Ukrainian schoolkids are learning how to fly drones, because “we don’t know how long this war will last”

September 25, 2026 / 12:04 PM EDT / CBS News

Kyiv — Wooden boards line the entry corridor, replacing windows shattered by a recent Russian drone attack near the school's campus, 20 miles south of Ukraine's capital. The principal says they could become a permanent fixture, as repairs would cost $500,000.

Inside, children sit next to old Soviet guns — gifts from their parents' military units — leaning against the classroom walls as they tinker with sleek, first-person-view (FPV) drones spread out across tables.

Tech Explorers, an educational program run by the Ukrainian nonprofit group Dignitas, operates free after-school sessions for children of Ukrainian service members, focused on teaching them science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The underlying purpose of the lessons, the instructors told CBS News, is not to shy away from the realities of Ukraine's four-and-a-half year war with Russia, but to lean into them.

The students learn how to fly, build and repair FPV drones — technology that has transformed the modern battlefield in Ukraine.

Drones now account for 90% of the casualties being sustained by both sides, according to estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, but they are also increasingly used for logistics, medical…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/