Yatagan UAV Operators School
The Yatagan UAV Operators School trains military personnel to operate unmanned aerial systems. The program focuses on practical skills in piloting, maintaining, and deploying drones.
Training specializations at the school include:
– FPV drone operators (including kamikaze drones and drones equipped with payload-release systems);
– Operators of the copter-type reconnaissance UAVs.
– Operators of the copter-type strike UAVs.
– Operators of fixed-wing short-range ISR UAV.
– Operators of fixed-wing FPV UAV.
– Operators of FPV interceptor drones.
About the School’s Foundation
Modern warfare has shown that a drone’s effectiveness depends not only on its technical capabilities, but, above all, on the skill level of its operator. In response to this challenge, in April 2024, the Come Back Alive Foundation, in partnership with PrivatBank, launched the development of the Yatagan UAV Operators School within the structure of the Ground Forces. At the school, instructors with real combat experience train military personnel in professional training facilities to operate various types of drones with confidence and professionalism. Graduates conduct reconnaissance, strike targets, destroy enemy assets, lay mines, and support battlefield logistics.
Large-Scale Expansion
In total, over UAH 100 million was donated to the Yatagan’s development. Most of the funds were raised through public fundraising campaigns in 2024 and 2025, while the remaining resources were provided by the Foundation from general accounts.
The school’s development and expansion took place in two major stages. During the first year, the core infrastructure of the school was established, and the training facility was equipped with everything necessary. A total of UAH 34,349,556 was raised. These funds were used to:
- Equip 8 classrooms.
- Purchase 75 simulators, 3 minibuses, specialized training boards.
- Build 3 workshops dedicated to different types of UAVs.
- Set up 2 modular classrooms.
This infrastructure allowed the School to launch operations and train more than 100 specialists simultaneously.
At the beginning of 2025, the Foundation set a new ambitious goal: to expand the school’s capacity to train up to 3,000 specialists per year. Together with PrivatBank, the team launched the second stage of the project, raising UAH 52,730,509 for further expansion.
The funds were used to:
- Build 3 additional lecture halls.
- Equip 2 new simulation classrooms.
- Create an additional UAV maintenance workshop.
- Purchase 7 new vehicles.
- Procure drones, laptops, generators, and other training equipment for efficient training.
These investments significantly increased the school’s training capacity and improved the quality of instruction for military personnel preparing for combat missions.
Yatagan Graduates
Graduates of the Yatagan UAV Operators School are already applying their training on the battlefield and delivering effective results in their units. A soldier with the call sign “Fox” destroyed seven Russian drones during his first combat mission. Before deployment, he completed training at Yatagan, and his brigade received the equipment used in the engagement through the Dronefall project.
Another graduate, Alim, has served in the Ukraine’s Defense Forces since 2015. In November 2022, during combat operations in the Luhansk region with the 95th Air Assault Brigade, he was seriously wounded and lost his left leg in a traumatic amputation. After rehabilitation, he chose to return to service and enrolled in the Yatagan UAV Operators School.
“This is truly high-quality pilot training, and I have something to compare it with. If we have more such specialists, we will be able to make a difference on the battlefield,”
— Alim says.
Natalia, a soldier in the 20th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Systems “K-2”, also began her career in unmanned aviation at Yatagan. She has been in the military since 2023. Natalia used to be a Javelin ATGM instructor, but over time, she became fascinated with working with heavy unmanned bombers and decided to change her specialization. After completing her training at the Yatagan UAV Operators School, she now successfully carries out combat missions on the front lines, using Vampire drones.
*The purchase and handover amounts may differ in the reporting due to changes in the UAH equivalent of the item’s value caused by exchange rate fluctuations.
Below are photos from the handovers and equipped training spaces:
