August 19, 2024

Russian Teenagers Head to the Front Lines


Russian Teenagers Head to the Front Lines
Readiness check of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Wikimedia Commons.

An increasing number of Russian teenagers are joining the fight in Russia's War on Ukraine as soon as they turn 18. They are often sent to the front after just two weeks of training.

Last spring, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed 18-year-olds with no prior military experience or education to sign enlistment contracts. As of late June 2024, at least 40 Russians born in 2005 and 2006 have died in the war in Ukraine, according to the BBC Russian Service. In recent months, casualties among young contract soldiers have risen sharply. Between June 15 and Aug. 15, 2024, at least 13 Russians aged 18 have died, according to the news outlet Kholod (Cold). These young soldiers were just 15 or 16 years old when the war in Ukraine began. Kholod journalists spoke with relatives of fallen young soldiers to understand why they chose to go to war.

Some teenagers are driven by financial need. For example, Yaroslav Lipavsky from Tyumen, who died a month after his eighteenth birthday, wanted to earn money to support his pregnant girlfriend and to help his mother pay off her loans. Another teenager from Tyumen Oblast, Dmitry Sergeyev, signed a contract to save money for his wedding.

Others are influenced by their fathers' example or by government propaganda. Georgy Nadein from Perm was just eight years old when his stepfather first went to fight in Donbas in 2014, as part of the PMC Wagner. In February 2024, having just turned 18, Nadein signed a contract with a friend, saying he was “no worse than others.” On June 12, 2024, during another assault by the Russian army near Avdiivka, Nadein was sent on a combat mission for the first time. He died just four days later.

Another young soldier, 18-year-old Aleksei Shkoda from Novosibirsk Oblast, died during his second combat mission. Before going to the front, Shkoda was in a correctional colony. As soon as he was transferred to an adult correctional facility, he signed a military contract, even though he had only eight months left before his release. It is believed that Shkoda may have been influenced by propaganda.

“They are told in school classes and at formation that soldiers are fighting for the Motherland, and here you are, like this,” said the mother of another teenager held in a correctional colony.

You Might Also Like

A New Russian Culture?
  • July 31, 2024

A New Russian Culture?

The Russian presidential administration is trying to align culture with the war effort.
Lord of War's Fandom
  • July 25, 2024

Lord of War's Fandom

Russian teenagers continue to idolize PMC Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin, even after his death.
Have Children, or Else
  • July 11, 2024

Have Children, or Else

Russian authorities are preparing bills to ban the "extremist ideology" about being child-free. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955