Drone ‘athletes’ from 11 countries to attend tournament in Russia

The first competition of its kind in the country, slated for later this month, has been organized on the orders of President Vladimir Putin

Contenders from nearly a dozen nations will compete against each other in a sports drone tournament in the Russian capital later this month, Moscow authorities have announced.

In a statement on their website on Wednesday, authorities in the Russian capital said that the first-ever official international drone contest in Russia will be held from August 7 through August 17. Vying for the 5 million-ruble ($63,000) jackpot will be drone operators, some of whom hold international titles, from Australia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Spain, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye and France.

The event will take place as part of a broader forum devoted to civilian UAVs which was organized on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The competition will include several distinct disciplines, including a 50-lap first-person-view (FPV) obstacle race.

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According to Ilya Galaev, the president of Russia’s Drone Race Federation, the contest will see the strongest Russian pilots and those from abroad lock horns, and will be a major boost for the discipline as a whole.

Back in 2023, President Putin ordered Russia’s Agency of Strategic Initiatives to create special educational programs to promote the manufacturing and use of UAVs in the country.

In late May, Russian authorities also approved a drone school course.

Last June, Russia’s Higher Education and Science Minister, Valery Falkov, announced that multiple universities across the country were developing drone programs. Officials estimated at the time that Russia needed approximately one million UAV operators, engineers and other specialists in related fields.