Russia looks to students to make up for mounting losses in Ukraine

He studied drones for three months - and yet they still threw him into a frontal assault, into the meat grinder, said Valery Averin's foster mother Oksana Afanayeva. The 23-year-old is among the first Russian students known to have been killed in Ukraine after signing up as part of a new large-scale drive to recruit young people from universities and colleges into Russia's drone forces. He had never even served in the army, Afanasyeva complained. The campaign to encourage students at universities, technical colleges and vocational schools to sign army contracts began early this year, as Russia sought to sustain its war effort into a fifth year. It has focused particularly on those struggling academically or considering taking a break from their studies.