- Open source reporting indicates Russian children and youngpeople are being taught and trained in the operation andtechnical underpinnings of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) atmore than 500 schools in Russia, as well as 30 colleges withpractical training centres. More than 2,500 teachers arereported to have been trained to teach in this field. This formspart of Russia’s Minister of Education and Science Valery Falkov’sMay 2024 stated intention to have trained one million UASspecialists by 2030.
- On 12 June 2025 Russian President Putin also reportedly statedthat the development and deployment of a separate branch ofspecific uncrewed systems forces within the Russian ArmedForces was currently taking place.
- The teaching and instruction of Russian children and youngpeople in the use of UAS is a notable development in the highlylikely continuing militarisation of Russian education, a trendwhich has increased since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in2022. Together with Putin’s reported statement, this alsohighlights the continually increasing importance of UAS in theRussia-Ukraine conflict, as well as Russia’s almost certain intent tosignificantly increase both its UAS proficiency, and the scopeand scale of its UAS capabilities, in the longer term.