The Kremlin pretended not to know about sending students to war
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian dictator, stated that he was unaware of any campaigns to forcibly recruit students and factory workers to participate in the war against Ukraine.
At the same time, he acknowledged a large-scale recruitment drive for the so-called “new troops,” without specifying that these are units specializing in unmanned aerial systems. According to Peskov, this offer is open to all categories of citizens, including students and the unemployed, and operates on the labor market on equal terms.
Peskov’s statements came amid reports by Faridaily that Russian universities had received a plan to recruit contract soldiers amounting to 2% of the total student body. Earlier, an investigation by “Important Stories” indicated that the Russian Ministry of Defense plans to recruit nearly 79,000 people by the end of 2026 specifically for drone system units. In particular, Ryazan Region Governor Pavel Malkov has already signed a decree requiring regional enterprises to fulfill quotas for recruiting contract service candidates based on their workforce size.
Regarding restrictions on means of circumventing blocks, Peskov denied the existence of an order from Putin to restrict VPN services. However, the head of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media, Maksut Shadayev, previously confirmed that his agency had been tasked with reducing the use of VPNs in the country. Although Peskov is attempting to distance the Kremlin from these decisions, the actions of regional authorities and relevant ministries indicate systematic preparations to intensify censorship and mobilization efforts among young people and technical specialists. Currently, the Russian Federation’s official position is to deny the coercive nature of these initiatives, despite documented evidence on the ground.
As a reminder, Russian authorities have introduced a new scheme to replenish the occupation forces, shifting the responsibility for mobilization to the heads of medium and large enterprises.
From January 1 to March 26, 2026, Russian troops lost 89,000 personnel on the front lines, including those killed and seriously wounded.
