INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
market and the newlyweds from the western city of Pskov tried for a baby, 18-year-old Igor Ivkin reasoned a short-term contract in the army
25 teenage Russian soldiers to have died fighting in Ukraine, according to a review of official statements and social media posts by The
Sumyshouted into a video camera last month
his newborn daughter.Family archiveMany of these recruits first found their way into the army through the military draft, which requires all
backgrounds are able to avoid the draft by enrolling at universities, exploiting loopholes or paying bribes
They include Ilya Kubik, whoperished several weeks shy of his 19th birthday over 3,000 miles from his Siberian hometown of Bratsk; and David
Arutunyan, also 18, from the Russian republic of Buryatia bordering Mongolia, who waskilled by Ukrainian artillery fire.The motivations of
these young men vary from economic necessity to patriotism.Ivkina said her husband was compelled by a sense of duty.Some teenagers have even
Eighteen-year-old Arutyunyan received a posthumous Order of Courage for reportedly pulling a fellow soldier to safety moments before he was
and patriotic education.And there is also evidence that conscripts are pressured into signing contracts, which make it easier for military
come to you and propose you sign a contract
What will you do in your village? What will you do in your life? They will say
in the 1990s and in Georgia in 2008.Russian officials admitted last month that some conscripts were present in Ukraine following the
There have been reports of poor morale and unwillingness to fight among Russian troops in addition to severe logistical difficulties.Yulia
invasion in late February, Ivkin was able to return home from where he was stationed in Kursk, near the Ukrainian border, to see his newborn
