Russian educational institutions from kindergartens to universities have spent nearly 16 billion rubles (over $210 million) over the past four years on drones and equipment for training students to operate them, according to a report by independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe, based on an analysis of public procurement data. Before 2022, such spending had amounted to between 300 million and 350 million rubles ($4 million to $4.6 million) a year.
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, spending rose sharply: to 600 million rubles in 2022, 2.6 billion in 2023, and more than 9.7 billion rubles in 2024. In 2025, procurement volume fell to 2.8 billion rubles, but overall spending nevertheless remains far higher than before the war.
Drones are being purchased not only by specialized universities and colleges but also by regular schools. The publication also reported that kindergartens in the Tyumen and Perm regions and in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk had made similar acquisitions, with some even holding drone piloting competitions.
The biggest supplier of drones to educational institutions was the St. Petersburg-based company Geoscan, which since 2023 has been partly owned by Innopraktika, a fund run by Vladimir Putin’s daughter, Katerina Tikhonova. The second-largest supplier is MT-Integratsiya, a company linked to former business partners of Moscow transport department head Maksim Liksutov. Suppliers also include an entity from the Prosveshcheniye group, which has been linked to oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, a longtime friend and former judo partner of Vladimir Putin.
The rise in purchases comes as drones continue to play an ever greater role in the war in Ukraine. According to Latvian intelligence, drone strikes account for as much as 80% of losses on both sides. Separate unmanned systems forces have been created in both Russia and Ukraine, and Russian authorities are expanding the training of drone operators, including through educational institutions.
It was reported earlier that drone lessons had been added to Russia’s mandatory school curriculum under the subject “Labor (Technology),” and that university students are being actively recruited into drone units through financial incentives and administrative pressure.
