201 universities and colleges promoted service in Unmanned Systems Forces among students — according to calculations by media for students Groza based on readers’ reports and open data

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20
March
2026
Groza

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On January 26, human rights advocate Artem Klyga reported that universities had received guidelines from the Ministry of Defense on how to promote service in Unmanned Systems Forces of the Russian Federation among students and explain its “benefits” — for example, a “special contract,” “guaranteed” discharge, and academic leave.

Later, Klyga and other human rights defenders explained that these promises are false and that no special contract for students exists:

“No one can guarantee students a special one-year contract, continued tuition-free education, or service away from combat zones. University staff are encouraging students to sign the standard Ministry of Defense contract, under which military service cannot be counted in place of academic results. The presidential decree on mobilization remains in force — which means that in practice, the contract cannot be terminated,” said representatives of the student-focused human rights project Molniya.

In February, a college in Ulyanovsk published an addendum to the contract offered to students for supposed service in USF — stating that they may be reassigned to other branches of the military

The appendix to the contract offered to students specifies that they may be assigned to positions in other military branches if they are deemed unsuitable for service in Unmanned Systems Forces. This decision would be made after the contract has already been signed.

“In other words, this explicitly establishes the legal possibility of assigning you to an infantry position on the grounds that you simply did not meet the requirements for other military roles — after signing the military contract,” wrote human rights advocate Artem Klyga about this clause.

Klyga told Groza that although this appendix has so far only appeared on the website of the college in Ulyanovsk, it is highly likely to be included with all contracts for service in unmanned systems units offered to students:

“The military service contract is also standardized — there is a single approved template. There are no individual contracts.”

Subsequently, reports emerged of students being pressured to attend meetings about service in “special forces” units, as well as threats from university administrations. Many students have also found it more difficult to clear academic debts — for instance, at Far Eastern Federal University, the exam retake period was reduced by half compared to last year. Also, colleges started the PR campaign of service in Unmanned Systems Forces.

In Russia, institutions commonly referred to as colleges are closer in meaning to vocational schools or secondary vocational education institutions. They provide professionally oriented training focused on practical skills and specific trades, rather than academic degrees.

Groza identified at least 158 universities and 43 colleges that are promoting contract-based service in USF among students. Here is the full list

Universities

Colleges

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