MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) – Russian students are being offered big financial incentives to join drone units fighting in Ukraine as operators and engineers, according to documents seen by Reuters.
For their part, companies in the Ryazan region, in the center of the country, now have quotas to recruit workers for the army.
This recruitment campaign comes at a time when Russian forces continue to advance painfully on the battlefield in Ukraine and when US-led peace talks have stalled due to the war in Iran.
It appears to suggest that Moscow is seeking to diversify its efforts to replenish the ranks of its army as the war enters its fifth year.
But this is not part of a general mobilization, which is not on the agenda according to the Kremlin.
Likewise, according to senior officials, Russia has no shortage of recruits, despite Ukrainian claims – rejected by Moscow – that Kyiv is eliminating Russian troops faster than they can be recruited.
Dmitry Medvedev, vice president of the Security Council, told state media on Friday that Russia’s continuous recruitment system, which offers substantial financial benefits to volunteers who sign up, continues to bear fruit.
More than 400,000 people signed up last year and more than 80,000 since the start of this year, he said.
Russia’s decision to target students, however, suggests that Moscow wants to integrate more skilled human resources into its drone forces, which, like Ukraine’s, play an increasingly central role in what has long become a bitter war of attrition.
Drone operators from both sides typically work some distance from the front line, but are considered high-value targets who are hunted down and killed if their location is revealed.
The Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok promises students who sign up for at least one year a renewable academic leave and guaranteed tuition fee waivers upon their return, as well as free accommodation and scholarships. It also undertakes to cover the costs of any necessary military equipment and weaponry.
This is in addition to what, by local standards, constitutes substantial financial assistance: a salary of 5.5 million rubles ($68,433) in the first year, a one-time bonus of 2.5 million rubles after the free training, a monthly stipend of 240,000 rubles and a one-time bonus of 200,000 rubles paid by the university.
“It is not only an opportunity to prove yourself, but also a unique platform for your social development and professional advancement, supported by unprecedented support measures,” the university said in a document published on March 19.
“THE NEW ESSENTIALS”
Moscow State University of Civil Engineering is offering equally strong incentives, telling students in a statement on its website that they have the opportunity to become drone operators, engineers or technical specialists.
The Russian State University of Hydrometeorology in St. Petersburg also encourages its students to register. Its offer to students, published on its website, features a drone operator announcing remuneration of seven million rubles ($87,000) per year.
According to unconfirmed information relayed by the media, universities were allocated recruitment quotas to respect. Reuters was unable to independently confirm this information.
The campaign, aimed at attracting students, particularly those pursuing technical fields such as engineering or aeronautics, coincides with a new recruitment campaign on billboards that shows a young, bright-eyed drone operator wearing high-tech glasses, under the title “The New Essentials.”
Furthermore, Pavel Malkov, governor of the Ryazan region – which has more than a million inhabitants – ordered private and public companies to set quotas for recruiting workers to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry.
His orders, contained in a decree published on a government website and carried by state media, stipulate that companies with up to 300 employees must provide two recruits to the army, those with up to 500 employees three recruits, and those with more than 500 employees five recruits.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn, French version Mara Vilcu, edited by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
par Andrew Osborn
