The administration of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE University) will be offering students who are facing expulsion for academic failure the option of signing a contract with Russia’s Ministry of Defense. The independent science-focused publication T-invariant has published a copy of the letter, sent to the university’s instructors, outlining the plan.
According to the document, from this point on male students will be offered an alternative to expulsion — one year of service in Russia’s Unmanned Systems Forces, during which the student will be granted academic leave and will be able to resume their studies afterward. Students are promised that after one year they will be discharged from the army unless they themselves choose to extend the military contract; they are also promised that they will serve exclusively in the Unmanned Systems Forces, with assignment to other units prohibited.
“We draw your attention to the fact that all notifications must be sent strictly via corporate email (the use of messengers in this case is not permitted). Starting January 22 (Thursday), we will request statistics on such notifications sent to your students on a weekly basis. By default, the text specifies a period (three days) during which the expulsion must be suspended to allow for the student’s response,” the letter says.
[You can read the letter in full at the linked article, ed.]
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This past December, students at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) said they were being urged to enlist for military service as drone operators. A representative of the university’s Military Training Center came to one of the lectures and offered students facing expulsion the option of signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense for the duration of their academic leave.
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