Public fury has erupted across Russia after revelations that children who grew up during Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are now being sent to die on the front line. Grieving locals have lashed out at military chiefs following the death of Alisher Svirin, believed to be the first soldier born in 2008 killed in the conflict.
The teenager was just 14 years old when Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022. He was sent into battle as a machine gunner with a motorised rifle brigade within days of coming of age.
Heartbroken Reactions in Pavlovsky Posad
Heartbroken residents in his hometown of Pavlovsky Posad, near Moscow, flooded social media with horrified reactions. Local resident Svetlana Serezhkina wrote: "Why?! A young soldier who’d never seen combat… Still just a child." Another furious local, named Andrei, raged: "It’s such a shame they let him sign a contract."
Horrifying figures compiled by BBC Russian and exiled outlet Mediazona reveal that more than 200 Russian soldiers aged just 18 have been wiped out since the war began. Insiders have warned that the true bloodbath among young recruits is likely much higher, as missing soldiers and separatist conscripts are kept off official records.
Online Memorials for Fallen Teens
Chilling online groups on VKontakte - Russia's equivalent to Facebook - are now packed with obituaries for dead teens. One pro-war Orthodox Christian group, Synodik, has become an online memorial where distraught mothers share prayers and church icons alongside the photos of fallen youngsters.
Among the dead is Kirill Tretyakov, who was born near the end of Putin’s second presidential term in 2007. The college student, who loved football and kettlebell lifting, signed his life away to the Russian Ministry of Defence just six days after turning 18. He was deployed as a combat engineer in an obstacle-laying unit and killed on September 22.
Psychologist Warns of Brainwashing
A psychologist working with Russian adolescents warned that youngsters are brainwashed into believing they are invincible while being blinded to the horrors of Putin's front lines. "The risk of being killed is very high, but young people don’t think about that," the expert said, according to the independent news site, The Moscow Times. "When you’re young, you feel like life will last forever, like you’re invincible. Teenagers lack the networks that could help them think critically about the war."
The expert added that state propaganda has cheapened human life, citing Kremlin puppet Vladimir Solovyov, who infamously declared on state television that "life is greatly overrated".
More Young Victims and Recruitment Push
Another victim, 19-year-old Nikolai Ruzov from annexed Crimea, was killed on August 18 after being thrown into combat as the commander of an assault squad, sparking disbelief that someone with zero experience was leading troops into hellfire.
Reports also emerged of 19-year-old David Fedorov, who was reportedly ambushed on the street by police in the Russian city of Cheboksary and strong-armed into signing a military contract. His devastated mother revealed he was deployed as a frontline driver despite having no driving licence, before being killed on an assault mission on October 20.
Despite the mounting pile of body bags, the Kremlin is stepping up efforts to recruit fresh school-leavers through mandatory patriotic school programmes, parading returning fighters in front of classrooms to romanticise the conflict and replenish Putin's battered military ranks. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Wednesday (October 28), Russia has lost over 1.58 million troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. The number includes 1,510 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day. Ukraine's General Staff has not revealed its own losses during the full-scale invasion, citing operational secrecy.
