The military commissariat for the Kirovsky and Oktyabrsky districts of Yekaterinburg sent a letter to the rector of Ural State Law University. In it, military officials asked the university to provide information about expelled students and those who completed their studies in 2026. The outlet It’s My City reported this, citing the document.
According to the letter, the request is tied to “fulfilling the established target for selecting citizens for contract military service in the unmanned systems troops”. Heads of the university’s institutes were instructed to prepare, by July 14, lists of students expected to be expelled.
In the final part of the letter, the military commissar asked for the information to be sent “for conducting outreach activities”. This indicates that the authorities were seeking not only data collection but also follow-up efforts aimed at persuading students to sign contracts.
According to the outlet, Ural State Law University and Ural Federal University had already appeared in February among universities where students were being recruited for participation in the “special military operation.” During those efforts, students were promised service in unmanned systems troops, large payments, academic leave, and the option of transferring to state-funded study places.
As Novaya-Europe notes, since late 2025 the Russian authorities have been running a quiet campaign to recruit students into the so-called unmanned troops. Defense Ministry representatives and other officials claimed such a contract lasts one year and would supposedly prevent a person from being sent to the front as an assault soldier.
“All contracts are open-ended; there are no others,” Ivan Chuvilyayev, spokesperson for the project Get Lost, told Novaya-Europe.
Earlier, the project Faridaily reported that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education had tasked rectors with sending at least 2% of students to war.