BBC Russia has obtained information about the death in the war in Ukraine of Valery Averin, a 23-year-old student from Buryatia who had signed a contract to serve in Russia’s unmanned systems forces — the first confirmed case of a student being killed after being recruited through a large-scale campaign that Russia’s Defense Ministry has been running at universities and colleges.
Averin was a former ward of a children’s home who had lived with a foster family since the age of 11. His foster mother, Oksana Afanasyeva, told BBC journalists of his death. A final-year student at the Buryat Republican College of Construction and Industrial Technologies, Averin completed his training as a drone operator on March 24, 2026. He called Afanasyeva for the last time on April 2, telling her he was leaving for a place where there was no signal. On April 8 — just two weeks after finishing his training — she was informed that he had been killed in a mortar attack.
“He really wanted to serve, but the army wouldn’t take him — said he was mentally unstable or something. He lied to me, said he was going to work at Wildberries. And when I found out he’d signed a contract, I nearly lost my mind. I said, ‘What have you done? Where did you go?’ He said, ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me, everything will be fine, don’t worry,’” Afanasyeva told BBC Russia.
She said she had also heard of other students from the college who had signed contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry and been killed. She did not provide details, and journalists were unable to confirm the information through open sources.
The recruitment of Russian students into drone forces became known in late 2025. Students are promised high pay and a one-year contract, though in reality the contracts are open-ended.
Universities have been tightening their expulsion rules — a move that students themselves believe is intended to push them toward signing contracts. The Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported such a situation at the Russian Technological University (MIREA).
The independent Russian political newsletter Faridaily reported that Russian authorities had set universities a quota for recruiting contract soldiers for the war — 2 percent of total enrollment. The independent Russian investigative outlet iStories reported that Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to recruit 78,800 people into its unmanned systems forces by the end of 2026.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.
