Kathrine Frich
Russia has drawn on convicts, foreign fighters and recruits from allied states to sustain its war in Ukraine.
Yet as the conflict grinds into its fifth year, reports suggest the Kremlin is still searching for fresh manpower.
Human rights groups and students say universities and colleges across Russia are now being pulled into a nationwide campaign to find new contract soldiers.
Campus quotas
According to human rights group Conscript School, academic institutions have been given recruitment targets to encourage students to sign military contracts.
“This is an official campaign across the country,” said Alexey Tabalov of Conscript School. “Reports are coming in from many regions. Previously students were left alone. Apparently, now there are simply not enough volunteers.”
An internal message at one faculty of Plekhanov University reportedly called for two volunteers per month for contracts “in drone units,” according to channel T-INVARIANT.
A student at Bauman Moscow State Technical University said: “The administration is doing everything it can to force [us] to serve under contract.”
‘Cowards’ rebuke
At the Novosibirsk College of Transport Technologies, director Maria Kirsanova publicly criticised students who declined to enlist.
“I just thought that all of you, four hundred 18-year-olds, I was sure that ‘my children’ would be the first to defend their Fatherland. Are you all cowards, sitting here, afraid for your lives?” she said.
“And the response is: ‘Yeah, are we going to arrive back in a zinc coffin or something?’ Where does this fear come from? Who instilled this fear?”
Students are reportedly being offered substantial signing bonuses, with some universities advertising payments of up to $58,000 or more for one-year contracts, as well as promises of service in drone units rather than frontline assault roles.
Legal warnings
Lawyer Artem Klyga cautioned that such assurances may not hold. “After a year, those who want to leave will most likely be unable to do so,” he said.
“In reality, you could find yourself on the frontlines, including as a member of an assault unit.”
The recruitment drive comes amid heavy Russian losses. Estimates cited in the report suggest total casualties have reached around 1.2 million, though these figures cannot be independently verified.
Earlier in the war, recruitment efforts focused on prison inmates and students facing expulsion.
Reports now indicate the campaign has broadened to include those studying law, medicine, engineering and other disciplines.
War grinds on
As recruitment efforts intensify, fighting continues on multiple fronts.
Ukrainian officials reported airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region that killed four people and wounded a child, while shelling in Dnipropetrovsk region left two dead.
Kyiv also claimed responsibility for drone strikes targeting Russian industrial and energy infrastructure, including a chemical and explosives plant in Smolensk region and a major oil pumping station.
Sources: Conscript School, Express.
