Despite repeated assurances from Vladimir Putin that conscripted 18-year-olds would not be deployed to Ukraine, a BBC Russian investigation has uncovered that at least 245 soldiers of that age have been killed in the conflict over the past two years.
Revised government regulations have enabled recent school graduates to bypass mandatory military service and directly enlist in the regular army as contract soldiers.
While they may constitute a small percentage of Russia’s overall losses, financial incentives and patriotic messaging have made military service an appealing option for some.
Alexander Petlinsky enlisted just two weeks after his 18th birthday.
Tragically, he was killed in Ukraine a mere 20 days later, becoming one of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have perished in Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, which has also resulted in at least 13,500 Ukrainian civilian deaths since the invasion began in February 2022.
Ekaterina, Alexander Petlinsky’s aunt, shared that he had aspired to a career in medicine and had secured a place at a medical college in Chelyabinsk, an industrial hub in the Ural region.
“However, Sasha harbored another ambition,” she stated at a school memorial event. “When the special military operation commenced, Sasha was 15, and he longed to go to the front lines.”
In Ukraine, the conscription age is 25.
Russia has thus far avoided a nationwide mobilization by offering substantial financial incentives to men of military age – a particularly attractive proposition for those residing in economically disadvantaged regions with limited employment opportunities.
Initially, prospective contract soldiers were required to have completed a minimum of three months of conscript service.
This requirement was quietly removed in April 2023, despite opposition from some members of parliament, thereby allowing any young man who has reached the age of 18 and completed secondary school to enlist in the army.
Russia’s education system has been instrumental in preparing young people for military service.
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, educators have been legally mandated to conduct classes dedicated to the “special military operation,” the official designation for the war.
Returning soldiers share their experiences in schools, students learn to construct camouflage nets and trench candles, and even preschool children are encouraged to send letters and drawings to soldiers at the front.
At the beginning of the 2024 school year on September 1, a new subject was incorporated into the curriculum.
Echoing the Soviet era, older students are once again being instructed in the use of Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades as part of a course titled “The Basics of Safety and Homeland Defence.”
In numerous regions, military recruiters now attend career guidance sessions in schools and technical colleges, informing young people about how to enlist as contract soldiers after graduation.
Vitaly Ivanov, who grew up in a small Siberian village, dropped out of college where he was studying to become a mechanic.
He encountered legal trouble and alleged to his mother and girlfriend that he had been coerced into confessing to robbing a small shop in November 2024.
His friend Mikhail told the BBC that Vitaly had always intended to fulfill his military service upon turning 18, after which they planned to find work together building roads in Kazan, a city located approximately 3,700km (2,300 miles) to the west.
Instead, he signed a contract to join the army. His family suspects that the police may have “persuaded” him to do so.
The day before his departure, he informed his mother, Anna, that he was about to leave.
“I’m off to the special military operation,” he explained.
In other words, he was heading to Ukraine.
He and Alexander arrived at the front lines around the same time in February.
Vitaly’s last message home on February 5 indicated that he was being sent into combat.
“This was his first and last combat mission,” Anna stated.
The enlistment office contacted her a month later to inform her that he had died on February 11.
As part of the BBC Russian’s ongoing initiative to use open-source data to document Russian war casualties, they have identified and verified the names of 245 18-year-old contract soldiers who were killed in Ukraine between April 2023 – when the enlistment regulations were relaxed – and July 2025.
All of these individuals enlisted as contract servicemen, and based on published obituaries, most joined the armed forces voluntarily.
Overall, their research indicates that at least 2,812 Russian men aged 18-20 have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The BBC’s figures are based on publicly available information, and given that not every death is reported publicly, the actual number of casualties is likely higher.
By late July, the BBC had confirmed the names of 120,343 Russian soldiers killed during the full-scale war. Military analysts estimate that this represents 45-65% of the total death toll, which would amount to between 185,143 and 267,500 fatalities.
When Alexander Petlinksy turned 18 on January 31, his first action was to request a leave of absence from college to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defence.
Despite his aspirations to become a doctor, he also desired to fight in Ukraine.
The following month, he was already at the front, and he died on March 9.
“As a citizen of the Russian Federation, I am proud of my son,” his mother, Elena, told the BBC.
“But as a mother – I can’t cope with this loss.”
She declined to comment further.
His friend Anastasia says the fact that 18-year-olds are signing contracts to join the army is now a very “painful subject” for her.
“They’re young and naive, and there’s so much they don’t understand,” she says. “They just don’t grasp the full responsibility of what they’re doing.”
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