Drones Instead of Books: russian Summer Camps Turned into Training Grounds

minister of science and higher education of the rf valery falkov’s statement that russia “has no need for total higher education”, is a blatant admission of the collapse of the russian economy and its intellectual potential.

Instead of fostering young people’s critical thinking, academic education, and professional fulfillment, the focus is shifting definitively toward militarization. This is evident not only in official rhetoric but also in practical measures, particularly in the organization of summer camps and extracurricular programs.

The initiatives described – where children are taught tactical training, marksmanship, UAV operation, camouflage, and “behavior during shelling” – can hardly be called ordinary patriotic education. In fact, this amounts to early military training disguised as leisure activities. Children’s camps in 2026 with names like “assaulter” and scenarios involving “war alerts” create an atmosphere in which war becomes the norm, and the future graduate is a potential combatant rather than a civil society professional.

It is especially telling that such programs are supported by government agencies and organizations linked to military units. This is a systemic approach: militarization ceases to be an exception and becomes part of the educational model. From an early age, children are offered not development in science, technology, or humanities, but adaptation to the logic of war.

In russia, education in its classical sense – as a path to independent thinking, career choices, and social mobility – is being devalued. Instead, the priority is training personnel to meet the state’s industrial and military needs.

Summer camps, which should be places for rest, creativity, and socialization, are being turned into training grounds for military discipline, obedience, and readiness for violence.

russia does not need intellectuals capable of shaping the future. It needs obedient biomass: boys who, straight from the school benches, know how to operate kamikaze drones and will unquestioningly follow orders, and girls who will serve this conveyor belt of death. The deliberate destruction of the country’s intellectual capital for the sake of a dictator’s momentary whims is the ultimate manifestation of genocide against its own people, depriving russia of any prospects in the modern world.