Inside Russia’s push to recruit students as drone pilots in Ukraine

War in UkraineInside Russia’s push to recruit students as drone pilots in Ukraine“No one wants to join,” one student at a university in Siberia told NBC News. “No one is interested. Everyone understands that it’s not as they say it is.”Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A billboard in St. Petersburg, Russia, advertising a contract in Russia's drone forces. The sign reads: "The new ones. The irreplaceable ones. Russian unmanned troops." Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 12, 2026, 1:00 PM EDTBy Yuliya TalmazanStudents at universities across Russia are being promised high salaries, no front-line duty and a return to their studies within a year with free tuition if they join Russia’s newly formed drone force, meant to give Moscow an edge amid Ukraine’s significant leaps in drone warfare. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.But rights activists told NBC News the offer could be a trap that would see students in the thick of the fighting in Ukraine, risking being drafted into front-line infantry units with no way out until the war ends.The intense recruitment drive has accelerated since January, reflecting the increasingly crucial role of drone warfare in the conflict, now into its fifth year. Russia is sustaining heavy casualties, and the U.S.-led peace talks have stalled amid the focus on the Middle East.Andrey, a student from the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia, told NBC News he attended an event at his university in February where a man from the military enlistment office as well as a veteran of what Russia calls its “special military operation” told students, all young men, about the new drone force and its personnel needs.They were told about all sorts of benefits of joining, said Andrey, who did not want his last name, age or the name of his university published out of fear of potential repercussions for speaking about a sensitive security topic during the war.“It...