Drone Education: Putin Orders Russian Schools to Teach Students How to Use Same Weapons Used in War Against Ukraine
June 2 2023, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
Vladimir Putin ordered a number of schools across Russia to start teaching a “building and programming drones” course amid the country’s ongoing war against Ukraine, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a startling development to come as the 70-year-old Russian leader’s battle against Ukraine continues to escalate, Russian students aged 12 to 15 are reportedly learning how to assemble and fly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Even more surprising are reports that the Russian schools were forced to spend more than $10,000 per drone in order to teach the new Putin-implemented weapons course.
“Schoolchildren in the Kaliningrad region will be taught not only to manage but also to develop drones,” Daily Star reported this week.
“Secondary school No. 50 in Kaliningrad placed a purchase of an educational air module for the development of UAVs for [$98,000],” the report continued.
“The school will spend another [$53,000] on the software and hardware complex for piloting an unmanned aircraft with the function of aerial photography.”
The sudden move came just weeks after Putin called for schools across Russia to begin teaching “educational programs” about drones “as soon as possible.”
“This so-called early career guidance will ultimately benefit the country,” Putin said in April.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the news of the drone courses being implemented into the Russian school system also came shortly after it was revealed that Putin is also rolling out a new Russian history textbook starting next academic school year.
The new schoolbook, titled History of Russia, will be aimed at Russian students aged 15-16 and 17-18. The book will also reportedly teach the Russian students that Putin’s war against Ukraine was justified because Ukraine “attacked Russia first.”
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“Against Russia, on far-fetch pretexts, all but new sanctions, an ongoing weighty and informational campaign was carried out,” one History of Russia page reportedly teaches.
"Ukraine began to be used as the striking fist of the West, aimed at Russia, to have an effect during the years of the presidency of Zelenskyy under full external control,” reads another.
The drone courses and new Russian history textbooks seemingly mark Putin’s latest attempts to justify his war against Ukraine, particularly as the Russian people grow increasingly disillusioned with the already lengthy and bloody conflict.