‘Colossal’ pressure: How Russia is targeting university students for military recruitment

Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/MADI/Getty Images

“Everything changed this year.”

“A ll the ‘top’ people in the university are now calling on students to go to war.”

“Throughout the uni, there are posters about the UAV forces literally everywhere.”

“The pressure is colossal.”

These are all quotes from Russian students in direct messages to CNN. We are not naming any of them, or their universities, for fear of reprisals but accounts like these, along with a growing body of open-source evidence, suggest that Russia is quietly escalating a campaign to entice and pressure students into its drone forces.

It’s a move that risks creating tensions in Russia’s education system, and reveals the growing challenges for Moscow in sustaining recruitment for its four-year-long war in Ukraine.

Despite mounting battlefield losses, the Kremlin has managed to avoid a repeat of its disastrous “partial” mobilization in the fall of 2022, during which hundreds of thousands of men fled the country. But, experts say, this student-focused campaign is one of several signs that more aggressive recruitment tactics are on the rise again.

Novosibirsk Law University

It’s different from previous efforts: students are being promised a one-year, fixed-term contract, the opportunity to serve far from the front line, and the chance to learn high-tech skills.

Yet experts and lawyers tell CNN this is likely a front for a standard, open-ended military contract, and, with many students skeptical of the promised incentives, universities are turning to coercion and threats to convince students to join up, they say.

By analyzing university websites, social media pages and local media reports, and speaking with several students inside Russia, CNN has found evidence of a widespread and multifaceted recruitment campaign. The effort appears to have started in earnest in January, two months after the Russian Ministry of Defense officially announced the creation of a new military branch, the Unmanned Systems Forces, dedicated to warfare involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones.

Universities across Russia began populating their social media accounts with slick recruitment videos, and posters. Some university social media accounts even featured in-person lectures by soldiers and veterans of Russia’s so-called “special military operation,” or SMO.

Groza , an independent, student-focused Russian news outlet, also shared with CNN its database of 269 universities and colleges in Russia and in occupied Ukraine that it says are involved in this recruitment campaign, based on open-source information and students contacting Groza directly.

Higher School of Economics of Moscow

They include some of Russia’s most prestigious universities. The St. Petersburg State University (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s own alma mater) openly advertises these contracts on its website, alongside long video lectures from university and military personnel detailing the benefits of joining up.

The Higher School of Economics in Moscow, ranked No. 2 on the 2025 Forbes list of top Russian universities, held an “Unmanned Systems Festival” in February, with recruitment posters for the country’s drone forces clearly on display.

Kazan State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

The messaging is clearly tailored to young people. “You were told you were wasting time on video games,” booms the voice-over of one video linked to on VK (Russia’s version of Facebook) by the Kazan University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. “But there is a place where your experience is especially valuable.”

A video from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics’ campus in Volgograd shows a split-screen: a gamer on one side, a drone operator on the other. The caption reads: “choose the right skin”. Several recruitment posts seen by CNN state that “e-sports players” or “gamers” will be given priority when applying.

Artem Klyga, a Russian military lawyer based in Berlin, claims the Russian Ministry of Defense has issued specific instructions to the universities on how to run this campaign. He has published documents on his Telegram page he says he received from one Moscow university, including a blanket letter addressed to “The heads of military training centers of federal state higher educational organizations” requesting that they “organize, alongside representatives of the Ministry of Defense, campaigns for students… and report daily to the main directorate of personnel at the Ministry of Defense.”

The “instructions” detail incentives to be offered to students, both male and female, including “a lower risk of coming under enemy fire” and acquisition of “unique knowledge and skills.” These exact offers are clearly visible in university recruitment material CNN has analyzed.

The documents also call for significant financial incentives, with federal and regional sign-on bonuses of no less than 400,000 rubles (almost $5,000) apiece. Some universities are going far higher. St. Petersburg State University promises a one-off payment of around $56,000 for those joining the military and a base annual salary of close to $70,0000.

The money is the only promise that is likely to materialize, said Klyga. “Everything (else) is a lie. This is simple contract with the Russian army, without deadline, without special term(s),” he told CNN.

According to Klyga and other lawyers and experts consulted by CNN, Putin has never canceled the decree on partial mobilization he signed in September 2022, even when the initial draft of 300,000 men was completed, and all mobilization activities suspended. That decree clearly states that “Contracts on military service, signed by service persons, continue to be in force until the period of partial mobilization is over.”

“It’s a trap,” said Sergey Krivenko, the head of Citizen. Army. Law., a human rights organization focused on helping service members and conscripts. “When the year ends, the student (now already a service member) will not be dismissed, just like they don’t dismiss any service members whose contracts have lapsed.”

The promise of a reduced risk of coming under fire is also not enforceable, experts say. “As soon as the person signs the contracts, he is literally a slave of Ministry of Defense,” said Grigory Sverdlin, who runs an anti-war charity called “Idite Lesom” (“Get Lost”), which helps Russians avoid the draft. “He can be sent to whatever unit the Ministry of Defense will need. There is no way to be able to choose.”

It’s not yet clear how many students have been successfully recruited through this campaign. At his annual end-of-year Q+A session in December, Putin claimed so many Russians, including students, wanted to join the Unmanned Systems Forces that the Ministry of Defense had to run a selection contest for applicants. CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense to ask about numbers, and the contract terms.

And yet none of the students with whom CNN has spoken said they believed the Kremlin’s promises.

In some cases, students at risk of failing their courses are being sold the idea of joining the drone forces as the only way to avoid expulsion. One student told CNN he was called to a group meeting that was only for those with missing credits – either coursework or exams (referred to in Russian as “debts”) – and who had fallen behind. “They hinted strongly this would be beneficial for those with a lot of debts,” he said.

Another said that on one day several weeks ago, the “student office” in his university “almost expelled a third of our group and forced them to sign a contract on the spot to keep their place.” He passed on to CNN messages from a group chat among students on the day.

“She’s expelling everyone who has even one outstanding debt from their second year – that’s the bullsh*t!” said one in an audio message.

Another advises those in the group not to sign anything if called in.

A third student in the chat, who admits he has already been expelled, answers: “By Monday it’ll be too late, on Friday they sign all the orders, those who are at risk of the army you’ll either go to compulsory service and there they’ll make you sign a contract, or you sign now and you’ll operate drones 30-40km from the hottest point, those are the words of (the head of the student office).”

Several students have suggested that universities are also shortening deadlines to complete coursework, making it harder to pass.

“In early March, all those with debts were notified that the deadline for returning outstanding assignments was March 31, even if one outstanding assignment remained, they would be expelled,” one student told CNN.

Another told CNN that a staff member at her university had been seeking out the most vulnerable first-year students – those who were having mental health troubles or struggling to settle in – and targeting them specifically. First the students were invited to have a “personal conversation,” the student told CNN, “without any details about the meeting, and with a request not to tell anyone.” They were then told this was the best way to avoid mounting financial debt, and to guarantee they wouldn’t fail their degrees, she said, an approach the student described as “emotional abuse.”

Russia has, until recently, managed to drum up enough new recruits to replace its frontline losses, relying on a system of huge salaries and bonuses, as well as more coercive and deceptive side-campaigns targeting specific populations, like prisoners, and foreigners .

And yet there are signs that the system is no longer enough. Western officials estimated in February that Ukraine had managed to inflict losses that exceeded Russia’s recruitment rate, for several consecutive months. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed by late March Russia had lost 89,000 troops (killed and seriously injured) so far in 2026 and had managed to recruit just 80,000 over the same period. Russia does not disclose its casualty figures.

Late last year Putin signed several decrees allowing for members of Russia’s military reserve to be called up for specific tasks and training, a move analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank in Washington, have warned may pave the way for rolling involuntary or covert mobilizations.

“That is a really big teller that the Kremlin is… trying to expand its powers to do (a) more coercive sort of recruitment than ever before, which is something that the Kremlin tried to avoid to the maximum in the past,” Kateryna Stepanenko, ISW Russia team lead, told CNN.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged last week that the recruitment campaign for the Unmanned Systems Forces was underway, calling it “a completely open offer for a new branch of the military.”

And yet targeting the country’s youngest potential voters, and turning universities – traditionally seen in Russia as safe havens from military conscription – into recruitment pipelines, carries political risk for the Kremlin, experts say.

“(The students) understand what’s going on, mostly, and they do not like this oppression” by the authorities, said Klyga. “They’re not making… a group of supporters of the current political regime with these actions.”

“Government institutions are now a source of threat, saturated with propaganda, crippling very young people who were literally schoolchildren yesterday,” one student told CNN.

Another noted: “For me, in general, every passing year feels scarier than the last.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

图片由 Jason Lancaster/CNN/MADI/Getty Images 提供

“今年一切都变了。”

“现在大学里所有‘高层’人士都在呼吁学生们去打仗。”

“整个大学里，到处都能看到关于无人机部队的海报。”

“压力巨大。”

以上内容均引自俄罗斯学生发给CNN的私信。出于对报复的担忧，我们不会透露任何学生的姓名或所在大学，但此类说法，以及越来越多的公开证据表明，俄罗斯正在悄然升级一项旨在诱骗和胁迫学生加入其无人机部队的行动。

此举可能会在俄罗斯教育体系中造成紧张局势，并揭示莫斯科在维持其在乌克兰长达四年的战争的兵力招募方面面临的日益严峻的挑战。

尽管战场损失不断增加，克里姆林宫还是避免了重蹈2022年秋季灾难性的“部分”动员覆辙，当时数十万男性逃离该国。但专家表示，此次以学生为重点的征兵活动是诸多迹象之一，表明更激进的征兵策略正在卷土重来。

新西伯利亚法律大学

这与以往的尝试有所不同：学生们将获得为期一年的固定期限合同，有机会在远离前线的地方服务，并有机会学习高科技技能。

然而，专家和律师告诉 CNN，这很可能是一个标准的、没有期限的军事合同的幌子，而且由于许多学生对承诺的激励措施持怀疑态度，他们表示，大学正在诉诸胁迫和威胁来说服学生参军。

通过分析大学网站、社交媒体页面和当地媒体报道，并采访了多名身在俄罗斯的学生，CNN发现了俄罗斯正在开展一场范围广泛、形式多样的招募活动的证据。这项活动似乎在今年1月正式启动，此前两个月，俄罗斯国防部正式宣布成立一个新的军事部门——无人系统部队，专门负责使用无人机（UAV）或无人驾驶飞行器进行作战。

俄罗斯各地的大学开始在社交媒体账号上发布精美的招生宣传视频和海报。一些大学的社交媒体账号甚至还发布了俄罗斯所谓“特种军事行动”（SMO）的士兵和退伍军人的现场讲座。

俄罗斯独立学生新闻媒体 Groza 也与 CNN 分享了其数据库，其中包含俄罗斯和被占领的乌克兰境内的 269 所大学和学院的信息，该数据库称这些学校参与了此次招生宣传活动。该数据库基于公开信息和学生直接联系 Groza 的情况。

莫斯科高等经济学院

其中包括俄罗斯一些最负盛名的大学。圣彼得堡国立大学（俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的母校）在其网站上公开宣传这些合同，并附有大学和军方人员的长篇视频讲座，详细介绍参军的好处。

莫斯科高等经济学院在2025年福布斯俄罗斯顶尖大学排行榜中位列第二，该校于2月份举办了“无人系统节”，现场醒目地张贴了俄罗斯无人机部队的招募海报。

喀山国立建筑与土木工程大学

这些信息显然是针对年轻人的。“你曾被告知把时间浪费在电子游戏上，”喀山建筑工程大学在VK（俄罗斯版Facebook）上发布的一段视频的旁白响亮地说道，“但你的经验在某个地方却格外宝贵。”

一段来自普列汉诺夫俄罗斯经济大学伏尔加格勒校区的视频显示，画面分为两部分：一边是游戏玩家，另一边是无人机操作员。视频标题写着：“选择合适的皮肤”。CNN看到的几则招聘信息也指出，“电子竞技选手”或“游戏玩家”在申请时将优先考虑。

常驻柏林的俄罗斯军事律师阿尔乔姆·克雷加声称，俄罗斯国防部已向各大学下达了关于如何开展此次活动的具体指示。他在自己的Telegram页面上公布了一些据称来自莫斯科某大学的文件，其中包括一封致“联邦国家高等教育机构军事训练中心负责人”的群发信函，要求他们“与国防部代表一起组织面向学生的宣传活动……并每日向国防部人事总局汇报”。

这些“指示”详细列出了将向学生（包括男生和女生）提供的激励措施，包括“降低遭受敌方火力攻击的风险”和获得“独特的知识和技能”。CNN分析的大学招生材料中清晰地列出了这些具体内容。

文件还要求提供丰厚的经济激励，联邦和地区政府提供的签约奖金每人不少于40万卢布（约合5000美元）。一些大学的待遇甚至更高。例如，圣彼得堡国立大学承诺向应征入伍者一次性支付约5.6万美元，并提供接近7万美元的年基本工资。

克雷加表示，唯一可能兑现的承诺就是这笔钱。“其他一切都是谎言。这只是一份与俄罗斯军方签订的简单合同，没有截止日期，也没有任何特殊条款。”他告诉CNN。

据克利加以及CNN咨询的其他律师和专家称，普京从未取消他在2022年9月签署的部分动员令，即便在最初征召30万人的征兵工作完成、所有动员活动暂停之后也是如此。该法令明确规定：“军人签署的兵役合同在部分动员期结束前继续有效。”

“这是个陷阱，”公民·军队·法律组织负责人谢尔盖·克里文科说道。该组织是一个致力于帮助现役军人和应征入伍者的维权组织。“一年期满后，这名学员（现在已是军人）不会被开除，就像他们不会开除任何合同到期的现役军人一样。”

专家表示，降低被炮火袭击风险的承诺也无法兑现。“一旦签了合同，这个人就实际上成了国防部的奴隶，”格里戈里·斯维尔德林说道。他运营着一家名为“Idite Lesom”（“滚开”）的反战慈善机构，该机构帮助俄罗斯人逃避兵役。“国防部需要他，就会把他派往任何部队。他根本没有选择的余地。”

目前尚不清楚通过此次招募活动成功招募了多少学生。普京在去年12月举行的年度问答环节中声称，包括学生在内的众多俄罗斯人希望加入无人系统部队，以至于国防部不得不举办选拔赛。CNN已联系俄罗斯国防部，询问相关人数和合同条款。

然而，CNN采访过的所有学生中，没有一个人表示相信克里姆林宫的承诺。

在某些情况下，一些面临挂科风险的学生被灌输加入无人机部队是避免被开除的唯一途径。一名学生告诉CNN，他被叫去参加一个小组会议，参会人员都是那些学分不足（无论是课程作业还是考试，在俄语中被称为“欠款”）且进度落后的学生。“他们强烈暗示，这对那些欠了很多债的学生来说是有利的，”他说。

另一名学生说，几周前的某一天，他所在大学的“学生办公室”几乎开除了我们小组三分之一的学生，并强迫他们当场签署一份合同以保住学籍。他还向CNN提供了当天学生群聊中的信息。

“她要把所有二年级有哪怕一笔未偿债务的学生都开除——这简直是胡扯！”有人在语音留言中说道。

另一人建议小组成员如果被叫去谈话，不要签署任何文件。

聊天中第三名学生承认自己已被开除，他回答说：“到周一就太晚了，周五他们就会签署所有命令，那些有被征召入伍风险的人要么去服强制兵役，在那里他们会强迫你签合同，要么现在就签，然后去距离最热点地区 30-40 公里的地方操作无人机，这是（学生会主席）说的。”

一些学生指出，大学也在缩短课程作业的截止日期，这使得通过考试更加困难。

一名学生告诉 CNN：“3 月初，所有欠债的学生都被告知，交还未完成作业的截止日期是 3 月 31 日，即使只剩下一项未完成的作业，他们也会被开除。”

另一名学生告诉CNN，她所在大学的一名工作人员一直在寻找最脆弱的大一新生——那些有心理健康问题或难以适应大学生活的学生——并专门针对他们。这名学生告诉CNN，首先，这些学生被邀请进行“私人谈话”，但“谈话内容没有任何细节，而且被要求不要告诉任何人”。她说，之后他们被告知，这是避免背负巨额债务、保证顺利毕业的最佳途径，这名学生将这种做法描述为“情感虐待”。

直到最近，俄罗斯还依靠巨额工资和奖金制度，以及针对特定人群（如囚犯和外国人）的更具强制性和欺骗性的辅助行动，成功地招募了足够的新兵来弥补前线损失。

然而，种种迹象表明，这套体系已不足以应对战争。西方官员在2月份估计，乌克兰造成的伤亡人数已连续数月超过俄罗斯的征兵速度。乌克兰总统泽连斯基在3月底声称，截至2026年，俄罗斯已有8.9万名士兵阵亡或重伤，而同期仅招募了8万人。俄罗斯并未公布其伤亡数字。

去年年底，普京签署了几项法令，允许征召俄罗斯军事预备役人员执行特定任务和接受训练。华盛顿智库战争研究所 (ISW) 的分析人士警告说，此举可能为大规模的非自愿或秘密动员铺平道路。

“这非常清楚地表明，克里姆林宫正在……试图扩大其权力，进行比以往任何时候都更具强制性的招募，而这正是克里姆林宫过去一直竭力避免的事情，”ISW俄罗斯团队负责人卡捷琳娜·斯捷潘年科告诉CNN。

克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫上周承认，无人系统部队的招募活动正在进行中，称其为“对新军种的完全公开的招募”。

专家表示，针对该国最年轻的潜在选民，并将大学（在俄罗斯传统上被视为逃避兵役的避风港）变成招募渠道，对克里姆林宫来说存在政治风险。

克利加说：“（学生们）大多明白发生了什么，他们不喜欢当局的这种压迫。他们的这些行动并不是在支持现政权。”

一名学生告诉 CNN：“政府机构现在成了威胁的来源，充斥着宣传，正在摧残那些昨天还是小学生的年轻人。”

另一位网友评论道：“对我来说，总的来说，每一年都感觉比上一年更可怕。”

本文已更新，添加了更多信息。