russian occupation authorities in temporarily occupied Sevastopol are involving children as young as seven in drone piloting competitions, while university students are being trained to operate unmanned systems, according to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence.
At the end of October, approximately 50 schoolchildren aged between 7 and 18 advanced to the regional stage of drone piloting competitions. The event was organized by the Movement of the First and the so-called drone racing federation.
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At the same time, students in Sevastopol are receiving practical training in operating unmanned systems. The instruction involves not only simulators but also actual drones and equipment used by the russian army.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence describes these activities as part of a broader effort to militarize Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories. Drone training is only one element of the program, which introduces military-related activities into schools and other educational institutions.
In Crimean schools, children also receive firearms training, learn to disassemble Kalashnikov assault rifles, and undergo drill exercises. They are additionally involved in so-called military-patriotic quests attended by russian military personnel who have fought against Ukraine.
The intelligence agency also reports that schoolchildren are made to learn songs by russian propagandists. These activities combine military training with the promotion of russian narratives and the normalization of the occupation.
Meanwhile, occupation authorities are promoting contract service in russia's Unmanned Systems Forces, expanding recruitment into security structures, and installing memorial plaques in educational institutions commemorating russian military personnel killed in the war against Ukraine.
These measures are part of a systematic effort to accustom Ukrainian children to war from an early age and prepare a potential future recruitment pool for the russian military.
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