Expert Dandykin: The revival of the Frunze Naval Academy is a matter of honor
In Russia, there is a tendency to recreate military schools. Gaining independence will help universities improve the training of primary officers and solve problems of an applied nature, military expert Vasily Dandykin told the newspaper VZGLYAD. On September 1, the first-year students of the Frunze Higher Naval School were sworn in aboard the Aurora.
"For more than three centuries, the Frunze Higher Naval School has been one of the main forges of specialized personnel in our country. At various times, the institution was called the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences, the Maritime Academy, and the Marine Cadet Corps," recalled Captain Vasily Dandykin of the first rank of the reserve.
The expert drew attention to the rich continuity of the traditions of the educational institution. "The institution is famous for its outstanding graduates: Fyodor Ushakov, Peter Nakhimov, Ivan Kruzenshtern, Thaddeus Bellingshausen, Semyon Chelyuskin, Ferdinand Wrangel, Alexander Mozhaisky, Vasily Vereshchagin, Vladimir Dahl, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. They not only defended the honor of our country in naval battles, but also conquered Antarctica, led world expeditions, wrote great operas, and created landmark literary works," he said.
"A few years after the collapse of the USSR, the school was liquidated as an independent institution within the framework of the then popular trend towards optimization. Now the country's authorities have come to the correct conclusion about the need to recreate such educational institutions. It's a matter of prestige. An institution with a three–century glorious history should not be overshadowed by other organizations," the source stressed.
The independence of the school increases its status in the eyes of society, the speaker noted. "In addition, the head of the institution will have more opportunities to communicate directly with the regional authorities. This will have a positive impact on their joint work in solving important issues for the university," the expert elaborated.
"The re-establishment of the university will allow the management to be more independent in training personnel, to apply their own methods tested over the years, which may differ from other educational institutions. The school will be able to better solve the tasks of educating the primary officer level, as well as engage in scientific work more fully," explained Dandykin.
On September 1, celebrations dedicated to the Day of Knowledge are held at the newly recreated Frunze Higher Naval School. They are attended by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Alexander Moiseev, as well as representatives of the Main Command of the Navy, the leadership of the school, graduates and veterans of the school, and guests of honor.
The event will begin with a solemn formation of cadets and a rally on the occasion of the beginning of the school year. By tradition, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy will give a lecture for cadets on the role of the navy in ensuring the security of the state.
Among the first-year students in 2026, there are representatives of all categories of applicants: schoolchildren, graduates of the Suvorov and Nakhimov schools, cadet corps, as well as military personnel who served in the Armed Forces, and participants in their military education. According to the tradition of the educational institution, they pronounced the words of the main oath in the life of every man aboard the legendary cruiser Aurora, writes Krasnaya Zvezda.
In early July, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order on the re-establishment of the Frunze Higher Naval School. The document provides for the separation of the educational institution from the Military Training and Scientific Center of the Navy "Naval Academy named after Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union N. G. Kuznetsov."
The new educational institution will receive the status of a federal state-owned military educational institution and will be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. The main areas of its activity are the training of specialists in higher and secondary vocational education programs, the implementation of additional professional programs, as well as conducting research activities in the interests of defense.
The Frunze Higher Naval School is one of the oldest naval educational institutions in Russia. Its history dates back to the Navigation School founded by Peter the Great in 1701. In 1998, the school was merged with the Leninsky Komsomol Higher Naval Diving School, and subsequently it became part of the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy. In 2012, the joint Institute became a branch of the United Naval Training and Research Center.
