A Russian drone manufacturer with ties to President Vladimir Putin’s daughter has published the country’s first school textbook on operating drones, the company announced on Monday.
“This is currently the only school publication on unmanned aircraft systems that has passed state expertise,” said drone maker Geoscan.
Titled “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: 8th and 9th Grades,” the textbook was added to Russia’s federal education curriculum and will be taught as part of the robotics section in Tech Ed classes.
“We approached the creation of this textbook... based on 14 years of experience in drone development and eight years in educational robotics,” said Mikhail Lutsky, head of educational projects at Geoscan. “This isn’t dry theory — it’s tested material that we’ve turned into an understandable, ready-to-use course.”
Geoscan published the textbook in 2024 in partnership with Prosveshcheniye, Russia’s largest schoolbook publisher. The Education Ministry approved the textbook last month.
In November 2023, a foundation for intellectual development headed by Putin’s youngest daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, acquired a 10% stake in Geoscan, according to independent media reports. The company is under U.S. sanctions.
The new textbook is part of Russia’s national initiative to train 1 million drone operators at more than 500 schools and 30 universities by 2030.
In 2023, some 30,000 university students in Moscow and St. Petersburg began taking drone operation courses, while schoolchildren were introduced to basic combat drone skills as part of military training.
Both Russia and Ukraine have made extensive use of combat drones since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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