"Every time he is moved from one place to another."
"He wanted to join the army. But not to go to war. He didn’t finish his studies," — ASTRA spoke with the mothers of students recruited for the war with Ukraine.
The project "I Want to Live" published lists with the names of 1,059 Russian students who were recruited into drone forces. ASTRA verified the identities of 47 of them and spoke with two mothers of young men from the list. They confirmed the information about their sons. Four more families indirectly confirmed some details but declined to communicate, including with a promise to record and pass on the conversation with the ASTRA journalist to the Ministry of Defense.
The main contingent of the list consists of students from regional universities, technical schools, and colleges who have just enrolled or are in the middle of their studies. Most of the participants in the list are between 18 and 20 years old. The leak presented by the project contains many students from the Kemerovo region, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Penza, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Samara regions, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, and Altai Krai. First to third-year students are the most common, while final-year students (fourth to fifth) are significantly fewer.
"You understand that even if this is true, I cannot disclose this to you? For example, my husband, who is a graduate of the military academy, told me never to tell anyone where and what they are doing now. Maxim (son — ed. note) signed a contract and is now kind of studying. He first studied at the RZhD College. But he couldn’t get along with the team. We changed colleges and enrolled in KITEC (College of Innovative Technologies, Economics, and Commerce — ed. note). But he didn’t want to study at KITEC because at one time he got carried away and missed his desire to go to tank school," — said the 36-year-old mother of an 18-year-old student from Omsk.
She clarified that no one persuaded her son, and the decision was made within the family and "was discussed together with his father."
"I just texted with my child today. He is doing well. He is under the supervision of his father, so to speak. He is next to his father, so... I hope it will be okay. We have been living like this since 2022. Yes, he is in UAVs. He even said thank you: 'My brain is back in place! I will return and go study,'" — the mother specified.
The 39-year-old mother of a 20-year-old student from the Saratov region also confirmed that her son left college to serve under a contract in UAV forces.
"Yes, he signed a contract. It was... When was it... In January. I don’t know what is happening... He hasn’t been in touch for a week. Every time he is moved from one place to another. And wherever he is, I constantly send money for something. His salary comes. But it turns out that they need money for tools, for some vehicles, or for something else. And he says: 'Mom, I need to send money.' From January to March, he was in Chebarkul. And when he got to Rostov, that’s when these transfers started," — said the mother of this student.
According to her, her son is already in Ukraine, but she does not know how he ended up in the army at all.
"The boys, his friends, also went, signed contracts. And he did too. He says, like, I will go serve, and I will get paid for it. That’s how it is. But the boys who signed contracts are here with us in Pugachev, serving under contract. He wanted to join the army. But not to go to war. He didn’t finish his studies," — the interlocutor clarified to ASTRA.
It was previously reported about the death of the first known Russian student recruited into UAV forces. His mother stated that he was sent "into the assault, into the meat grinder."
In 2025, an active campaign is being conducted in Russian universities and colleges to attract students to the army, based on "special" annual contracts, allegedly implying service exclusively in unmanned systems units. Lawyers have repeatedly pointed out that in fact, any contract is indefinite as long as the mobilization regime introduced by Putin remains in effect.
Leave a comment