BBC Information Russian
VK/BBCVladimir Putin has repeatedly promised that no 18-year-olds known as as much as serve Russia might be despatched to combat in Ukraine, however a BBC Russian investigation has discovered no less than 245 troopers of that age have been killed there previously two years.
New authorities guidelines imply youngsters recent out of faculty have been in a position to bypass army service and go straight into the common military as contract troopers.
They could make up solely a fraction of Russian losses, however money bonuses and patriotic propaganda have made signing up a horny selection.
Alexander Petlinsky enlisted two weeks after his 18th birthday.
He was killed in Ukraine simply 20 days later: considered one of tons of of 1000’s of troopers killed in Russia’s full-scale conflict in Ukraine which has additionally claimed the lives of no less than 13,500 Ukrainian civilians since Putin launched the invasion in February 2022.
Petlinsky’s aunt Ekaterina stated he had dreamed of a profession in drugs and gained a spot at a medical school in Chelyabinsk, an industrial regional centre within the Urals.
“However Sasha had one other dream,” she advised a faculty memorial occasion. “When the particular army operation started, Sasha was 15. And he dreamed of going to the entrance.”
In Ukraine, the call-up age is 25.
Russia has managed to keep away from a nationwide mobilisation by providing lavish sums to males of preventing age – an particularly engaging deal for these in poorer areas with few job prospects.
Initially, males needed to have no less than three months of conscript service underneath their belts earlier than signing a contract.
That restriction was quietly dropped in April 2023, regardless of protests from some MPs, so now any younger man who has reached the age of 18 and completed faculty can signal as much as be a part of the military.
Russia’s schooling system has ensured they’re able to enlist.
Alexander Petlinsky/VKFor the reason that full-scale invasion started, academics have been required by regulation to carry courses devoted to the “particular army operation”, because the conflict is formally identified.
Troopers getting back from the entrance go to colleges to speak about their experiences, kids are taught methods to make camouflage nets and trench candles, and even nursery faculty pupils are inspired to ship letters and drawings to the frontline.
Firstly of the final faculty 12 months on 1 September 2024, a brand new topic was introduced into the curriculum.
In a throwback to the Soviet period, senior college students are as soon as once more being taught methods to use Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades as a part of a course known as “The Fundamentals of Security and Homeland Defence”.
In lots of areas, army recruiters now attend careers classes in colleges and technical schools, telling younger individuals how to enroll as contract troopers after they graduate.
Vitaly Ivanov grew up in a small village in Siberia and dropped out of faculty the place he was studying to be a mechanic.
He acquired into hassle with police, and when he was accused of robbing a small store in November 2024, he complained to his mom and girlfriend he had been crushed into giving a confession.
Vitaly Ivanov/VKHis good friend Mikhail advised the BBC that Vitaly had all the time deliberate to do his army service when he turned 18. Then, collectively, they’d go and discover work constructing roads in Kazan, a metropolis about 3,700km (2,300 miles) to the west.
As an alternative, he signed a contract to affix the military. His household haven’t dominated out that it was the police who “persuaded” him.
The day earlier than he left he known as his mom, Anna, to say he was about to go away.
“I am off to the North-Jap Army District,” he defined.
In different phrases, he was heading for Ukraine.
He and Alexander reached the frontline at about the identical time in February.
Vitaly’s final message dwelling on 5 February was to say he was being despatched into fight.
“This was his first and final fight mission,” says Anna.
The enlistment workplace rang her a month later to say he had died on 11 February.
As a part of BBC Russian’s ongoing mission utilizing open sources to depend Russia’s conflict useless, we’ve got recognized and confirmed 245 names of 18-year-old contract troopers killed in Ukraine between April 2023 – when the principles for becoming a member of up have been eased – and July 2025.
All have been enlisted as contract servicemen and, judging from printed obituaries, most joined the armed forces voluntarily.
Total, in line with our analysis, because the begin of the full-scale invasion no less than 2,812 Russian males aged 18-20 years have been killed in Ukraine.
The BBC’s figures are based mostly on open-source data and since not each dying is publicly reported, the actual losses are certain to be larger.
By late July the BBC had established the names of 120,343 Russian troopers killed throughout the full-scale conflict. Army consultants estimate that makes up 45-65% of the actual dying toll, which might equate to 185,143 to 267,500 useless.
When Alexander Petlinksy turned 18 on 31 January, the very first thing he did was to use to take a 12 months out of faculty so he may signal a contract with the Defence Ministry.
Though he had wished to change into a health care provider, he additionally dreamed of going to combat in Ukraine.
The subsequent month he was already on the entrance, and on 9 March he died.
“As a citizen of the Russian Federation, I’m happy with my son,” his mom, Elena, advised the BBC.
“However as a mom – I can not address this loss.”
She declined to say extra.
His good friend Anastasia says the truth that 18-year-olds are signing contracts to affix the military is now a really “painful topic” for her.
“They’re younger and naive, and there is a lot they do not perceive,” she says. “They only do not grasp the total accountability of what they’re doing.”
