25 Russian conscripts were killed last summer in Ukraine’s surprise incursion into the Kursk region — Vertska Media

At least 25 Russian conscripts were killed in the Kursk region when Ukrainian troops launched a surprise incursion last summer, according to journalists at Vertska Media who studied media reports and obituaries published on social media. 

All 25 conscripts died early in Ukraine’s campaign, between August and September 2024. The men were between the ages of 18 and 23. They’d been called up from 18 different regions across Russia, including Vologda and Krasnodar Krai. 

Vertska Media reports that Russian border troops initially responded to Ukraine’s attack with “chaos and a lack of coordination.” Many officers reportedly abandoned their men without weapons or clear instructions, dozens of conscripts were captured or went missing (many remain so), and young soldiers who escaped Ukraine’s advancing troops were later pressured to enlist as contract soldiers under threat of imprisonment before being sent back to fight.

Not to be confused with combat-service mobilization, Russian conscription applies to men between the. ages of 18 and 30. Under Russia’s existing practices, conscript soldiers are not sent into combat without a declaration of war (which Moscow has not done in its “special military operation” in Ukraine).