Ukrainian project says every seventh search request for missing Russian soldier in 2026 is under 25

More than 15% of requests to find missing Russian servicemen received by the Ukrainian project I Want to Find in 2026 have been for soldiers under 25, the initiative told Novaya Gazeta Europe.

The figure marks a shift from previous years. In 2024, missing Russian servicemen aged 18–24 made up 8.5% of all search requests, according to I Want to Find. That August, when conscripts were sent to Russia’s Kursk region during Ukraine’s offensive there, the share of inquiries about young soldiers spiked to 16%. In 2025, the figure stood at 13% of all requests.

I Want to Find expects the number of missing Russian soldiers under 25 to keep rising, in part due to the recruitment of university students into so-called drone units.

Russian authorities have been running a campaign to recruit students into these drone units since late 2025. Defence Ministry officials have claimed that contracts run for one year and bar recruits from being sent to the front as assault troops, but lawyers have repeatedly disputed these claims.