Russian Federation
Practice Relating to Rule 137. Participation of Child Soldiers in Hostilities
The Russian Federation’s Regulations on the Application of IHL (2001) states with regard to internal armed conflict:
Children who have not attained the age of fifteen years shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take part in hostilities. Children shall be provided with necessary care and assistance. Protection shall remain applicable to them even if they take a direct part in hostilities and are captured.
In 2008, in a statement before the UN Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation stated: “The use of children in [armed] conflict is inadmissible.”