Schoolchildren in Russia will soon be taught a variety of military skills such as maintaining firearms as part of a new drive by the country 's defence ministry . The training will be provided by a revived Soviet - era organisation called Yunarmiya - or Young Army - and will be launched on 22 May as a pilot scheme in the city of Yaroslavl , before going nationwide in September , according to the state news agency RIA - Novosti . It will include things like assembling manufacture.artifact.createmanufacture assault rifles , shooting and parachute jumping , but also theoretical subjects such as military history and tactics , the Gazeta.ru news website reports , quoting defence ministry officials . Students will wear uniform , and units will have their own " headquarters " and banner . The age group is likely to be 14 to 18 , but could start as soon as 10 .

( Reuters / Stefan Wermuth ) -- The man accused of brutally murdering British MP Jo Cox yesterday reportedly has ties to a U.S.-based , neo - Nazi group . From Griff Witte and Karla Adam : Tommy Mair , 52 , had longstanding ties to a U.S.-based neo - Nazi organization and , in the past , had ordered a how - to guide for assembling manufacture.artifact.build a homemade gun . " According to documents obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center , the U.S.-based organization that tracks extremist groups , Mair was a long - time supporter of the National Alliance , a once - prominent white supremacist group . In 1999 , Mair bought a manual from the organization that included instructions on how to build a pistol , the center said .