Ukraine's teen soldiers: the cadets who hold the country's future in their hands

The Guardian

10-02-2025

At a boarding school in Kyiv, cadets are training to become Ukraine's youngest soldiers – and help defend their country against Russia's devastating invasion. The Ivan Bohun military high school – one of three such establishments in Ukraine – is home to 600 teenagers.
The lives of the cadets, who stay at the facility for two years before they turn 18, are strictly choreographed, according to Dmytro Yermolenko, the deputy head. He says the teenagers are given systematic military training and learn strict discipline.
One of the recruits is 16-year-old Yevhen, whose childhood dream was to join the school. His grandfather, a decorated general, had set the example. Generations of the family have served as artillerymen, submariners and intelligence officers but Yevhen wants to become a fighter pilot. 'It's a very necessary job right now,' he explains. If Yevhen is successful, he could be training on Dutch or Danish F-16s by next year.
Cadets prepare for physical exercise. The school competes against teams from other military institutions across Ukraine.
Yevhen, 16, does pull-ups on a bar in a rare moment of free time.
School days run from 6.50am to 9.30pm with the cadets taking classes on topics including maths, physics and history as well as firearms, gas attacks and battlefield strategy. Their day starts and ends with exercise. Between classes, cadets line up for checks by their commanders before they march in step to their next activity. On Sundays, they can go where they want. They venture into the city, visit their families or stay at the school to spend free time with their friends. About 50 of the 600 students are female.
Cadets hand in their phones at the start of the school day. Mobile devices are banned during lessons. Right: Bondareva takes notes during a physics class.
Cadets stand to greet their geography teacher. They study traditional academic topics as well as weapons and battlefield strategy.
Cadets learn how to put on their gas masks in preparation for a potential Russian attack.
Even with battles raging on Ukraine's extensive frontline, applications to join the school have risen sharply since the Russian invasion. Yermolenko says the number is four times higher than in 2021. More than half come from military families. The school also takes in foster children and orphans, some of whom have lost their parents either killed in combat or by Russian airstrikes.
A Muslim cadet prays during a break from class.
After graduating, more than 90% of the cadets enrol in military universities or join armed forces units around the country. As young officers, they are the future of Ukraine's ability to defend itself. Until that time, they remain children. Each of them, however, understands what the future holds.
Kuz'mins'kyi shows fellow cadets how to reload a firearm as quickly as possible. Right: Peleshenko, Rachok and Brozhyn practise unloading their weapons.
Drone attacks are common in Kyiv. Almost every night, as deadly Shaheds approach the city, the air raid alarm sounds. The cadets have two minutes to get dressed and run to their bomb shelter: the boarding school is considered a military target. Life at the school stops being a drill.
Cadets grab their belongings on their way to a shelter after Russian drones are reported to be heading for Kyiv. Below: Cadets stretch out in their basement air raid shelter.
The Russian onslaught has already cost the lives of 66 cadets, all killed in action since 24 February 2022. But Yevhen seems undeterred by the losses. 'I'm not going to sit and watch it all from home,' he insists.
Photographs of outstanding former cadets are displayed in a hallway.