Less than 1% of the government armed forces are child soldiers.
Apress release by army counter-intelligence at the headquarters of the
Combined Group of Federal forces in the North Caucasus reported the
existence of 1,500 teenage suicide bombers who were being trained at
a centre in the Leninsky District of Grozny. These 'kamikaze' fighters
were between 15 and 20 years of age.

The minimum age for compulsory and voluntary recruitment is 18
years. Nobody below that age can be sent to military operations.
Arecent report in Life Magazine claimed that orphans or street children
have been recruited by the armed forces. "Russian Army officers all
over the nation have set up units of 'youngers', children between the
ages of 11 and 18 who might otherwise live on the streets. No one is
sure how many kids are there in these units because the programme is
not official and gets no financial support". Allegedly, the first unit of
'youngers' was created in 1997 at the headquarters of the elite
Kantemirovskaya Tank Division.

Armed groups in Chechnya are reported to use child soldiers
extensively, some as young as 12, although there are no estimates of
the number of children involved.

Source: Global March Against Child Labour