Russia’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) is recruiting prospective students for the country’s military drone forces and the “BARS-Moscow” reserve formation by offering them the prospect of free university education.

The university will provide higher education to up to 100 participants in its “Service + Education” initiative, using the institution’s own extrabudgetary funds, Ukrainska Pravda reports.

The program is open to Russian citizens from any region who sign a military service contract with the drone forces or agree to serve in BARS-Moscow. The reserve formation was established with the support of the Moscow government to protect the capital and nearby regions - Moscow, Kaluga, Ryazan and Tula - from drone attacks.

To apply, candidates need to submit an online form with their full name, phone number and email address, wait for a response and sign an agreement with the university.

“Upon completion of the contract [a volunteer contract or a special contract for service in the UAV forces], you will be enrolled in a university-funded undergraduate program, provided you pass the competition for fee-paying places. The enrollment date depends on when the contract ends,” the university’s announcement states.

Only those who join BARS-Moscow will not be sent to active combat zones. It also claims that contract service takes place in military units located far from the front line.

However, legal questions remain over the terms of service in BARS-Moscow. Lawyers refer to Russia’s Federal Law No. 61-FZ on Defense, adopted in 1995, which stipulates that the Russian Defense Ministry determines the areas of operation and duration of deployment of volunteer formations based on the tasks facing the country’s armed forces.

The initiative follows earlier reports that Russian university applicants who failed to secure admission were being encouraged to join the drone forces with promises of state-funded university places after a year of service.

A similar advertisement appeared on the website of Novosibirsk State Technical University. Documents from regional officials indicate that the scheme has been authorized at seven universities in the Novosibirsk region.

A comparable recruitment offer was also promoted in a post on the official VK page of the operator training faculty at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), offering a route into university through a one-year contract with the drone forces.

In early August, a recruiter involved in recruiting people for Russia’s war against Ukraine claimed that the government was seeking 500,000 volunteers and argued that intensive contract recruitment was, in effect, postponing the need for general mobilization.