Translated material
“They only spread chaos, aggression and evil.” How heads of universities and colleges send students to war
The recruitment of Russian students for contract military service has reached a new level of scale and coercion. Human rights activists are already calling this a second mobilization - this time among college and university students. It all started with persistent agitation, when students were literally locked in the room while watching patriotic films. Now, after the administration of universities has lowered the “recruitment quotas,” students are threatened with expulsion for refusing a contract, and in addition they are deceived by promising that they will not have to fight. Some of those who signed a contract under pressure will be sent to the front at the end of February.
"Now I'm very scared"
A sophomore from Vladivostok, 19-year-old Artem (the names of all interlocutors have been changed for security reasons), under threat of expulsion, signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense. He was promised service in a local military unit; there was no talk of a business trip to another region, not to mention the war in Ukraine.
– Throughout January they had to come to some strange events. Meetings with SVO officers, films (cheers-patriotic). At first, the emphasis was placed on students specializing in instrument engineering and computer science. Then other technical specialties were included. And then they started to “hill up” everyone,” recalls Artem. – They said that they were forming a special “university company” of “drone pilots”. At first they convinced us that we “wouldn’t even cross the border.” At the third training camp, they said that we would stay in Vladivostok, we would serve in a local company - only to test drones, which would then be taken to the front. When there were no volunteers here, they began to threaten. My classmate and I, who also failed one subject in the winter session, were told that we would not be allowed to pass before the end of the academic year (as they promised in January). That is, we will be kicked out of the university for “underachievement” if we do not sign the contract. They promised to draw up a contract for this year for the academics, they say, then you will come back and finish your studies. “And if you don’t sign, no one will reinstate you later.” I signed because I was afraid that my parents would kill me when they found out about my expulsion.
In early February, Artem told his mother about the contract.
- Mom found a lawyer. He said that no “drone driver” would leave me here, I had to write a refusal letter, even taking into account the fact that it was late. We submitted a refusal of the contract on the Ministry of Defense website, and now I am being summoned to the military registration and enlistment office for Uborevich. I'm afraid to go there. The lawyer believes that they can take him straight from there - at least to the unit. He will go himself with my mother,” says Artem. - Now I'm very scared. And I can’t even leave - there’s no foreign border.
Students from Petrovsky College in St. Petersburg say that they signed the contract under pressure at about the same time and are now threatened with being sent to the front at the end of February.
– I’m studying at Petrovsky College to become a programmer. In January, agitators from the military registration and enlistment office on Fontanka (commissariat on Fontanka embankment, 90) began visiting us,” says 18-year-old student Sergei , originally from Vyborg. – They said that “you can get a salary of 200 thousand to repair and test UAVs... Consider that you have a paid practice.” They said that we would provide security remotely and only in St. Petersburg. That students are not threatened with being sent to the front, since “they are not animals.” I am in paid study, my mother has difficulty finding money to pay. I thought that I would help her and at the same time - yes, there would be practice. Now we are being told to prepare to be sent “behind the ribbon” by UAV operators. My mother found out and now won’t let me go to college.
According to Sergei, the contract was signed by at least 10 students from Petrovsky College. The “Go through the Forest” project, which helps those who want to avoid participating in the war to leave Russia in particular, said that in early February several students from this educational institution turned to them for help. This week they sent a panicked message to human rights activists saying they were being threatened with being “sent to the front” at the end of February.
The project received another complaint from a student at the Higher School of Economics who received a “notification of expulsion.”
– In the letter, the guy is offered an “alternative to expulsion” - to conclude a “special contract” with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for a period of 1 year “on a voluntary basis.” The text states that for the duration of the contract the student will be given an academic leave, and after completion he will be able to continue his studies, says one of the project coordinators. – The letter also asks for a decision to be communicated within three days.
According to human rights activists, the letters were sent to HSE students by a specialist in the educational and methodological work of the department for supporting the educational process in undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Computer Science of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
“We have received information about such deceptions and coercion from students from different regions. At MSTU. N. E. Bauman's campaign appears in the official student application. In Nizhny Novgorod, students were forced to meet with people in uniform. In Essentuki they campaigned right during the couple’s time at the technical school, and at RUT MIIT they sent out an offer to conclude a contract to both boys and students, they say in “Go Through the Forest”. – At the Moscow College named after N. N. Godovikov, students were scheduled for a mandatory meeting regarding a contract for the UAV forces. This is an absolute lie - of course, there will be no dispatch by “drone pilots”. Signing the contract means that the Ministry of Defense will send the employee anywhere and by whomever. Most often - a stormtrooper.
"The new army is you"
College students at the Kazan Innovation University are also intimidated by expulsion if they refuse to sign a contract.
Without explaining the reasons, students who had debts on failed tests and exams were called to a meeting, writes the Groza publication, where director Yulia Khadiullina said that they would all be expelled, but first the “military commissars” would speak to them.
“The conversation will be about the fact that our country is currently in a special military operation. At the moment, the country needs warriors. Guys who are 18 years old are allowed to be among the warriors. And therefore, the new army will be created from those students who can no longer be considered students - that’s you,” Khadiullina said.
According to her, they “cannot stay in college any longer,” and lists of people who “do not attend classes and fail to cope with the curriculum as much as possible” “can no longer be hidden from the military registration and enlistment office.”
“Each of you did not care about what we warned you about. And I am not at all sorry that each of you will be expelled. But each of you has opportunities. The country believes in you,” said the college director.
To the words of the students that they still have time for retakes, Khadiullina replied that “she said what she said.” She also promised to have a conversation “with the guys who have no debts, in a different tone.”
“We will talk with them about duty to the homeland, about their voluntary consent or disagreement. We talk differently with you, because for you life in college is over.”
After the director, a representative of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation spoke, who introduced himself to the students as Andrey. According to him, he came from Yeisk, Krasnodar Territory, to “open someone’s eyes, convince someone.”
He spoke about “favorable conditions” from the Ministry of Defense, according to which ex-students will supposedly serve “not on the territory of the Northern Military District,” but in a unit in Yeisk. At the same time, the military man called such a contract “alternative service.” And then he explained that he could not mention the “k-word” (contracts) so as not to scare. For this reason, the military man explained, he called the service for students “alternative.”
“Don’t think that we travel around cities, regions, republics and offer young guys to go to war and die there <...> Every parent for some reason thinks that if their son goes into the army - not for conscript service, but for alternative service - he thinks that his son will go and die, it turns out that we took their son, and so we are such scoundrels. But this is not so.”
Another military man told the students about the troops of unmanned systems and offered to become one of the “drone pilots.” He explained that such troops “need to be assembled as quickly as possible” from students “who know how to use computers.” In return, he promised the students not to send them “to the ass of the world.”
During the entire hour and a half that the meeting was going on, college students were not allowed out of the office.
"The quotas have been lowered"
According to students interviewed by Sibir.Realii, the “cruelty” of forced recruitment began when the Ministry of Education and Science lowered quotas on the number of contracts with students to the management of universities. Information about the limits that teachers must observe when recruiting their students for war was publicly confirmed by a former employee of the Far Eastern Federal University.
Former adviser to the rector of the university, social activist Marina Barinova published a table on her Facebook, according to which 32 students should sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense in February. Another 267 people, according to the document, “are included in the fitness category.” The quota was supported by the university rector and 13 vice-rectors, Barinova noted.
“And you, 1+13, if you are so striving for such a “prospect”, why are you not there yet - not at war? After all, 9 of you absolutely correspond to the “readiness category” - I’m talking about the unfortunate rector of FEFU himself and his vice-rectors - men,” wrote Barinova.
The university did not respond to the editor’s request about quotas. However, on February 23, a post appeared on the FEFU page on VKontakte in which students were congratulated “on Defender of the Fatherland Day,” and then they were advertised for contract service.
This week, signs were placed in the main building of FEFU inviting students to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense. At the consultation center for recruiting unmanned systems into the troops, students are told about the opportunity to take part in combat operations as part of the UAV forces.
“Students who express their desire will receive a referral for a medical examination, and after that they will receive training in Chita and a contract with the Ministry of Defense for a year,” the advertisement says.
Human rights activists warn that during recruitment they do not explain that any student who signs a contract with the Ministry of Defense can be transferred to the infantry. The person liable for military service will no longer be able to prevent this.
“We have studied the terms of the contract with the Ministry of Defense that are offered to students - they do not offer any “exclusive conditions” outside the combat zone,” says human rights activist Alexey Vyunov . – The document states that students who signed up for a contract in the “unmanned troops” can be transferred to regular infantry. Selection for a specific military unit will take place only 3 months from the date of signing the contract. Even if a recent student was assigned to stormtroopers, he will not be able to terminate such a contract. And the clause that says the contract is valid for one year means nothing, since the President of the Russian Federation has not yet signed the decree on the end of mobilization.
"We'll pay extra"
St. Petersburg State University sent letters to students offering to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense and receive a one-time payment of 50 thousand rubles. This was reported by “Paper” and the “Walk through the Forest” project with reference to students.
The published documents indicate that students who have entered into a contract will be sent to the “unmanned systems troops.” To the payment of 50 thousand rubles will be added 5.5 million rubles a year from the Ministry of Defense.
Students will be given sabbatical leave for the duration of their service and then offered "flexible scheduling" after the end of their contract, which the letter's authors claim will be only one year. Despite the fact that it is now impossible to terminate the contract with the Ministry of Defense until the end of the war in Russia.
According to the calculations of the publication "Paper", at least 16 St. Petersburg universities have placed in their buildings or in official public announcements about the recruitment of students for special contracts with the Ministry of Defense: St. Petersburg State University, SUAI (University of Aerospace Instrumentation), Polytechnic, LETI (Electrotechnical University), St. Petersburg branch of RANEPA, GASU (University of Architecture and Civil Engineering), SPbGUPTD (University of Industrial Technologies and Design), Forestry University, St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture (Institute of Culture), Leningrad State University named after Pushkin, St. Petersburg State Economic University (University of Economics), PGUPS (University of Railways), St. Petersburg State University of Technology named after Bonch-Bruevich, Stieglitz Academy of Arts and Industry, State University of Murmansk and Russian Federation named after Admiral Makarov and Voenmekh.
To promote propaganda, universities publish advertisements for contracts on their social networks, hang leaflets in the halls and organize thematic meetings in assembly halls. Recruiters even came to the Marine Technical University (SPbSMTU) and removed some students from classes.
Most advertisements in the advertising campaign addressed to students offer approximately the same conditions: you must serve in the “north military zone” as a UAV operator or technical engineer. The total salary for the year is from 5.5 million rubles, a one-time payment is from 3 million. Students are promised a “special fixed-term contract” for one year, after which they can supposedly leave the army. In exchange for a contract, students are promised not only money and academic leave for a year, but also a transfer to the budget for students of a commercial form of education, admission to master's and postgraduate programs without exams, and “other benefits for military personnel.”
Human rights activists noticed a large-scale campaign by the Ministry of Defense to recruit contract soldiers for unmanned systems troops in universities at the end of 2025. But in January-February 2026 it became most active. It was during this period that the Ministry of Defense sent out a manual on student agitation to Russian universities. The document obliged the management of educational institutions to inform the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense “about the work done.”
"The Face of Student Recruitment"
The head of the Novosibirsk College of Transport Technologies, Maria Kirsanova, is called the face of the “second mobilization” among students online. Her speech about the reluctance of 18-year-olds to quit their studies for contract service was recorded by students and posted online.
The college director scolded the students because, after meetings with Defense Ministry recruiters, none of them wanted to sign a contract.
“Guys, the homeland demands it. It’s necessary. Some kind of fear. “Are we going to arrive in a zinc coffin, or what?” Where do you get this fear from? Who inspired this fear? And who will protect us?” – Kirsanova put pressure on the students.
She accused the students of lack of patriotism and cowardice. At the same time, the headmistress admitted that she promised someone that “her children [students] would be the first to go” into the army.
“But it turned out that I was throwing words to the wind. Are you all cowards sitting here, afraid? You have to somehow save your life... value it,” commented the college director.
After the recording was published online, Kirsanova complained to the FSB about threats on social networks and closed her VKontakte page.
After this, college students were forced to watch the film "Betrayal" for three days. The college's website states that this was done to "increase the effectiveness of preventive work."
The film by VGTRK employee Andrei Medvedev “Betrayal” is about Russians convicted in cases of terrorist attacks and sabotage. During the years of the war in Ukraine, these heavy articles of the Criminal Code began to be tried for acts that were previously classified differently, for example, as “Making vehicles or means of communication unusable.” This is Article 267 of the Criminal Code, and it provides for a much lighter punishment compared to “Sabotage” and “Terrorism”.
“To ensure the most effective perception of the material, before each screening, class teachers held preparatory conversations with students,” the College of Transportation Technologies reported. “During these meetings, students were explained the context of the film, the purposes of viewing were outlined, and the importance of a responsible and thoughtful attitude to the information presented was emphasized.”
In the network, Kirsanova most often wanted to be fired. However, she is still listed as the director of Novosibirsk College.
“Let her go there herself and take her family with her, we need to drive students like that away with a filthy broom.”
"not with a broom, but to be shot"
“I hope they kick her out in disgrace and send her there herself.”
“Sow reasonable, good, eternal things? Forget it. This is not about them. They only spread chaos, aggression and evil.”
"I would like... but in the light of these times, she will most likely be awarded ("
“I’m glad about the reaction of Russians, since I ran to complain and closed the page, sometimes it seems that not everything is lost”
“Leave the guys alone, we’ll all die out so soon, it’s brilliant to raise the demographics by letting young people become meat for a pack of chips.”
"This is the speech of a typical criminal.
You see, she would go there herself, she swears, but they won’t take her, poor thing, because of her age.
Irina thinks that the huckster type is from the 70s... I agree. I’ll add: the vocabulary and intonation with which this lady speaks is the speech of a typical criminal, a goof.
Not a teacher...
I’ve worked all my life in the education system, I’ve seen everything, but for something like this......"
“They only spread chaos, aggression and evil.” How heads of universities and colleges send students to war