Children in Lithuania are to be taught how to build and operate drones as part of the small Baltic country’s efforts to build capacity to deal with any future threat from Russia.

In a joint initiative by the defence and education ministries, the government said on Tuesday it hoped to teach more than 22,000 people, including schoolchildren, drone skills as part of an attempt to “expand civil resistance training”.

The programme would be adapted to different age groups, with third- and fourth-grade students of between eight and 10 years old learning to build and pilot simple drones, the government said. Secondary school students will design and manufacture drone parts and learn how to build and fly advanced drones.