Russia has failed to recruit personnel for its unmanned systems due to a lack of volunteers
The Russian Ministry of Defense has failed to meet its recruitment target for the newly formed Unmanned Systems Forces. Analysts cite the unsuccessful campaign to recruit students—on whom the Kremlin had placed its main hopes—as one of the main reasons.
According to analysts at the Conflict Intelligence Team, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Oleksiy Kryvoruchko stated that in the first half of 2026, more than 8,000 people completed training as drone operators. At the same time, internal documents indicate that by that point, their number was supposed to have reached about 34,400, while the overall recruitment target was 78,800 people.
Specifically, the Russian Ministry of Defense planned to recruit about 58,000 new recruits from among students, former military personnel from aviation units, and women with relevant training.
CIT believes that the failure is linked both to a slowdown in recruitment into the Russian army in general and to young people’s reluctance to sign contracts. According to analysts, students feared that instead of serving in drone units, they might be sent to the assault infantry for an indefinite period.
At the same time, Russian Z-bloggers note that drone operator units in the Russian Armed Forces are currently often staffed by specialists who are not the kind one would expect to see in a high-tech branch of the military. According to CIT’s assessment, these are predominantly men aged 50 and older.
Furthermore, to compensate for the shortage of recruits, the Russian military command is transferring drone operators from existing units, a move that analysts say weakens other areas of the military.
This is stated in a report by the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT).
As a reminder, Russia wants to further simplify the recruitment of prisoners into the army.
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