"People with guns are having fun scaring passersby": How training is being conducted at the military department of the Volgograd Agrarian University

VolGAU students complainedthat on the university grounds, unknown individuals jumped out from an ambush and pointed something resembling a Kalashnikov assault rifle at them.

"As I was passing by, the commander shouted, 'Contact!' and the whole group raised their rifles right at me. I, with my gun on, half-jokingly raised my hands in fear. In response, I heard laughter from the bushes. So, for them, it was just fun—seeing how an ordinary student reacts to being shot at. This completely infuriated me: people with guns in the city center are just having fun, scaring passersby!" one of the students recounted.

The young man photographed the "attackers" and identified them as students from the military department by the chevrons on their uniforms. He suspected they might have been practicing combat tactics directly on unsuspecting passersby.

The VolGAU press service confirmed that the men in uniform were indeed their students undergoing training, explaining that "students undergo tactical, firearms, physical training, drill, and military medical training," and that the classes are conducted using training deactivated weapons.

The militarization of universities, schools, and even kindergartens is in full swing in Russia. Students are being actively recruited to fight in the war. is in at least 23 regions of the country. Thus, in Belgorod students obliged take a survey about whether they are ready to go to war. In college, Kazan innovative university for students in debt proposed sign a contract to participate in the "SVO" in exchange for the opportunity to continue their education. And in Tomsk advertising a contract for service in the unmanned forces on their websites have placed almost all universities in the city.