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The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) issued a response to concerns about its ongoing issues with Russia’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) recruitment drive, which has reportedly attempted to fill recruitment quotas using Russian university students. The Russian MoD held a joint meeting with the Russian Ministry of Science, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and heads of Russian universities and educational associations on April 27 on the “principles and conditions” for recruiting Russian students to the USF and rejected reports that Russian universities have been expelling students en masse in order to then coerce the students into signing USF contracts with the MoD. Russian Deputy Defense Minister and MoD Main Military-Political Directorate Head Army General Viktor Goremykin claimed during the meeting that Russian military service contracts with the MoD are for terms of one to three years at the choice of the signer, and that all Russian students who sign contracts with the USF do so for one-year terms. Goremykin claimed that Russia does not intend to force any students to sign contracts with the MoD and emphasized the importance that all students sign contracts voluntarily. The Russian MoD stated that the MoD regulations forbid transferring USF personnel to units in other services without the servicemember’s permission and that the Russian military command must dismiss servicemembers when their contract terms expire. The MoD stated that Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov will issue guidance by the end of April 2026 to hold Russian military commanders “personally responsible” for ensuring that commanders do not transfer USF personnel to units in other services without the permission of the servicemember. Russian Deputy Science and Higher Education Minister Dmitry Afanasyev claimed during the meeting that the MoD only received six complaints that recruiters had coerced students into signing contracts with the MoD and found each instance unfounded, and Goremykin claimed that 93 percent of surveyed students trust the Russian MoD to comply with the terms of their contracts.
The MoD is likely attempting to mitigate concern around its recruitment campaign of Russian university students that it launched in December 2025-January 2026 to ensure it is still able to recruit military personnel from students. Russia’s overall recruitment rates are stressed by rising casualty rates, and Russian students likely fear signing a contract only for the Russian military command to transfer them from a USF unit to high-casualty assault units. Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov reportedly directed large universities in early 2026 to ensure that at least two percent of students sign contracts with the MoD. Russian milbloggers criticized the ineffectiveness of the MoD’s recruitment campaign for the USF as of late March 2026 due to the worry that students will be transferred from their USF units to assault units.
Senior Russian officials continue to reiterate Russia’s territorial goals in Ukraine beyond demands for Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donetsk Oblast. Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Head Denis Pushilin claimed to Kremlin newswire TASS on April 27 that Russia must establish a “buffer zone” in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to ensure the security of occupied Velyka Novosilvka Raion, Donetsk Oblast, and to completely seize the remainder of unoccupied Zaporizhia Oblast. ISW has long assessed that Russia maintains its territorial objectives beyond the remainder of unoccupied Donetsk Oblast, and Pushilin’s statement contradicts the Kremlin’s attempts to portray the only unresolved issue in peace negotiations as Ukraine’s refusal to cede unoccupied Donetsk Oblast to Russia.
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