-
Russia plans to introduce drone training sessions at schools in occupied parts of Ukraine, reports say.
-
The courses cover the design features and mounting of UAVs.
-
Drones have played a crucial role for both Russian and Ukrainian forces in the war.
Russia will introduce drone training sessions at schools in occupied territories of Ukraine from September, said Ivan Fedorov, the head of the Zaporizhia regional military administration.
“On September 1, 2024, a new subject will be introduced in schools in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine – a course on the management of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” he wrote on Telegram.
“Officially they may call it ‘training’, but in reality they are preparing young people for murder,” he continued, adding that it was “a blatant violation of international law.”
It follows a February report from the National Resistance Center of Ukraine, which was established by Ukrainian Special Operations Forces in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, which said Russia planned to use “technologies, design features and assembly of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military purposes.”
Fedorov said the Russian plan was to send drones and military personnel to schools to help with training.
It is not clear whether the possible training sessions would be for all children or for specific age groups.
International humanitarian law prohibits the recruitment and use of children under the age of 15 in armed conflict. This is considered a war crime, according to the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Drones have played a crucial role for both the Russian and Ukrainian armies in the war so far, and they have been used for a wide range of operations including reconnaissance, guiding artillery and conducting air strikes.
Defense One reported that Russia had set up a training center in occupied Ukraine to train both Russian military and civilian drone operators for combat.
Citizens undergoing training at the center in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine do not officially join the army, the report said, citing Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.
A 2023 report from the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab found that at least 6,000 children from Ukraine had been taken to so-called Russian “re-education camps” aimed at making them “more pro-Russia in their personal and political views.”
The report said children in some of the 43 camps had received firearms training, although there appeared to be no evidence the children had been sent to fight.
Read the original article on Business Insider
