Russia try to recruit new ones values for his war against Ukraine. According to a recent investigation, Vladimir Putin’s government offers around $7,000 per month to young people who serve for a year in the drone force of the army.
Several Russian students spoke with him New York Times about a controversial local recruitment measure that gained strength in recent weeks and would focus on students who lost their places or who have poor grades. One of them, who goes by the name of Daniil, says that the initiative is “appalling and absurd.”
After applying for a medical leave and losing his place at his university, Daniil was told he would only be reinstated if he signed up for a year in the drone force. If he did so, when he returned from military service he would have free tuition, accommodation and master’s degree and would receive at least 6.52 million rubles ($84,500) for the year of service.
Last month, a group of male students at a university in Siberia were forced to watch a recruiting promotional video for the drone service that invited them to “be real men.” According to Mikhail, a 20-year-old student interviewed by the Timesthe message ends with the phrase: “Stop and think: What kind of person are you?”.
In a later presentation, a recruiter urged students to learn how to operate drones as a way to avoid mandatory military service, since it does not offer good pay or specialized training, and because drone operation will be a profession that “will be in high demand in the future.”
Much worse, the article notes that, in an exclusively reviewed message, a recruiter says that “if students fail to catch up on their academic penalties they will be considered other options”.
A trick proposal?
Fierce recruitment reportedly began in January of this year, when the army displayed promotional posters at “hundreds of universities.”
The campaign focuses on the fact that the job, unlike the Russian infantry, “where the risk of death or serious injury is high” or the salary is not high, is safer and is aligned with the war of the future.
But the students know well that Drone drivers regularly target wars and that leaving military service in Russia after a year is very difficultsince military contracts are usually indefinite.
The Kremlin’s response
In response to the allegations, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskovwas unaware of the recruitment campaign, although he did admit that the drone force was looking for “new personnel.”
«The offer is available on the market. And it is open to everyone: workers, students, anyone,» he said.
Russia created a Unmanned Systems Forceamong which is a elite drone unit called Rubiconwhich uses new technologies and advanced training in the war conflict between the country and Ukraine.
