"He trained on drones for three months, yet they sent him straight into a frontal attack and the meat grinder," remarked Oksana Afanayeva, foster mother of Valery Averin.

The 23-year-old ranks among the earliest known Russian students killed in Ukraine after enlisting under a fresh widespread effort to draw young recruits from universities and colleges into the country's drone units.

"He had never even served in the army," Afanasyeva noted with frustration.

The push to sign up students from universities, technical colleges and vocational schools started early this year, as Russia aimed to keep its military operations going into a fifth year. Particular attention has gone to those facing academic struggles or thinking about pausing their education.

Drone units received promotion as a more select and technically focused route in the conflict.

Averin spent his early years in an orphanage in eastern Siberia before entering foster care at age 11. At the point of army recruitment he was completing his final year at the Buryat Republican Technical School of Construction.

Early in April he phoned his foster mother to report deployment to a location "with no [phone] signal" and urged her not to worry.

At first he claimed the trip was for earning income at Wildberries, a Russian online retailer, leaving her stunned upon discovering he had signed a military contract and finished drone operator training.

"He told me: 'Nothing will happen to me, everything will be fine.'"

One week later, on 8 April, she received word he had died in a mortar attack near Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Vladislav Gorbunov, an 18-year-old from the small town of Unecha 70km (43 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, died four months after signing a contract on 6 April.

He had pursued studies in railway construction and maintenance at his local State Technical School of Sectoral Technologies and Transport and was first assigned to an infantry frontline assault unit before moving to a drone operators' unit.

Rakhim Abdullin had joined Kumertau Mining College two years earlier to train as a welder, but his studies faltered and in January, just over two weeks after turning 18, he signed a military contract hoping to serve as a drone operator, viewing it as a safer choice.

"But once he got there, it turned out not to be safe at all," his mother Elena clarified. "Because they see the assault troops too, and they are right on the front line."

By 13 March he was dead. "He left quickly, and he came back quickly," she said.

The three former students - Abdullin, Gorbunov and Averin - form part of 230,407 Russian soldiers and officers whose deaths have been confirmed through analysis of cemeteries, war memorials, government registers and obituaries.

The actual death toll is thought to be substantially higher, with military experts estimating that open-source analysis captures 45-55% of the overall figure. This would place the true toll between 417,000 and 509,500. The UK's largest intelligence agency, GCHQ, indicated in May the number stood near 500,000.

Ukraine's losses remain very substantial as well. President Volodymyr Zelensky last confirmed 55,000 deaths in February 2026, alongside many listed as missing.

An anonymous Ukrainian website estimates total military deaths could reach 213,000, while Dutch military intelligence assesses dead, wounded and missing at roughly 500,000.

Filling gaps left by the dead and wounded has grown essential for sustaining Russia's full-scale operations in Ukraine, and officials have framed the program Averin joined as a voluntary entry into a modern, high-tech and comparatively secure military branch.

Students receive offers of a special one-year contract to serve in a new military branch called "unmanned systems troops" - given drones' central role in the Ukraine conflict.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov stated in November 2025 that the force would mainly target those under 35, since younger personnel were seen as better suited to "new technologies and speeds".

Within weeks, recruitment sessions began at educational institutions throughout Russia.

Evidence of recruitment activity appeared in at least 95 universities and colleges by late February, and by April student publication Groza reported the number of universities and colleges promoting drone force contracts had reached nearly 270.

The presentation is thoughtfully crafted.

Students hear they can enlist for just one year, covering training, and serve only in drone units instead of standard infantry, gaining substantial payments and useful technical abilities before resuming studies.

Certain universities extend extra perks, such as one-time payments, state-funded spots, simplified entry to postgraduate programs, or improved housing.

In Moscow, leaflets handed to students indicate volunteers might receive at least five million roubles (£43,000; $57,000) during the first year.

Yet lawyers and rights advocates caution these assurances could prove difficult to enforce.

Since President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilisation order of September 2022, military contracts have effectively continued until mobilisation concludes, making it highly improbable a recruit departs after 12 months.

A key element of the defence ministry's appeal is that drone operator duties are safer than other combat positions, removed from the front line.

However, they have turned into high-value targets in this conflict, pursued by both sides due to their battlefield significance.

At least 920 Russian drone operators have died since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, based on analysis of public records. As before, the actual number is probably greater.

Verified losses among drone operators already match those seen in artillery units - among the army's most vulnerable combat roles.

Moreover, students may not even reach the drone forces, since suitability rests with the defence ministry. Failure could result in reassignment to another army branch.

Beyond financial rewards and patriotic calls, students sometimes face pressure to enlist.

Evidence shows targeting of students near expulsion or considering academic leave.

At one Novosibirsk college, a director was recorded labeling students cowards for declining contracts.

Some institutions have reportedly received recruitment quotas.

A former adviser to the rector of Far Eastern Federal University reported the school received a target to send 32 students to the war in February. The university rejected the claim as false and stated it backs students who choose contracts voluntarily.

Russia's emphasis on students illustrates how the war is extending further into civilian settings, from universities and colleges to vocational schools.

Young men receive offers of money, status and the prospect of a brief, specialized route through the conflict. Yet Valery Averin's death reveals how uncertain - and temporary - such assurances can prove.

His foster mother maintains he was not deployed as the shielded technical expert he anticipated: "He said nothing would happen to him."