The Russian authorities are actively attracting women to military service, promising them huge salaries. Who are those who agree to sign a contract and why do they do it?
In Russia, the campaign to attract women to military service under a contract is intensifying - through promises of relatively "safe" service in unmanned aviation units or as drivers of humanitarian transports. As a rule, no special requirements are set for education or professional skills, the main criterion remains age - from 18 to 35 years. In return, large lump-sum payments are offered, the amount of which, depending on the region, can reach several million rubles.
In 2023, the then Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that about 110,000 women serve in the Russian armed forces. The majority of them are employed in medical units, communications, headquarters and logistics. However, among those killed in the war with Ukraine, there are also women who served in assault units, artillery and other combat units.
Recruitment by phone: military or scammers?
But how exactly are recruitment attempts carried out? Nadezhda, a resident of Kaliningrad, says in a video on Instagram that she received a call from the military district shortly after her child received a place in kindergarten. She was offered to appear before a military commission at her place of residence and personally sign a contract, or give a written refusal. During the conversation, she was asked whether there were adult men living with her. She was also assured that if she signed a contract with the military, her child would receive care under a state program. "I don't have a military specialty. I'm a meat technologist", the woman wrote under her post, not ruling out the possibility that she had been called by scammers.
From the comments under Nadezhda's post, it is clear that other Russian women have had similar experiences - they were contacted by phone by "people from the military commissions". One user wrote that they called her several times over several days with the offer to sign a contract. She refused. "In our family, two people have already died there, a third is in captivity. For now, that's enough for us," she notes.
A 62-year-old woman with several illnesses, as well as a hospital employee, also had similar conversations. The medical worker said that the head physician of the hospital persuaded her to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, which was an opportunity to earn money and "find a husband".
Recruitment for drone work
While the case of the phone calls may be the actions of fraudsters, in a number of Russian regions, the recruitment of women for military service is carried out officially. Local authorities and state institutions publish advertisements in which they offer women aged 18 to 35 to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to serve in drone units. According to information in the media, such campaigns are being conducted in the Krasnoyarsk and Perm Krai, in the Omsk and Tomsk regions, as well as in the Moscow region.
This type of agitation is often aimed at female students who are at risk of being cut off. From the "Catch the Forest" project reported at least five female students from the Ulyanovsk region who had signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. "They were told it was safe, that they would just sit in an office and watch the drones. And they promised them more money on top of that", a student from the same university told human rights activists.
The lump sum payments can vary depending on the region: while in the Ulyanovsk region, female students with a contract are offered 1.1 million rubles (about 13,000 euros), in the Krasnoyarsk Territory the amount is 5.4 million (just over 64,000 euros). The monthly salary in all regions amounts to about 210,000 rubles (nearly 2,500 euros). In some cases, the offers are accompanied by additional incentives. For example, a student in Novokuznetsk was offered to sign a contract in exchange for forgiveness of her tuition debts.
An employee at one of the Moscow universities told DW that similar agitations among girls are also held at the capital's higher education institutions. During one such event, a student shared that she was aware of what was happening at the front - a drone operator does not survive even a week.
Almost 79,000 people are needed to operate drones
Today, increasing the number of personnel to operate unmanned systems is one of the priorities of the Russian authorities. According to the investigative platform "Important Stories", which has access to internal documents of the Ministry of Defense, by the end of 2026 it is planned to recruit nearly 79,000 people for this formation. The main part of the personnel - about 58,000 - should be students and former servicemen from the aviation units. The documents specifically mention "female citizens", who are scheduled to undergo appropriate training.
Human rights activist Natalia Baranova believes that the consent of some women to sign a contract is explained by a combination of social, economic and political factors. According to her, the choice can be influenced by poverty, gender inequality in the labor market and state propaganda. In the face of inflation, job cuts, and limited earning opportunities, the promise of high salaries, benefits, and social guarantees is becoming attractive to many.
At the same time, Baranova doubts that the recruitment of women into drone units will become a mass phenomenon. According to her, public sentiment is against violence: Russians are advocating for the fastest possible conclusion of peace.
Women are also dying in the war against Ukraine
At least 32 Russian female servicemen are known to have lost their lives in the war against Ukraine. According to a study by the Air Force and "Mediazon", the majority of those who died served as military medics, but some also held other military positions. Many of these women were mobilized in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Not all of them died directly in combat. For example, 44-year-old nurse Galina Kostikova from the Omsk region was killed in the rear by prisoners recruited for the war.
According to the data available to the two media outlets, at least 225,000 people have died on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine so far.