In occupied Crimea, training for children and students in drone operation is being expanded
In occupied Crimea, programmes to train children and young people to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been stepped up. This week in Kerch, 47 students completed a course in drone operation, with another 25 students due to complete their training in the near future.
Igor Boiko, advisor to the director of the Crimean Research Institute of Unmanned Technologies, spoke about the development of such initiatives on the Krym 24 television channel. He stated that a closed training system is being formed on the peninsula, from school age to professional activity.
According to Boiko, on 19 February, the first official "drone league" for school-age children in the Russian Federation was opened in Crimea. The competition will be similar in format to sports tournaments: participants will compete against each other in eight rounds over a period of six months.
Earlier, Sergey Aksyonov, Russia's appointed "head" of the peninsula, also announced plans to turn Crimea into a training centre for UAV operators. At the end of 2024, according to him, the "Unmanned Technologies" cup was launched in the occupied territory, in which 48 schoolchildren from eight schools in Simferopol and the Simferopol district took part.
Aksyonov noted that Crimea is "the only region in the country" where a full training cycle has allegedly been established — from the selection of gifted schoolchildren and students to obtaining a profession and inclusion in the personnel reserve.
Career guidance activities continue to be strengthened. Igor Boiko said that within the new "drone league," schoolchildren will compete systematically, while students will gradually enter the profession.
Separately, an event called "Battle of the Drones" was announced at the occupied Artek children's centre. According to the occupation administration, from 10 April to 1 May, they plan to gather teenagers aged 14 to 17 from different regions of Russia there.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Russia's appointed "governor" of Sevastopol, stated on his Telegram channel that the aim of the festival is to identify and support talented schoolchildren, develop their engineering skills and exchange experiences.
At the same time, journalist and deputy director of the Ukrainian Institute Alim Aliyev noted in the PRO Crimea podcast with Svitlana Stetsenko that such initiatives indicate the systematic militarisation of children and young people on the occupied peninsula. According to him, schools hold meetings with participants in the so-called "special military operation," and there are paramilitary structures such as "Yunarmiya" and "Otryad Pervykh" that involve teenagers in military training.
Aliyev stressed that the occupied Crimea is a security factor for the entire Black Sea region and Europe as a whole.
