Universities across Russia are recruiting students for newly created military drone units, often promising technical experience and short contracts, writes independent Russian journalist Anna Snegireva. Lawyers say the reality may be very different.

Military master class at Lipetsk State Technical University. Photo: Lipetsk State Technical University

The students gathered in an auditorium at a transport college in Novosibirsk earlier this year, expecting a routine meeting with administrators. Instead, they were urged to go to war.

Standing before rows of 18-year-olds, the college’s director, Maria Kirsanova, told them that Russia needed young people willing to serve. New military units operating drones were being formed, she said, and the country required technically skilled recruits.

'Are you all cowards?' the director asked the room. 'Are you afraid for your lives?'

In an audio recording shared with a local journalist by a student who attended the meeting, the director complains that some students had asked whether they might return home in zinc coffins.

'I start talking to 18-year-olds — to you — and say: "Guys, the Motherland needs you, it’s necessary." And the answer is: "What, are we going to come back in zinc coffins?" Where did this fear in you come from? Who planted this fear in you? Who will defend us?'

'I tell you: go sign a contract now, you will receive your diploma. Because new troops are being formed now, that’s why there is such a need. I simply thought that all of you — 400 eighteen-year-olds — I was sure that "my children" would be the first to go and defend their Fatherland.'

'Are you all cowards here, sitting there afraid for your lives? You value your lives so much, yet somewhere you do all kinds of nonsense — drugs and other things — and you’re not afraid that you might get 15 or 20 years in prison. There is no fear there. But you are afraid to defend your Motherland.'

Maria Kirsanova. Photo: Transport College Novosibirsk

The recording quickly spread online. The director later confirmed the speech's authenticity and said she did not regret what she had said.

The episode illustrates a broader trend. Since the beginning of 2026, Russian universities and colleges have increasingly become venues for recruiting students into military service in the war against Ukraine — often under the promise of joining newly formed 'drone troops,' a role presented as technical, modern and relatively safe. Yet human rights groups and legal experts say the reality behind these offers may be very different.

A recruitment drive on campus

In January 2026, Russian media — both state-aligned and independent — reported that the Ministry of Defense had launched a large-scale campaign to recruit contract soldiers into what it calls the 'Unmanned Systems Forces'. The effort places a particular emphasis on young candidates, with recruitment officers increasingly visiting universities and technical colleges.

According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, recruiters have been telling students that service in drone units would amount to little more than a temporary break from their studies. The role is presented as highly technical, involving the operation and maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles rather than direct combat.

Students are also promised relatively short contracts. Recruiters frequently describe the offer as a one-year commitment and suggest that those who do not wish to continue can simply leave the military afterwards.

Cadets of the Military Training Center at the Ufa University of Science and Technology. Photo: Ufa University of Science and Technology

At Bryansk State Technical University, for example, a deputy dean held a meeting with students to explain the new drone units and encourage them to sign contracts. An audio recording of the meeting, obtained by the independent outlet Astra, captures officials describing the contract as a one-year commitment.

'They said that after a year we can leave if we want,' one student who attended the meeting told the outlet.

Monitoring groups say the campaign is expanding rapidly. According to the investigative project T-Invariant, nearly 200 universities across Russia have now been involved in some form of recruitment effort targeting students for drone units.

Nizhny Novgorod Region Military Commissioner Sergei Agafonov is recruiting students from Minin University. Photo: Minin University

Pressure on struggling students

The recruitment efforts are sometimes directed at students who are already at risk of academic dismissal.

Students from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University LETI told the independent outlet Astra that administrators and military recruiters have encouraged struggling students to sign contracts with the Russian army.

One student said that academic policies had recently become noticeably stricter.

'They won’t give us academic leave, they don’t allow transfers to other universities, and exams have become much harder to pass,' the student said. 'Earlier you had one to three months to retake failed exams. Now they give you less than two weeks.'

According to the student, the shortened deadlines appear designed to push more students toward military recruitment. 'If you fail the commission, you’re expelled,' he said.

Another student reported that administrators recently gathered students with multiple failed exams in the university’s congress center and encouraged them to sign military contracts.

A lecturer at LETI described similar pressure.

'The main focus is on students with academic debts,' he told Astra. 'They are offered to take an academic leave and go to the "special military operation" for a year.'

According to the lecturer, students are told that serving in the war will protect them from expulsion. 'They promise that after the war they won’t be expelled,' the lecturer said. 'The argument is: we cannot expel someone who defended our country.'

'You could end up on the front lines, including in an assault unit' 

What is presented as a technical career opportunity may ultimately lead to the front line. Human rights lawyers say that many of the promises made to students rest on shaky legal ground. 

'The contract itself is the same standard form approved by a presidential decree,' Timofey Vaskin, head of the legal department at human rights organisation Shkola Prizyvnika, said in an interview to RAAM. 'It contains very general language about military service and the duration of the contract.'

Presentation for students of St. Petersburg State University. Photo: St. Petersburg State University

Recruiters, however, often attach an additional document specifically for students being recruited for drone units. The annex promises that the contract will be terminated upon expiration of the one-year term and that the recruit will not be transferred to other units without consent.

But those assurances may carry little legal weight.

'The problem is that these promises contradict Russian law,' Vaskin said. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, he explained, Vladimir Putin’s decree on mobilization effectively extends military contracts indefinitely. In practice, soldiers cannot terminate their contracts until the decree is lifted.

'If a soldier later tries to challenge this in court,' he said, 'the court will simply refer to the mobilization decree and say that contracts remain valid until the end of the mobilization period.'

Similar contradictions have already surfaced at some universities.

Earlier this year, students at the Higher School of Economics were also recruited under what was presented as a special contract for drone units. But in an official response to a request from lawyer Artyom Klyga, the university administration acknowledged that students in fact sign a standard contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.

'Of all the promises, only the payment clause is true'

'In other words, of all the promises, only the payment clause is true. A one-year contract, a guaranteed return to training, academic leave, and service exclusively in the Unmanned Systems Forces are a lie. In reality, you could end up on the front lines, including in an assault unit,' Klyga wrote in his Telegram-channel.

Even the promise that recruits will serve only in drone units contains caveats. According to Vaskin, the document typically states that a recruit will be assigned to such units only if he meets all the necessary requirements. If he does not, the military may transfer him elsewhere.

'Under Russian law, soldiers can be reassigned wherever the command decides,' he said. 'Refusing such an order can lead to criminal charges.'

For many students, he added, the legal nuances may not be obvious.

'Most people simply don’t read contracts carefully,' Vaskin said. 'They see the word "guarantee" and assume it will be respected.'

Why university students? 

Recruiters’ focus on universities is not accidental. According to Vaskin, the campaign reflects the growing importance of drone warfare on the battlefield. Both Russia and Ukraine have rapidly expanded their use of unmanned aerial vehicles, making drone operators among the most sought-after military specialisations. Unlike traditional infantry units, drone warfare relies heavily on technical skills that younger recruits are more likely to possess.

'Young people are simply better suited for this type of work,' Vaskin said. 'They are used to computers, game controllers, digital interfaces. Many of them also have basic technical training if they come from engineering universities.'

In contrast, many of the soldiers mobilized earlier in the war were significantly older. According to Vaskin, the average age of many contract soldiers and mobilized recruits has often been well above 35.

'For someone who has spent their life working manual jobs, learning to operate complex drone systems can be much harder,' he said.

That makes students — particularly those studying engineering or technical subjects — a valuable pool for recruitment.

At the same time, Vaskin believes the campaign is highly centralized. Similar messaging and recruitment materials have appeared across different universities, suggesting coordination between government institutions.

'This is clearly a centralized campaign initiated by the Ministry of Defense,' he said. 'Universities are increasingly becoming instruments of recruitment.'

Some universities appear to be going even further, setting internal targets for how many students should sign contracts with the military.

At the Far Eastern Federal University, administrators reportedly introduced internal quotas for recruiting students to sign military contracts for the war in Ukraine.

According to Marina Barinova, a former adviser to the university’s rector, the administration had unanimously supported a plan to send what they described as 'promising students' to the war.

'These "promising" students are male students considered ready for service,' she wrote.

Barinova also published what she said was an internal table showing recruitment targets. According to the document, the university planned for 32 students to sign military contracts in February 2026, while another 267 students were listed as potentially eligible for recruitment.

At the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow, administrators were reportedly instructed to recruit 200 students.

Students are not naive

The level of pressure can vary widely from one institution to another. In some cases, Vaskin said, recruitment is limited to informational meetings or visits from military representatives. In others, university administrators themselves actively encourage students to sign contracts.

'In certain places students are simply told about the opportunity,' he said. 'In others, the administration can clearly push them toward signing.'

At the same time, he noted, many students remain skeptical of the promises made by recruiters — particularly the claim that service in drone units will keep them away from the most dangerous parts of the battlefield.

'Students are not naive,' Vaskin said. 'Many of them understand that once you sign a military contract, you can be sent almost anywhere.' 

Universities as recruitment hubs for war

Russia’s higher education system is increasingly becoming part of the country’s wartime recruitment infrastructure. 'Students are a very accessible group,' Vaskin said. 'They are concentrated in one place, they are young, and many of them have the technical skills that the military is now looking for.'

The focus on drone warfare may begin even earlier than university.

In February 2026, Russia introduced a new school textbook titled 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: From Design to Career Choice', aimed at high school students. The book was approved by the Ministry of Education and added to the federal list of official textbooks.

The publication was developed with the participation of Russia’s National Technology Initiative, a program designed to promote advanced technological industries.

Beginning in September 2024, Russian schools also started introducing practical drone training as part of the subject 'Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland.' The curriculum includes assembling drones, programming them, and practicing flights on simulators. Officials say the goal is to encourage technologically oriented students to pursue careers in the rapidly growing field of unmanned systems.

But the program also reflects the growing militarization of Russia’s education system as the war in Ukraine continues.