27 March 2026

How Russia Leads Crimean Children from the School Desk to a Combat Contract

Following the temporary occupation of Crimea, Russia has consistently transformed education into a tool for the militarisation of the peninsula. While initially it involved imposing Russian “standards”, displacing the Ukrainian language, and spreading propaganda, the Russian occupying authorities are now moving to the next stage: the systematic preparation of children and youth for service in the Russian armed forces.

It is important to note that Russia’s forced conscription of Ukrainian citizens from the temporarily occupied territories, including Crimea, into its army and their use in the war against their own state is a war crime and a gross violation of international humanitarian law, specifically Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Such actions are classified as forced mobilisation, which is prohibited in occupied territories.

One of the key elements of this policy has become training in operating drones.

During January–February 2026, the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea / Crimea Platform Office recorded that the occupying structures began to openly integrate the topic of unmanned systems into the educational process, extracurricular education, and public events for youth.

For example, in January this year, an event was held at the Simferopol College of Radioelectronics to form a “personnel reserve of FPV drone operators”. Students were offered a six-month training course, followed by the opportunity to sign a military contract instead of undergoing conscript service. Similar events were held in at least 10 colleges and in general secondary education institutions.

The occupiers hold forums, festivals, and competitions where youth are taught piloting, shown combat drones and ammunition mock-ups, and explained the tactics of their use in war. Thus, in February 2026, the first regular school drone racing league was launched in Simferopol, involving eight schools and 24 students.

In the same month in temporarily occupied Yalta, college students were involved in drone classes: they were shown various types of drones, including reconnaissance FPV devices, and were also offered to try on military equipment.

Almost simultaneously, a forum on unmanned systems involving over a thousand students was held at the Sevastopol College of Information Technologies, where samples of Russian army weaponry were demonstrated and piloting masterclasses were conducted. Over 200 people have already completed additional education programmes at this college.

The occupiers involve both educational institutions and camps in such programmes. For instance, the “Battle of Drones” interregional festival will soon take place in “Artek”, during which teenagers aged 14–17 will be taught to design, programme, and pilot unmanned aerial vehicles. This festival has been held in Sevastopol for two consecutive years, indicating an established practice of the occupiers rather than a one-off initiative.

It is particularly dangerous that the occupying administration is attempting to blur the line between a game, education, and real war. For instance, at a “military-tactical games” festival in the Simferopol district alone, more than 300 students and schoolchildren simultaneously competed in drone races and practised assembling Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The occupiers place special emphasis on financial motivation. Service in UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) units is presented as a “path of social mobility”, promising large payouts, benefits, and “career prospects”. For youth growing up under occupation, this model is imposed as one of the few accessible scenarios for the future.

This is the main danger: Russia is gradually shaping an environment in which military service becomes the norm, and education loses its peaceful dimension. Schools, colleges, and universities are becoming components of a personnel training system for war.

The militarisation of education in Crimea is not a secondary issue, but one of the key threats to the peninsula’s future and the prospects for its reintegration, as Russia is trying to raise a generation for whom war will become an ordinary part of life.