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Forty-seven of Russia’s 50 top universities are advertising Defense Ministry contracts to students, investigation finds

Source: Novaya Gazeta Europe

Forty-seven of Russia’s 50 top universities have urged students to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, according to a study by the independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe.

The journalists relied on RAEX’s 2026 ranking of Russia’s 50 best universities. They analyzed posts on the schools’ own websites and social media accounts, information from students, and data published in various media outlets.

Novaya Gazeta Europe found that 44 of the universities advertise contract military service directly on their websites and social media accounts. Most of these ads promote enlistment in the Unmanned Systems Forces. At the Higher School of Economics, the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), and the Moscow Aviation Institute, meanwhile, students are urged to join the BARS-Moscow volunteer unit, whose duties include countering drones.

Twelve universities held special recruitment events touting the benefits of serving in the Unmanned Systems Forces. Three universities — Bauman Moscow State Technical University, the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, and the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas — introduced dedicated classes on drones. Separately, 32 of the 50 leading Russian universities now offer educational programs related to drone development or operation.

Reports that students were being recruited to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry and sent to fight in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine first surfaced in late 2025. Among other tactics, students are lured with extra payments from their universities and threatened with being denied the chance to retake failed exams.

The independent Russian political newsletter Faridaily said that Russian Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov told the heads of the country’s largest universities in early 2026 that at least 2% of students must sign contracts with the Defense Ministry. According to the investigative outlet iStories, the Defense Ministry plans to recruit 78,800 people into the Unmanned Systems Forces by the end of 2026, with 58,000 of them to be drawn from students, graduates of drone operation courses, former service members of aviation units, and “female citizens” with relevant training.

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