Russia’s defense ministry says drone forces commanders may discharge student recruits after 1 year but are not required to

Russia’s drone forces commanders have the right to discharge contract servicemembers but are not obligated to do so, Artem Klyga, head of the legal department of the Movement of Conscientious Objectors, concluded after reviewing a Defense Ministry official’s written response to his inquiry.

Klyga published the ministry’s letter on his Telegram channel. He had requested clarification on the duration of military contracts in the drone forces — the contracts that universities and colleges are offering students to sign.

In the document, acting drone forces commander A. Pitirimov confirms that such a contract is signed for one year. It differs from a standard military service contract, he notes, in that it allows for discharge “during a period of mobilization, martial law, and wartime.”

Pitirimov cites a subparagraph of a classified presidential decree dated August 3, 2023. The decree was never published publicly, but photographs of the document circulated on Telegram. It states that decisions on discharge from military service ”[…] are made in exceptional circumstances.”

The document also establishes that discharging a servicemember is a right, not an obligation, of the command, Klyga said.

“What does this mean in practice? Servicemembers in the drone forces will face the same situation as all other servicemembers: they will file discharge reports and try to prove the existence of ‘exceptional circumstances.’ Refusals to discharge will be recognized as lawful,” Klyga said.

Judicial practice and the experience of military lawyers confirm precisely this interpretation of the decree, he said.

The Defense Ministry official’s letter also states that a drone forces contract has nothing in common with a volunteer contract, meaning it is an ordinary military contract, Klyga said.

Reports that students were being recruited to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry and sent to fight in Ukraine emerged in late 2025. Among other inducements, students are promised benefits and one year of service in the drone forces, though human rights activists warn that recruiters cannot guarantee this.

Universities have also been tightening their expulsion rules, a move that students themselves believe is intended to pressure them into signing contracts. The Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported on this situation at the Russian Technological University (MIREA).

Russian authorities have set universities a quota for recruiting contract soldiers for the war — 2 percent of their student enrollment, the independent Russian political newsletter Faridaily reported on April 1. The Defense Ministry plans to recruit 78,800 people into the drone forces by the end of 2026, according to the independent Russian investigative outlet iStories.