The Devastating Impact of War: How Russia's Invasion Has Shattered Ukraine's Young Volunteer Soldiers

Yevhen Yushchenko, Pavlo Broshkov, and Kuzma were among hundreds of young Ukrainians who volunteered to fight against Russian forces.

In March, Pavlo Broshkov, aged 20, joined the Ukrainian army with aspirations of defending his homeland while earning a substantial bonus to secure housing for his wife and infant daughter.

By June, his aspirations lay shattered as he found himself wounded and immobilized on the battlefield.

"I realized this could be my final moment," he shared with Reuters. "Death didn't frighten me as much as never seeing my family again."

Broshkov represents hundreds of young adults between 18 and 24 years old who enlisted this year, attracted by lucrative compensation packages offered through Ukraine's youth recruitment initiative designed to rejuvenate the aging and fatigued military force of approximately one million.

Ukraine continues to lose ground to Russian forces in brutal eastern front battles, with military leaders citing troop shortages as the primary reason behind these setbacks. This mounting pressure complicates Kyiv's peace negotiations with the United States.

Reuters followed Broshkov and ten of his fellow soldiers who underwent accelerated combat training in spring before deployment. None remain in combat: four sustained wounds, three are missing in action, two went AWOL, one fell ill, and another died by suicide, according to interviews and official records.

These soldiers' experiences offer a glimpse into the devastation inflicted upon Ukraine by the prolonged conflict with Russia, where both sides carefully guard casualty statistics.

Reuters couldn't contact other recruits from the spring training group or determine whether these eleven cases reflect broader attrition rates in the nearly four-year conflict.

The Ukrainian military and the 28th Brigade where these recruits served did not respond to comment requests.

Broshkov experienced a near-death encounter when, shot in both legs in Donetsk region, he watched helplessly as a Russian explosive drone hovered meters above him.

Before it could strike, a comrade shot down the drone, almost certainly saving his life.

His best friend, 25-year-old Yevhen Yushchenko, may have been less fortunate. He went missing in mid-July after returning to battle. His sister Alina continues searching for information about his fate, joining thousands of Ukrainians seeking news of relatives missing in combat.

"Many claim he died or was captured," said Alina, who participated in a late October rally in Kyiv's main square advocating for missing servicemen. "I refuse to accept his death until absolutely necessary."

Yushchenko is one of three group members listed as missing by Ukraine's interior ministry, along with Borys Niku, 20, and Illia Kozik, 22.

"Sometimes I think perhaps I should have remained with him," Broshkov, a former store clerk, reflected while recuperating in Odesa with his family. "To fight and fall together."

Yuriy Bobryshev, who enlisted after escaping Russian occupation in Donetsk's Volnovakha where his brother was killed, has also left combat.

The 18-year-old told Reuters from an undisclosed foreign location that he would consider rejoining a different Ukrainian military brigade after disagreements with previous commanders prompted his departure.

"I regretted signing the contract. I thought I'd earn some bonus money, but that plan backfired."

The youth recruitment program launched in February signaled growing pressure on Ukraine's military forces, which are significantly outnumbered and outgunned by Russia in a conflict that has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands on both sides.

According to a senior diplomat familiar with defense capabilities, the average Ukrainian soldier is 47 years old.

The recruitment drive, offering volunteers monthly salaries up to $2,900, a $24,000 bonus, and interest-free mortgages, marked a shift from the forced mobilization implemented since Russia's full-scale 2022 invasion.

The mandatory draft initially required all men over 27 to enlist, as officials tried to protect younger Ukrainians vital to the country's post-war future, before lowering the threshold to 25 last year.

"The Ukrainian Defence Forces currently face a critical personnel shortage," explained Oleksiy Melnyk, director of foreign policy and international security at Ukraine's Razumkov Centre.

After enlisting, Broshkov quickly formed bonds with Yushchenko and "Kuzma," a 23-year-old former restaurant worker who requested identification by his military call sign only.

Spring training days blurred together: close-combat exercises, drone simulations, physical conditioning, psychological preparation, rest, and repetition. Combat-experienced instructors emphasized abandoning individual desires to function cohesively as a fighting unit.

The recruits' complaints diminished as deployment approached. They internalized unquestioning obedience: "You receive an order, you execute," Broshkov explained.

Initial battle orders arrived during a rainy, windswept mid-June day.

Among the first deployed, Kuzma quickly found himself endangered by a Russian drone strike on his position.

Severely wounded in the abdomen, his smoke-filled lungs could only produce a hoarse whisper when attempting to call for help before two comrades dragged him into a trench. Kuzma remains haunted by nightmares from his brief combat experience.

"It was the smell," he shuddered. "The smell of gunpowder and corpses."

Broshkov and Kuzma reunited later in an Odesa hospital. Broshkov required a wheelchair for mobility while Kuzma had extensive stitches across his torso.

"Two invalids from the 18 to 24-year-olds," Broshkov remarked.

Broshkov maintains contact with other identified recruits, including Ivan Storozhuk, who also sustained battle injuries.

Two recruits reported that one soldier in the group had died by suicide, citing conversations with fellow recruits. Reuters reviewed documentation, including photographs, confirming a person of the same name had taken their own life.

Donetsk regional police did not respond to comment requests regarding this case.

Broshkov's recovery involves debilitating leg pain and recurring nightmares. Despite this, he expresses few regrets.

"At 20 years old, I've seen little of life, yet I went to fight. If offered the chance again, I would accept."

He stands by his decision to serve on the front lines to prevent the war from reaching his home and family. "I fulfilled the responsibility of every Ukrainian citizen," he stated.

His 19-year-old wife Kristina noted how the experience transformed her husband.

"He struggles deeply. Almost all his fellow servicemen have disappeared," she told Reuters.

"I wish this contract had never existed," she added. "So many young men have died, including 18-year-old boys. They still needed time to mature and develop."