Students Recruited to War in Universities and Colleges All Over Russia

Since December 2025, a coercive campaign has been underway in Russian universities and colleges to make students enlist in the military. Initially, the aggressive recruiting targeted young men who were falling behind in their studies. By the end of February, however, they started offering anyone (even girls) to join the war.

Currently, at least 83 universities and 24 colleges in 36 regions of Russia and annexed Crimea have joined the recruiting campaign in one form or another. The data has been provided to IStories by Timur Tukhvatullin, an education rights defender, and the Get Lost project. The Echo project also compiled a similar list.

The campaign spanned the entire country, from Kaliningrad (The Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University) to Vladivostok (The Far Eastern Federal University). Some universities have been given target quotas for the number of students to be sent to war. E.g., in February, Far Eastern Federal University planned to send more than 30 students to the military, and at Plekhanov University of Economics, the group leaders in one of the faculties were instructed to recruit two students per month. At Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building, they set up a special office to ensure that the military quotas were met.

Outright pressure isn't used at the moment and so far remains to be something of an exception: the only notable case involved the headmistress of the Novosibirsk Transport Technologies College who accused students of “cowardice” for their unwillingness to give their lives “for the fatherland.”

At the Russian Technological University (MIREA), the students in their final years falling behind have been sent one by one to the recruiters’ office. The recruiters tried to persuade them that signing a contract was their only chance to avoid being expelled from the university, one of the students told IStories. The university administration did not notify the students about the options to resit the failed exams, and threatened to expel those who refused to sign the military contract. After the media coverage, the university informed students about the opportunities to resit the exams, but would still call the students urging them to join the military.

Sometimes teachers and professors also get pressured by the administration. “One of my coworkers got mad and told the bosses, ‘You know what the goal is. You know we’ll be to blame if any of them signs the contract. We're basically the ones sending them into this crap [i.e. the war — Ed.].’ The administration responded that we had no choice because we work in a state institution and the order ‘came from above.’ They said, ‘If this doesn’t align with your moral principles, quit your job,’” a teacher at one of Moscow’s colleges told IStories.    

All the recruitment is done according to the Ministry of Defense’s guidelines: they offer students to sign a one-year contract to serve in the new unmanned aerial vehicle forces, take a sabbatical and serve as a UAV pilot away from the front lines, receiving millions in pay and then quickly returning to school with an opportunity to get state-funded education instead of having to pay for it.

Legally, none of these promises (except for the payments) are backed up by anything; on paper, the conditions look like a typical “cannon fodder” assault infantry ones (the tactics of using huge numbers of untrained soldiers during the assaults in the hope of exhausting Ukrainian ammunition has become widely used by Russian commanders during the war).

Speaking to IStories, many students emphasize that practically no one at their universities and colleges believes in what is said in the propaganda leaflets. Nevertheless, some educational institutions are already reporting the first students have enlisted to fight. The Kutafin Moscow State Law Academy “has sent the first students to serve in the UAV forces,” wrote Viktor Blazheev, the university's rector and Vladimir Putin's confidant. “I can see the great prospects and the great career growth,” said a Nizhnekamsk polytechnic college student when explaining his decision to sign a contract. A student at the Volzhsky branch of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute said that his decision to “take a year off from school, help the Motherland defeat the enemy and return to his place at the university in a year” was supported by both his parents and his girlfriend. Among the students who decided to go to war are two brothers from a college in Volzhsky.

Students told IStories how they manage to passively resist the coercion, and lawyers shared advice on how to defend one's right to complete the education and avoid military service if the school administration attempts to make one fail their exams to get them enlisted.

“Documenting the coercion is vital.” Why the student military contracts are a scam and how to legally resist pressure

In February, several regional educational institutions' websites posted the standard UAV forces contract appendix. These documents reveal how the actual conditions of service will differ from what agitators, recruiters, and school administrators say.

Lawyers from the Movement of Conscientious Objectors (stoparmy.org) examined the wording of the contract appendix and concluded that signing a contract while at school does not formally protect anyone from being forcibly transferred to the assault infantry.

E.g., the promise to make a student contract last for just one year goes against Vladimir Putin’s September 21, 2022 mobilization decree, which is still in effect. It means the contract won't expire until Putin's decree is declared invalid.

At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that in the future, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education could come to an agreement and actually design a special program for students, Sergey Krivenko, the Citizen. Army. Law human rights group head tells IStories.

“Very often they start an illegal scheme and then find a way to legalize it after a while. This was the case with the year-round conscription. For a long time, they had been calling people to the conscription commissions before the conscription began, which we considered a violation, but now it has all been legalized. But for now, signing a contract remains a one-way ticket. The presidential decree is in force, and one cannot resign while it is,” the lawyer says.

The “guarantee” that the student will serve in unmanned forces, far away from the front line, are also invalidated by the wording of the contract appendix. The Movement of Conscientious Objectors lawyers point out that the Ministry of Defense reserves the right to transfer a new contractor to another branch or category of troops if the person is not suitable for the position of UAV pilot. In other words, it's the commanders who will determine the ex-student’s combat role, and it's not done before the contract is signed, but after, when it the contract is already impossible to terminate.

In addition, neither the appendix nor the existing law guarantees students they will study for free after the service. There's also no legislation to guarantee the admission to a state-funded master's or postgraduate program without competition for those students.

Timur Tukhvatullin, an education rights defender

— Some students are not given the opportunity to resit exams and are told that the alternative to signing a contract is expulsion. 

Not allowing students to resit exams is a legal violation. According to the law, students must be given two attempts to resit the exam. The first re-examination would happen with the professor who had administered the initial exam or test. The second re-examination is with a commission consisting of several teachers. Only if the student fails the commission resit can they be expelled.

And it should be a proper resit, where they don’t try to fail you and don’t stray from the topic. If there are violations during the resit, it is possible to appeal, which must be done on the same day.

If they do not allow you to resit the exam, you should contact Rosobrnadzor [Russian federal agency tasked with the supervision and control of national education and science — Ed.] and the prosecutor’s office. If they do not help, go to court. This is enough of a reason to initiate administrative proceedings for obstruction of education, and in some cases, it may be a criminal offense of abuse of official authority.

Documenting the coercion is vital: it can be done by using a voice recorder or taking chat messages screenshots.

At present, we are not aware of any cases where a university has expelled a student illegally. It is important to remember that if you have had two resits and they were unsuccessful, you can be expelled by law. But even in this case you shouldn’t sign the contract.

“Intimidating students by saying the military is inevitable.” The students’ experience

Alexander (all names have been changed — Ed.), The Bauman Moscow State Technical University

— They said there would be a meeting for the failing students. I understood that they would be trying to persuade us to sign contracts. About a hundred people from every class year were gathered.

The meeting was led by the recruitment office staff. One of them started intimidating the students by saying that military service is inevitable, that everyone would have to serve, and even called on the girls to join. Four people were interested in the contract and were sent to the recruitment office.

I doubt that the contract will actually last for just one year. I believe promising people a fortune for a year of service is just a way to lure them in.

My classmates and I don't discuss this [the war — Ed.], we just joke about it in a dark way. The idea to send young students to the “Special Military Operation” (a euphemism introduced by the Russian government to legally describe the Russo-Ukrainian war - Ed.) is terrible. I don’t see any active and open support for the “Special Military Operation” among my peers or at the institute in general. I’m not feeling worried about these meetings, but I absolutely do not like these plans. Then people wonder why the population is declining.

Ruslan, The Likhachev Moscow Technological College

— All final-year students were called to an urgent mandatory meeting in the assembly hall. Half of the people didn't show up anyway.

No one believed these promises; everyone understood what was going on. There are people whose relatives in the armed forces were supposed to be discharged two years ago, but their contracts are automatically extended every year. No one believes in this venture. 

At the end, they asked us to sign papers stating whether we were going to continue our studies, work in our field, or enlist in the military. The director’s deputy said that our country doesn’t need people just roaming around aimlessly, and that there are only two options: either fight or study.

They set up a room in a separate office where you can fly a drone on a simulator. They offered a three-day training course at some police college. They said that no one would be put on any lists there, that it was just like a game of paintball and drone training.

The next day, they gathered us again. They promised to tell us about the internship, but in the end, they invited us to work in some elite unit. They handed out pieces of paper with the information on the “special type of government service” and “work in the center of Moscow without participating in military operations or being sent anywhere.” Several people approached the recruiter to ask something, but I don’t know if they signed up or not.

Stepan, Russian Technological University (MIREA)

— We were supposed to have exam resits. The teacher first sent us the information, then said it had been canceled. The order came “from above”: don’t allow [resits] to take place. They said, “We’re not waiting for you, we won’t give you the permission to resit, so do whatever you want.”

They called and told us to come to the academic department. The deputy principal told us to go to room 212 and find out what our option was. There was a poster about contract military service hanging in front of the door, which made me nervous.

There were camouflage nets in the room and a laptop showing drone videos of people being blown up. A man sitting there didn’t introduce himself. He had no rank insignia and wore civilian clothes. I hadn’t seen him at the university before.  

He wrote down my details and said that I had no chance of retaking my exams and that I could either sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense and go to operate drones, or I would be sent to serve in the army. With the contract, I would get paid and be honored as a “hero.” He tried to convince me that the contract would last just a year. But I know that they don’t let anyone go easily. 

A lot of guys at the university are really worried. There are some guys who spend most of their time at their computers, they don’t socialize much, and the first, the academic department manages to pressure them a lot, then those from room 212. None of my friends have signed anything, but in general, it's such a sensitive topic that no one talks about it. 

After the fuss in the news, they allowed resits again, but people are still summoned to that room.

Igor, The Far Eastern Federal University 

— There really is a quota requirement [of 32 people per month]. But, thank God, there is no pressure to sign these contracts.

They don’t threaten us with the university expulsion, but they have shortened the period for the resits. Now the deadline is March 12, whereas it used to be a week or a week and a half later.

The mood is silent. Many students don’t like it and everyone understands how absurd it is, but no one will say so directly, as you understand. I haven't seen any active “Special Military Operation” supporters at the university and I doubt they even exist.

Looking at the quota numbers, it becomes clear that even the rector’s office does not expect crowds of students to sign contracts.

Students generally understand that they could be sent to the front lines, and that they will not actually be allowed to terminate their contracts after a year.

Sveta, The Ural State Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture

— Our university exclusively has creative majors, and the overwhelming majority of students are women. One boy I know makes no secret of the fact that he will do whatever it takes to avoid being drafted into the army, let alone going to war.

Two years ago, a similar campaign was held, but it was conducted more discreetly: they would send out invitations to a “mandatory event” with no further details. 

My classmate, who fell for it the first time, said that they talked to them like this: “It’s okay that you might be tired of studying. Your first priority should be to stand on your own two feet. We are offering you the opportunity to earn money and get a change of scenery. You can return to your studies at any time, having served your duty to the Motherland.”

My classmate said that at the end, two or three guys would approach the recruiters with their questions. At the time, in 2024, no one was talking about the UAVs; they simply offered students to make money doing some “easy work.” 

This time, the senior students understood why they were being gathered, and some of them boycotted the meeting. In another group, some got interested. They described the prospects like this: “It’s just a year, and they give you three million rubles (approx. USD 40 thousand) right away, you can do whatever you want with it.” 

With fewer options after getting a bachelor's degree, some people are really starting to think about taking this step. The lecturers say there won’t be any government-funded options to get a master’s degree. The number of programs is shrinking: our department has lost more than five master's programs. The ones that remain don't give you access to a job in the industry.

Those paying for their education who had hoped to get a state-funded master's degree are looking very lost. This includes my classmate, who was counting on getting a master's degree to keep his student deferment of military service.

If we were to characterize all students at the university in general terms, over the past year it has become more apparent who disagrees with the statements and requests made to students by the dean's office. Anyone who takes even the slightest militaristic stance receives mostly negative reactions. No one downloads the MAX app (a state-controlled messenger to replace the more popular Telegram and WhatsApp which are to be banned — Ed.), and the administration has not yet taken on the task of “re-educating” us.