The Russian government has introduced changes under which schoolchildren across the country will now be taught how to assemble and operate drones. According to government documents cited by the state news agency RIA Novosti, the training will take place during classes on the “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland.”
The Russian government has approved lists of teaching equipment, which include about 90 different items, ranging from weapon mockups and first-aid supplies to soldiers’ mess kits, tents, and night-vision devices. The list includes mockups of a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a Makarov pistol, dummy RGD and F-1 hand grenades without simulated fuses, and models of RGN and RGO grenades.
An additional list of more than 50 teaching items for the course includes equipment and materials related to drones. These include instructional kits on unmanned aerial vehicles, educational sets for developing different types of UAVs, hardware and software systems for piloting, drone-constructor kits, and software for aerial racing. Students will be taught the basics of programming and piloting using a remote control or a smartphone.
Last year, The Insider published an investigation detailing how hundreds of thousands of Russian schoolchildren had been drawn into programs linked to the Defense Ministry that were presented as educational games, clubs, and competitions. Children were taught to build the types of drones that have been used to kill civilians in Ukraine. Participants in the clubs were offered extra points on Russia’s unified state exam and promised future careers at state-owned corporations.