There was no public discussion about the formation of such an ‘army’ which was first mentioned back in January 2016. The media noticed it in May after an official gathering of members from all over the country with the participation of the Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and leadership of his ministry. He was presented with a woollen tank and announced plans to open hundreds of training centres throughout the country.
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Halya Coynash: Russian children trained to fight in Defence Ministry linked Youth Army
The apparent resurrection of a long buried Soviet tradition in Russia's new Youth Army is not the most alarming feature of a children's 'military-patriotic' formation which in just eight months has opened 76 regional branches and reportedly already has 12 thousand members. Yunarmia [the Youth Army], which enlists children as young as 11, promising to teach them "to shoot from anything, except rockets", is openly working in close cooperation with Russia's Defence Ministry. This kind of direct relationship was not seen even in Soviet times.
