"He spent three months learning about drones yet was still pushed into a direct attack and the grinder," recalled Oksana Afanayeva, foster mother of Valery Averin.

The 23-year-old counts among the earliest known Russian students to lose their lives in Ukraine after enlisting through a fresh widespread effort to draw young recruits from higher education and technical schools into drone units.

"He had never served in uniform before," Afanasyeva noted with frustration.

The push to get students from universities, technical colleges and vocational programs to sign contracts started at the beginning of this year as Russia works to keep its military campaign going. Officials have aimed especially at those with poor grades or thinking about pausing their education.

Drone teams were described as a more skilled and modern way to take part in the fighting.

Averin was raised in an orphanage in eastern Siberia before entering foster care at age 11. When recruited he was finishing his studies at the Buryat Republican Technical School of Construction.

In early April he phoned his foster mother to say he was heading to a place without phone coverage and asked her not to be concerned.

At first he claimed he was leaving to earn money at Wildberries, the Russian online store, but she was surprised to learn he had signed a military contract and finished training as a drone specialist.

"He assured me nothing bad would happen and all would be well."

Just one week later on 8 April she discovered he had died from mortar fire near Russian-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Vladislav Gorbunov, an 18-year-old from the small town of Unecha about 70 km north of the border, died four months after signing up on 6 April.

He had trained in railway construction at his local State Technical School of Sectoral Technologies and Transport and was first assigned to an infantry assault unit before moving to drone work.

Rakhim Abdullin had joined Kumertau Mining College two years earlier to study welding but struggled with classes. In January shortly after turning 18 he signed a contract hoping to work with drones as a safer choice.

"Yet once there it proved far from safe," his mother Elena said. "They also spot the assault groups and operate right at the front."

By 13 March he was gone. "He departed fast and returned fast," she added.

The three former students Abdullin, Gorbunov and Averin form part of 230407 Russian troops whose deaths have been confirmed by the BBC through checks of burial sites, memorials, official lists and notices.

The actual number of fatalities is thought to be much greater and experts estimate the open-source review covers 45-55 percent of the full count. This suggests a true total between 417000 and 509500. Britain's GCHQ stated in May the figure stood near 500000.

Ukraine has also suffered major losses. President Volodymyr Zelensky last reported 55000 deaths in February 2026 along with many missing personnel.

An unnamed Ukrainian site estimates military deaths could reach 213000 while Dutch intelligence assesses dead wounded and missing at roughly 500000.

Filling gaps left by the fallen and injured remains vital for sustaining Russia's large-scale operations in Ukraine. Officials have framed the program Averin joined as a voluntary path into a modern high-tech and less dangerous service branch.

Students receive a special one-year contract to join a new military branch called unmanned systems troops since drones now play a central role in the conflict.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov noted in November 2025 that the branch would focus on attracting those under 35 because younger people adapt better to new technologies and faster operations.

Within weeks recruitment sessions started at schools and colleges nationwide.

BBC Russian identified activity at no fewer than 95 institutions by late February and student outlet Groza reported nearly 270 schools and colleges had promoted drone contracts by April.

The message is crafted with care.

Students hear they can commit for just one year including training and serve only in drone roles instead of standard infantry gaining sizable pay and useful technical abilities before resuming studies.

Some schools add extra perks such as one-time bonuses state-funded spots simpler entry to advanced programs or improved housing.

In Moscow leaflets handed to students promise volunteers at least five million roubles in the first year.

Yet lawyers and rights groups caution that such offers may lack legal force.

Since the partial mobilisation order of September 2022 contracts have effectively continued until mobilisation concludes making it very unlikely anyone departs after twelve months.

A key element of the ministry message is that drone work is safer than other combat duties and kept away from the front.

Still operators have turned into prized targets because of their battlefield value.

At least 920 Russian drone operators have died since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 according to BBC Russian Mediazona and volunteer researchers. The count relies on public records so the real number is probably higher.

Verified losses among drone crews already match those seen in artillery units one of the most vulnerable specialisms.

Students may also fail to reach drone units since the ministry decides suitability and failure can lead to reassignment elsewhere.

Besides money and patriotic calls students sometimes face pressure to enlist.

BBC Russian uncovered cases where those near expulsion or planning academic leave were approached.

At one Novosibirsk college a director was heard labeling refusers as cowards.

Some schools reportedly received recruitment quotas.

A former adviser to the rector at Far Eastern Federal University claimed the school was told to send 32 students in February. The university rejected the claim as false and said it backs those who freely choose to sign up.

Russia's focus on students reveals how the war now reaches deeper into civilian bodies from universities to trade schools.

Young men receive offers of cash prestige and a short specialist route through the fighting. Yet the death of Valery Averin shows how uncertain and brief those offers can prove.

His foster mother thinks he was not treated as the protected technical expert he expected: "He believed nothing would happen to him."