На русском языке:
Россияне вербуют беларусских студентов для сборки БПЛА? Всё не совсем так, как пишут СМИ
На беларускай мове:
Расейцы вярбуюць беларускіх студэнтаў для зборкі БПЛА? Усё не зусім так, як пішуць СМІ
A number of Ukrainian and Belarusian media outlets reported that at the “UAV-2024” International Youth Forum, which was held at the Belarusian State Technological University in Minsk, Russians were allegedly recruiting Belarusian students to assemble UAVs.
It’s reported that representatives of PMC Wagner were seen at the forum, and the purpose of the forum, according to the media, is to “attract young Belarusians to the development and production of UAVs for the Russian Armed Forces at the university in Kazan.” The curators of the forum were allegedly State Secretary of the so-called ‘Union State’ Dmitry Mezentsev and Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov. And this forum, according to the media, was a “Russian recruiting platform.”
Let's look at these statements more closely
Yes, on April 22-26, the International Youth Forum on UAV development was held at BSTU, and Kazan National Research Technical University was indeed among the participants. However, everything is not quite as the media write.
First, the role of “curators” of Mezentsev and Gryzlov in this event is noticeably exaggerated. Mezentsev was at the event just as a guest, and Gryzlov’s participation included only addressing the participants.
Boris Gryzlov
Second, this forum can’t be called a purely “Russian platform”, since the ambassadors of Uzbekistan and the UAE and representatives from China were also there.
As for other aspects, UAVs of various types both for peaceful and combat purposes were indeed shown at the forum. And BSTU indeed made an agreement with Kazan National Research Technical University to implement a dual-degree educational program “Design and Technology of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles”. But other agreements were also signed, for example, with Sakhalin State University and Moscow Aviation Institute. With the latter, the agreement provides for the launch of a joint master’s program on drones in the “1+1” format, that is, students will study one year in Moscow and the second year in Minsk or vice versa.
The experts of the iSANS monitoring group analyzed these agreements and found out that there is no mention of employment of Belarusian students at Russian military enterprises. In addition, the experts found no confirmation that representatives of PMC Wagner attended the forum.
“Statements about the Youth Forum on the development of UAVs as a platform for the recruitment of Belarusian young people by Russians, in our opinion, are an exaggeration.
Of course, the Russian party is interested in using Belarusian developments in the field of UAVs. But we see the main purpose of the forum as to create a full-fledged base for the design and production of UAVs for the needs of Belarus,” the experts said.
Prepared by the iSANS Belarus monitoring group.
