Lauge Risom Koch 
Russia has reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars building military training camps for children as part of a nationwide patriotic education programme.
Russia has reportedly invested hundreds of millions of dollars into a nationwide network of military training centres aimed at schoolchildren.
The programme, introduced as part of a broader patriotic education campaign, has drawn criticism over the militarisation of young people.
Nationwide network
According to The Daily Express, citing an investigation by Vot Tak, Russia has established 147 military training centres known as Avangard over the past five years.
The report said regional budgets, including those in annexed Crimea, allocated at least 36.5 billion rubles, or roughly $490 million, toward the programme.
The most expensive facility is reportedly located at Patriot Park, where construction and maintenance costs have reached around $183 million.
Mandatory training
Vot Tak reported that military instruction became compulsory in Russian schools from September 2023 under a subject titled Fundamentals of Security and Defence of the Motherland.
Students in the eighth and tenth grades are required to attend camps for several days as part of the curriculum.
The training reportedly includes wearing military uniforms, weapons handling, shooting drills and drone operation exercises.
Some students told Vot Tak they were later approached by military and security service recruiters.
Expansion into occupied areas
Russia also operates a separate military-patriotic training network called Voin.
According to The Daily Express, the Voin training system is active across 17 Russian regions as well as four occupied territories in Ukraine.
Unlike Avangard, the Voin network is reportedly financed directly through Russia’s federal budget.
More than 15 billion rubles, approximately $201 million, has already been allocated to those facilities, according to the investigation.
The findings have intensified criticism that Moscow is increasingly embedding military culture into the education system.
Ceasefire tensions
The report emerged as a US-backed ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was approaching its end.
European and American officials continuously seek to guide both sides toward ceasefire negotiations.
According to The Daily Express, both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of violating the temporary truce.
The Institute for the Study of War said satellite data suggested military operations had decreased but continued during the ceasefire period.
Sources: The Daily Express, Vot Tak, Institute for the Study of War
