Russia has spent at least 50 billion rubles on military training centres for schoolchildren, report finds  

Russian authorities have spent at least 50 billion rubles (€576 million) over the past five years constructing facilities where schoolchildren undergo compulsory military training, independent outlet Vot Tak reported on Monday.

Much of this training is conducted through a network of centres called Avangard, of which 147 were operational across Russia and occupied Ukraine as of September 2025. Vot Tak's analysis found that budgets from 39 regions — including annexed Crimea — have allocated at least 36.5 billion rubles (€420 million) to Avangard centres. The most expensive single facility is located at Patriot Park, a military-themed complex, where construction and upkeep have totalled 13.6 billion rubles (€157 million).

A second network of military-patriotic centres, known as Voin, also exists. These facilities operate in 17 Russian regions as well as four occupied Ukrainian territories. Unlike Avangard, the Voin centres are funded directly from the federal budget, with more than 15 billion rubles (€173 million) already spent on their construction and maintenance, Vot Tak found.

Mandatory military exercises for Russian schoolchildren were introduced on 1 September, 2023, under the new compulsory subject Fundamentals of Security and Defence of the Motherland. Tenth-graders are required to spend five days at the camps, while eighth-graders attend for three. During that time, pupils wear military uniforms, undergo drill training, and learn to shoot, handle firearms, and operate drones.

Students who attended the camps told Vot Tak they had been approached for recruitment by the armed forces and security services, as well as pressured to enrol in military academies.