However, a BBC Russian investigation has found that at least 245 soldiers of that age have been killed there over the past two years.

Recent government rule changes have allowed teenagers fresh out of school to bypass mandatory military service and sign up directly as contract soldiers in the regular army. While these recruits make up only a small fraction of Russia’s total losses, lucrative cash bonuses and heavy patriotic messaging have made enlistment appealing to many young men.

Among them was Alexander Petlinsky, who enlisted just two weeks after his 18th birthday. He was killed in Ukraine 20 days later, one of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who have died since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 — a war that has also claimed the lives of at least 13,500 Ukrainian civilians.

Petlinsky’s aunt, Ekaterina, said he had dreamed of becoming a doctor and had been accepted to a medical college in Chelyabinsk, an industrial hub in the Urals. “But Sasha had another dream,” she said during a memorial at his school. “When the special military operation began, Sasha was 15. And he dreamed of going to the front.”

In Ukraine, the minimum conscription age is 25. Russia, by contrast, has avoided a national draft by offering generous financial incentives to men of military age — an especially tempting offer for those in poorer, job-scarce regions. Initially, recruits were required to complete at least three months of mandatory conscript service before signing professional contracts. That rule was quietly dropped in April 2023, despite protests from some lawmakers. Now, any young man who has turned 18 and finished school can enlist directly in the Russian army. (BBC)