Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said on July 17 at a meeting of the ministry's board that "more than 8,000 specialists for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) troops" had been trained in the first half of 2026. According to the approved schedule, 34,400 people should have completed training by that time, the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) calculated.
By the end of 2026, the Defense Ministry planned to recruit 78,800 people into its UAV forces. The bulk — 58,000 — was expected to come from students, graduates of DOSAAF courses (the Soviet-era paramilitary training organization), former aviation personnel, and women with relevant training. Another 10,800 soldiers were to be recruited by converting conscripts to contract service, and 10,000 by transferring contract soldiers from other units.
CIT linked the recruitment shortfall both to a general slowdown in Russian army enlistment, especially in the first quarter of 2026, and to a failed campaign to attract students. Many students refuse to sign contracts, fearing transfer to assault units and indefinite service.
Pro-war bloggers had previously written about recruitment problems. Alexei Chadayev noted that the pace of recruitment was "not particularly outstanding," even though educational institutions and regional authorities had been brought in to help with agitation. According to him, "a rather specific contingent" is signing up for UAV troops, "the least suitable to become the backbone of a new high-tech branch of the military." Alexander Vaskovsky claimed that only "C students who are subject to expulsion" are signing contracts. Analysts, according to CIT, note that most often these are men over 50 with difficult life paths.
To compensate for the shortage of new recruits, the Defense Ministry is transferring drone operators from existing ground forces units into the UAV forces. As CIT notes and Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), confirms, this partially compensates for the personnel shortage but simultaneously weakens other parts of the Russian army.