A billboard in Moscow urges Russians to enlist in the newly created Unmanned Systems Forces, 17 February 2026. Photo: EPA / Maxim Shipenkov
Students at St. Petersburg State University have been offered bonuses worth €550 for enlisting to serve in the Russian military, independent St. Petersburg media outlet Bumaga reported on Wednesday.
A letter went out to students at the university, which is one of Russia’s most prestigious higher education institutions, on Monday outlining the various incentives on offer for those who enlisted in the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), a new branch of the Russian Armed Forces dedicated to drone warfare, according to Bumaga.
Alongside a university stipend of 50,000 rubles (€550), the letter guaranteed students academic leave during their service, and that they would be allowed to return to their studies with a personalised curriculum following the conclusion of their military contract.
Aside from the stipend, the letter did not specify the monthly pay on offer to students who enlisted in the military, a strategy that the Russian authorities have used in the past to attract student recruits.
The use of such methods to ensure a continued flow of recruits to the frontline in Ukraine has become increasingly common in the past two years. In January, students who were facing expulsion from the prestigious Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow were offered a one-year contract in the USF, according to independent Russian media outlet Mediazona.
In its reporting on official attempts to market military service to Russian students, independent Russian media outlet The Insider found that such contracts were often more open-ended and harder to end than they initially seemed.
