From 1 September 2027 the updated Defence of Ukraine course is to cover pupils in every school in the country, including senior pupils in the Bucha community. Upper secondary schools with specialised streams will offer in-depth study of drone piloting, engineering and cybersecurity.

This was reported by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Ukraine now has 1,027 Defence of Ukraine centres. These are equipped learning spaces shared by pupils from several schools, and roughly 80% of senior pupils study in them.

Over the course of the reform UAH 2.1 billion has gone into creating and equipping the centres. More than UAH 100 million more was spent on teacher training.

The ministry showed how the reform works at the second national Defence of Ukraine 2026 forum, held in Zakarpattia on 23–27 September. In the final quest 19 teams of senior pupils applied tourniquets, fired from different positions and flew small Tiny Whoop FPV drones.

The Defence of Ukraine reform began more than two years ago so that this subject would become a space where pupils learn to act, take responsibility and work as a team. Today Ukraine already has more than a thousand centres

Andrii ButenkoMinister of Education and Science of Ukraine

How many centres there are in Kyiv region

At the start of the 2025/2026 school year Kyiv region had 69 centres, the Kyiv Regional Military Administration reported. Of these, 61 were set up with state budget money co-financed by communities, and eight were equipped by the communities themselves.

Last school year 26,216 pupils in grades 10–11 and students on equivalent courses studied in the region, 24,704 of them in the centres. Pupils were brought there from 296 schools and colleges.

In Kyiv region the subject is taught by 168 specialists, 21 of them veterans. For new centres in 2026 the region received UAH 28.125 million in state funding.

A pupil practises on an FPV drone simulator during a training course for senior pupils in Kyiv regionPhoto: Kyiv Regional Military Administration
A pupil practises on an FPV drone simulator during a training course for senior pupils in Kyiv region

What lessons look like now

New teaching rules took effect this school year, the New Ukrainian School media outlet writes. Instead of weekly lessons, pupils have one eight-hour session a month at a centre.

There they practise first aid using the MARCH algorithm, fly FPV drones on simulators, and study mine safety and orienteering. A separate strand covers information security: critical thinking and countering hostile psychological operations.

A centre can be set up at a school with at least 80 senior pupils and a shelter no more than 500 metres away. Veterans and service members are brought in to teach.

As a reminder, senior pupils from Piskivka may move to a specialised upper secondary school in Borodianka.

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