Report: Russia Is Teaching Drone Warfare in Schools, UK Says
UK Defence Intelligence has revealed that Russia is integrating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) training into its national education system.
More than 2,500 teachers have been trained under the initiative, and courses are already running in over 500 schools and 30 colleges equipped with hands-on practice hubs.
The program stems from a May 2024 plan by Education Minister Valery Falkov to train one million UAS specialists by the decade’s end, the British agency said.
London highlighted that the initiative reflects the Kremlin’s strategic push to expand autonomous technologies and integrate them into military doctrine.
It also warned that teaching students to operate drones is part of Russia’s bigger push to make its society more military-focused, with lessons from the war in Ukraine shaping how drones are used and deployed more quickly.
Expanding UAS Units, Recruitment
The UK’s update comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s June announcement that a separate branch for uncrewed systems is being developed within the armed forces.
Putin said the new branch “ensures their rapid and high-quality deployment and development” as drones increasingly play a major role in Russia’s three-year invasion of Ukraine.
In August, Moscow reportedly met up to 110 percent of its monthly military recruitment targets.
Deputy Head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Vadym Skibitskyi, said up to 35,000 Russian personnel are enlisted each month, filling roughly two-thirds of the planned 343,000 recruits for the year.
In July, the Kremlin was discovered targeting children as young as 13 through video games, contests, and school projects to push them toward defense skills, including UAS operations.
These state-supported initiatives are organized with the government-backed Agency for Strategic Initiatives, which supports youth vocational and social programs.
