By Olha Chepil | 2026-02-27

The Kremlin is increasingly blurring the line between civilian education and military service, turning universities into recruitment pipelines for its long war in Ukraine.

Russia's Defense Ministry has launched a campaign to recruit university students into unmanned aerial vehicle units, offering contracts with payments of up to five million RUB (about $55,000) and the option to terminate after one year. In practice, however, signing a contract is becoming a prerequisite for working as a drone operator.

"The Kremlin is trying to squeeze everyone it can out of every crack by tricking students in various ways," Dmitry Dubrovsky of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague told Kontur.

Officials say the push reflects a shortage of qualified personnel. The ministry has cited a lack of "new talent" as the reason for expanding recruitment of drone operators beginning in January 2026, drawing universities more directly into the state's search for manpower.

Pressure through academia

Evidence suggests the campaign is nationwide rather than isolated.

Olga Orlova, editor-in-chief of T-invariant, said similar offers have surfaced at leading technical universities, beginning with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

"We've seen that students at other universities already received similar offers, and this was reported quite recently. The first people to get this offer were students at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, one of the best engineering and technology universities in Russia," she told Kontur.

According to Orlova, the outreach is coordinated through university military training centers working closely with enlistment offices and the Defense Ministry.

"Similar offers were made to students at the Siberian Federal University and the Belgorod State Technological University... the situation is the same everywhere. In each case, these offers come from military training center representatives who work directly with military enlistment offices and the Ministry of Defense," she said.

She said the army increasingly seeks technically skilled recruits rather than prisoners or poorly educated conscripts.

"The forces that operate drones cannot be staffed with people who lack an education or come from prisons. This requires qualified people, which is why recruiters are focusing on students at top universities," she said.

Students struggling academically or facing expulsion appear particularly vulnerable.

"Studying at the [Higher School of Economics] HSE, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, or the Siberian Federal University is not easy. And the guys who can't handle it for various reasons but are already qualified enough to study there -- they are the ones who fall into this trap. They are effectively being offered an alternative to expulsion," Orlova said.

Contracts without exit

Analysts say recruiters promote contracts as temporary and compatible with academic leave, but the legal reality differs.

"They are using precisely those students who have student debt, which is common, and who have the right to take academic leave. But the problem is that they are being lied to -- as if signing the contract will save them from expulsion and guarantee their return," Dubrovsky said.

Because President Vladimir Putin has never formally ended the 2022 partial mobilization, contracts signed during this period are effectively open-ended. In practice, age or health are often the only grounds for release.

"The Higher School of Economics has already stated that there is actually no guarantee of return. It turns out that it's an ordinary military contract that has nothing to do with the university's obligations," Dubrovsky said.

He added the strategy is tied to the Kremlin's effort to replenish forces without announcing another nationwide mobilization.

"The Kremlin is trying in every way to avoid a second mobilization. Now they are squeezing everything they can out of every possible source," he said.

Universities are becoming one of those sources as interest in contract service declines in major cities.

"According to the latest data, the number of contract soldiers in Moscow has dropped significantly. If this happens in other regions, they start scraping the bottom of the barrel. Universities will likely be ordered to put more pressure on students," Dubrovsky said.

He added that academic discipline itself could become a tool of coercion.

"Now the situation could be the reverse -- students will be expelled for the slightest academic misstep and simultaneously pushed towards a contract," he said.

Youth pipeline expands

Recruitment increasingly begins even before university.

In Bashkortostan, authorities launched a Telegram bot titled "Service in the Unmanned Forces," offering information on contracts, benefits and bonuses. Social media ads promote what they describe as a "Flexible contract, full benefits package, performance bonus."

Hands-on programs are also spreading. Mari State University has hosted drone piloting competitions for first-year students, while training initiatives are emerging in Crimea, Kineshma and Saransk using simulators and operational drones. Projects such as "Wings Grow Strong in Flight" aim to identify promising students and steer them toward military contracts.

Ukrainian intelligence officials say the effort forms part of a broader recruitment push.

"According to our data, this year the Russians will not reduce the pace of this concealed and 'money-based' mobilization. The total figure reported in Russia is 409,000. The special priority now is the Unmanned Systems Forces. The Russian Federation's annual need for such specialists is estimated at almost 80,000," Oleg Lugovsky, then-first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, told Ukrinform in January.

Experts warn that promises of bonuses and safety may obscure the risks.

"The system is intended for young people who have not yet achieved independence. They are shown bonuses and safety, but in reality, it's a contract for the front. Do not agree to these offers -- it's a trap," Orlova said.