Russia has buried its youngest declared victim of the Ukraine war so far with the death of an 18-year-old ex-conscript.
Yegor Pochkaenko was killed the day before his 19th birthday after being moved 5,360 miles across his country to fight Vladamir Putin’s conflict amid a string of teenage soldiers sent as cannon-fodder.
On the Ukrainian side, children as young as six have been killed by shelling or starved or food and water as fighting rages on in civilian areas.
Pochkaenko is one of only a handful dead Russian soldiers whose identities have been made public.
The teen soldier was hailed a ‘hero’ in his home town of Belogorsk in Amur region, some 5,000 miles away from Russia’s border with Ukraine.
But the acknowledgement of his death comes amid a disagreement over the use of conscripts, some who are allegedly forced to enlist as contract soldiers.
A classmate Dmitry Radchenko said his fallen friend was “kind and cheerful” and loved football.
He had wanted to be a policeman before joining the army.
Russia has failed to give reliable figures on its losses in a war it calls a “special military operation”, but the US has estimated the toll to be up to 6,000, with a large number wounded.
Putin had publicly denied conscripts, usually aged 18 and 19, were deployed in Ukraine but he was contradicted by his own defence ministry.
Its spokesperson Igor Konashenkov admitted: “Unfortunately, we have uncovered several instances of the presence of conscripts in the Russian units taking part in the special military operation in Ukraine.
“Almost all of those servicemen have been taken back to Russia.”
This enraged Putin who demanded the chief military prosecutor examine the evidence and “punish officials” responsible for conscripts being deployed in Ukraine.
Pochkaenko, despite his young age, was reported to be a contract soldier having been earlier conscripted.
But a Russian senator Lyudmila Narusova, 69, has claimed conscripts were forcibly ordered to sign up as contract soldiers or that it happened without them knowing.
She also told parliament that in one company of 100 young soldiers forced to fight in the conflict, only four survived.
“They lie there with stray dogs gnawing at their faces,” she said.
“Some cannot be identified because the bodies are so charred.”
Ms Narusova’s withering words are stinging for Putin since she is the widow of his political mentor and ex-law professor Anatoly Sobchak.
She is also the mother of Ksenia Sobchak, 40, Russia’s leading opposition woman politician whose childhood baptism was attended by Putin.
Pochkaenko was posthumously honoured with the Order of Courage by Putin and he was given a military salute.
“Yegor Pochkaenko died like a hero, not hiding behind the backs of his comrades,” said army comrade Aleksey Tarasov.
“He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. We remember him as a good soldier, we will always remember him as a hero.
“ The Ministry of Defense offers condolences to the family and friends.”
Andrey Dyumin, deputy prime minister of Amur region, six time zones east of Moscow, also hailed the fallen soldier.
He said: “He defended us all: our country, our residents.
“Unfortunately, the short peaceful periods of life in our country have always been replaced by a series of wars, when someone thought that they could trample on our Motherland, tear it apart.
“Thanks to men like Yegor, this will not work.”