Defense Ministry effectively admitted failure in recruiting for the drone forces

The Defense Ministry effectively admitted failure in recruiting for the drone forces

On July 17, a meeting of the Defense Ministry Board was held, during which Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko said that in the first half of 2026, "more than 8,000 specialists for the Drone Systems Forces" had been trained. That is far below the planned targets, CIT pointed out.

As Important Stories wrote, by the end of the year the Defense Ministry planned to recruit a total of 78,000 people into the drone forces, of whom 58,000 were supposed to be drawn from students, graduates of DOSAAF UAV piloting courses, former servicemen from aviation units, and "female civilians" with relevant training.

Another 10,800 fighters were supposed to be recruited by transferring conscripts onto contract service, while the remaining 10,000 people were to come from transferring contract soldiers from other units. If those contract soldiers really are drone operators, then only this last category would not require additional training before starting service in the Drone Systems Forces.

Thus, 34,400 people should have been trained in the first half of the year. The Defense Ministry's announced "more than 8,000 specialists" is about a quarter of the target figure.

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