‘Are You All Cowards?’: Russian Universities Pressure Students to Fight in Ukraine
March 23, 2026When military recruiters arrived at the Lunin College of Transport Technologies in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk last month, they hoped they would find students willing to enlist as drone operators — but few took up the offer.
College president Maria Kirsanova fumed that she had expected “her kids” — around 400 students over the age of 18 — to be “the first to go and defend their Fatherland.”
“Who put the fear into you? Who will protect us?” she asked at a meeting with students, which was recorded by one of the attendees and published online.
“Are you all cowards here sitting and being scared for your lives?” she said, scolding students for what she called a fear of returning home “in zinc coffins.”
Russia has increasingly turned to universities as a fresh source of recruits for its four-year war in Ukraine as enlistment numbers dwindle and war casualties soar into the hundreds of thousands.
While Russia’s mass army sign-up campaign with promises of high pay started shortly after the full-scale invasion in 2022, efforts targeting students in particular have intensified since January, said Idite Lesom (“Get Lost”), an NGO that helps Russians avoid conscription.
Recruitment сampaignsThe timing of these campaigns is tied to the academic calendar. Military recruiters often use the winter exam season to target students, especially those with low grades or retakes, Idite Lesom spokesperson Ivan Chuviliaev told The Moscow Times.
Efforts to push students into the army can take one of several different forms. . . .
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/03/23/are-you-all-cowards-russian-universities-pressure-students-to-fight-in-ukraine-a92307
