market hit by recent shelling[/caption]