Russia pressures university students to become wartime drone pilots with financial incentives

Russian universities are offering students free tuition, up to $70,000, tax holidays, loan forgiveness, and free land in exchange for one-year military service as drone pilots in the war in Ukraine. At least 270 academic institutions are promoting military contracts to approximately 2 million eligible male students. The recruitment drive targets gamers and technically skilled students, and has already produced at least one confirmed battlefield death among student recruits.