Diving Training School

The Diving Training School is a training unit within the Ukrainian Navy that trains combat divers across multiple specializations to conduct operations both above and below the water surface.

The school trains the following personnel:

• combat divers;
• demolition divers;
• diving instructors;
• diving squad leaders.

The basic course under the Diver program lasts 42 days.

The School also provides training for ship and boat crews. Soldiers are taught survival skills and how to respond to emergencies at sea.

The School continues to expand its training programs and introduce new specializations, including training for rescue divers and mine-clearance divers.

The Nature of Combat Divers’ Work

Combat divers carry out underwater missions in conditions of limited visibility and heightened risk, where every action requires maximum precision. They conduct search-and-rescue operations, locating and rescuing people; they locate and recover equipment and sunken objects, including ship-lifting operations. Combat divers also perform vessel diving operations, including the inspection, maintenance, and repair of hulls and underwater sections of vessels.

In addition, divers are involved in engineering support for troops: participating in the construction of crossings, underwater installation of structures, and performing other specialized tasks. Another important area is mine countermeasures operations: the search for, identification, and disposal of explosive objects underwater. These specialists also carry out tasks as part of special operations that require a high level of training and coordination.

The School’s Development 

The school was officially established in 2019 at the Ukrainian Navy Institute following the loss of naval training facilities in Crimea after the occupation of the peninsula. The new training center had to be built virtually from scratch.

The Come Back Alive Foundation joined the school’s development in 2024, when there was an urgent need to strengthen its training infrastructure and technical capabilities. One of the key solutions is a mobile diving station, which enables the rapid deployment of a self-contained training camp for 15 divers and 5 instructors in any coastal or inland water area. It includes tents, generators, compressors, life support systems and water desalination equipment.

The Foundation also provided specialized equipment — a portable hyperbaric chamber that provides immediate assistance to divers in case of decompression sickness and ensures their safe transport to a medical facility.

Come Back Alive also purchased pickup trucks for the diving training school to transport equipment and ensure the mobility of instructors and cadets. A shelter capable of accommodating up to 30 people was constructed on the School’s premises. Inside the building, the infrastructure was upgraded: windows were replaced, and air conditioners were installed to improve training and living conditions.

To date, the Come Back Alive Foundation has allocated nearly UAH 30 million to the school’s development.

Below are photos from the project handover and training activities: