Tech-savvy young Russians are refusing to enlist in Vladimir Putin’s “absurdly hopeless” drone units because they don’t trust their government not to send them to the front as cannon fodder.
What was meant to be a crack squad of young and highly skilled personnel operating a huge fleet of drones has turned into an undermanned and underskilled branch of the army.
The Russian military set up the Unmanned Systems Forces branch (Voyska bespilotnykh sistem or VBS) last November as a cutting-edge counter to Kyiv’s agile drone fleet.
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However, only a quarter of the 34,400 personnel meant to be recruited for the drone units have actually materialised, according to analysis by the Russian opposition organisation Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT).
