Search Results
6/23/2025, 10:10:22 PM
>>508497405
2/?
A BBC investigation, conducted with the independent news outlet Mediazona and a team of volunteers, has identified by name at least 240 18-year-old soldiers who have been killed in Ukraine since that law took effect. These figures, confirmed through open-source data like obituaries and local news reports, represent only a fraction of the true toll. The stories behind the names reveal a state-sanctioned pipeline that channels boys from classrooms to body bags, fueled by a potent mix of propaganda, poverty, and coercion.
Alexander Petlinsky was a true believer. Friends and family describe a boy who dreamed of becoming a doctor, inspired by watching a C-section and the miracle of birth. But another dream took hold after the invasion began, when he was just 15. "He dreamed of getting to the front," his aunt, Ekaterina, told the crowd at the school ceremony. "He prepared, played sports, went to the shooting range, and learned to shoot accurately."
His school, like thousands across Russia, had become an incubator for the war effort. Under a Ministry of Education mandate, teachers hold regular sessions on the “Special Military Operation.” Veterans visit classrooms. Children write letters to soldiers, weave camouflage nets, and make trench candles. In Perm, brochures advertising military service as "a decent future" were handed out to students. In another school, a poster with the appeal "call now" was tacked to a classroom blackboard. Starting in September 2024, a new class, “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland,” began teaching students to handle Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades.
On January 31, 2025, Alexander turned 18. He immediately took an academic leave from his medical college and announced he was signing a contract. "When he was writing the application, I asked: 'How will your mom react?'" a college secretary told journalists. "He said: 'What about mom? I've made my choice.' His eyes were burning."
2/?
A BBC investigation, conducted with the independent news outlet Mediazona and a team of volunteers, has identified by name at least 240 18-year-old soldiers who have been killed in Ukraine since that law took effect. These figures, confirmed through open-source data like obituaries and local news reports, represent only a fraction of the true toll. The stories behind the names reveal a state-sanctioned pipeline that channels boys from classrooms to body bags, fueled by a potent mix of propaganda, poverty, and coercion.
Alexander Petlinsky was a true believer. Friends and family describe a boy who dreamed of becoming a doctor, inspired by watching a C-section and the miracle of birth. But another dream took hold after the invasion began, when he was just 15. "He dreamed of getting to the front," his aunt, Ekaterina, told the crowd at the school ceremony. "He prepared, played sports, went to the shooting range, and learned to shoot accurately."
His school, like thousands across Russia, had become an incubator for the war effort. Under a Ministry of Education mandate, teachers hold regular sessions on the “Special Military Operation.” Veterans visit classrooms. Children write letters to soldiers, weave camouflage nets, and make trench candles. In Perm, brochures advertising military service as "a decent future" were handed out to students. In another school, a poster with the appeal "call now" was tacked to a classroom blackboard. Starting in September 2024, a new class, “Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland,” began teaching students to handle Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades.
On January 31, 2025, Alexander turned 18. He immediately took an academic leave from his medical college and announced he was signing a contract. "When he was writing the application, I asked: 'How will your mom react?'" a college secretary told journalists. "He said: 'What about mom? I've made my choice.' His eyes were burning."
Page 1