June 12, 2026

Recruiting For a Drone Army


Recruiting For a Drone Army
Drone flying in the sky between mountains. The Russian Life files.

On June 3, the Ukrainian project Khochu Zhit ("I Want to Live") revealed that Russia has recruited over 1,000 students from Siberia to enlist in its unmanned forces – those charged with operating lethal drones. The Ukrainian organization found a list with the recruits' names and information.

According to Novaya Gazeta Evropa, 80 percent of the names in the list were young men aged 18 to 21. Authorities mainly targeted first and second-year students from technical colleges. 

An unnamed medicine student told Novaya Gazeta that he signed a contract for the unmanned army in March 2026. "I studied under a targeted training agreement," he said, "but the contract now gives me the opportunity to switch to a state-funded spot."

Novaya Gazeta found that very few recruits came from European Russia. In the list of 1,000, only one person each came from Nizhegorodskaya Oblast, Stavropol Krai, and Kursk Oblast. Two students came from Moscow. However, one was originally from Penza and the other was from the Chuvash Republic. It is unknown why authorities didn't recruit any Muscovites or Petersburgers.

According to Novaya Gazeta, the Urals, the Volga, and Siberia were the regions where most recruits came from, led by Kemerovo Oblast (129), Krasnoyarsk Krai (99), Penza Oblast (76), Tatarstan (69), and Novosibirsk Oblast (57).

Novaya Gazeta found high school students on Khochu Zhit's roster, as well as recruits from prestigious universities, including the Siberian Federal University (17), Tomsk State University (11), South Ural State University (11), Tyumen State University (7), Ural Federal University (5), and the Kazan Federal University (2).

Khochu Zhit did not disclose how it obtained the roster. The organization is a helpline for Russian servicemen who do not want to participate in Russia's war on Ukraine, allowing them to safely surrender to the Ukrainian armed forces. It is operated by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine.

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