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Russia Starts Drafting Students in Temporarily Occupied Areas of Ukraine
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Russian occupation authorities are canceling draft deferments for full-time students in temporarily occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and sending them to military training, according to the Center of National Resistance on April 4.
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The agency reported that the affected students are being called to enlistment offices under the pretext of “updating data” or checking personal records.
Once they arrive, documents confirming their university studies are disregarded, and the deferments are revoked.
The reports indicate that the practice targets students in full-time programs, who would formally qualify for a deferment even under Russian rules.
Instead of being released after the paperwork check, young men are reportedly sent directly to military training, with no real avenue to challenge the decision or seek legal protection.
The Center of National Resistance noted that “despite Russian legislation” granting full-time students an official right to a deferment, those protections are being “massively ignored” in the temporarily occupied territories, while local enlistment offices prioritize fulfilling mobilization plans.
The matter adds to mounting reports that Russia is using administrative pressure and the legal vacuum in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory to feed manpower into its military, as it also reflects a wider Russian recruitment strategy that is reaching into campuses and student populations.
Russian authorities have reportedly ordered leading universities to channel at least 2% of their male student population into military service under Defense Ministry contracts, according to Faridaily, cited by The Moscow Times.
With roughly 2.2 million men enrolled in higher education in 2025, full implementation would translate into about 44,000 student recruits, rising to 76,000 if colleges are included.
The reported quota fits a broader recruitment push that has already turned campuses into a pipeline for Russia’s Unmanned Systems Forces, with at least 91 universities and 112 vocational institutions involved.
Those campaigns are often framed as routine meetings, but investigations found that students were lured with cash, academic leniency, and promises that they could resume their studies after a year in uniform.
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