Russian Forces in Occupied Luhansk Region Pressure Teens to Enlist in Army at 18

Schoolchildren in Ukraine’s temporarily Russian occupied Luhansk region are being coerced to go to war at the age of 18 by the occupational authorities. This was reported by the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Artem Lysohor, on his Facebook page.

"In the LPR [Luhansk People’s Republic] schools, the Russians have launched a “death machine”—teachers are urging students to go to the frontlines at 18 years old. There’s no other way to describe the mechanism introduced by the Kremlin in the so-called “LPR” than as a death machine," emphasized Artem Lysohor.

According to him, gradual efforts in this direction began a year ago, when all boys born in 2007 were registered for military service in the occupied part of Luhansk. These are the young men who, upon finishing school or vocational training in 2025, will turn 18.

As Lysohor informs, educational institutions were required to provide all data on Ukrainian teenagers to military registration offices. The first phase of this process was completed on March 31, 2024.

"During school breaks, boys were prepared for war in summer camps set up on Russian territory. There, Russian servicemen who participated in the war in Ukraine trained the teenagers in firearms and tactical skills, taught them to operate drones, and more. Ordinary propaganda doesn’t even need to be mentioned—it operates everywhere for the Russians," Lysohor noted.

He reported that from September 1, the life safety lessons were removed from the school curriculum, replaced by lessons on “defending the homeland.”

"During lessons, teachers distribute printed propaganda materials urging boys to sign a contract with the Russian army. The leaflets, posted in schools and on social media, list the amounts they will receive if they make this decision at 18," Lysohor’s post reads.

Such cases have already been reported in Siverskodonetsk, Starobilsk, Khrustalne, Holubivka, and the Troitska community.

The head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration noted that this "project" has only just started, "so it won’t be possible to talk about the number of contracts signed with the Russian army until at least a year from now. However, it’s already clear that from constant exposure to such materials, these children, even if they don’t join the military, will hate Ukraine, which is ultimately the main goal of Russian propagandists."

According to Lysohor, the teachers not only engage in propaganda but also report weekly on the amount of work completed. "They don’t warn, however, that if a contract is signed, their students will immediately be sent to the front and, with high probability, will not return home. Because Russia desperately needs assault units formed from men from the occupied territories," the official emphasized.

Luhansk, a region in eastern Ukraine, has been under Russian occupation following Russia's military invasion in 2014. The occupation intensified after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Despite being internationally recognized as Ukraine, Luhansk remains under the control of Russian-backed forces, who have established the so-called "Luhansk People’s Republic" (LPR). The occupation has led to severe human rights abuses, militarization of the region, and ongoing efforts to indoctrinate and coerce local populations into military service.