After a tense first half in Seagrave, the young Foxes were behind on 55 minutes as Bradley Ibrahim played in Amani Richards to beat United States goalkeeper Chituru Odunze for the Gunners.
City's youngsters, though, remained in the game and, as the clock ticked down, they went closer and closer to rescuing a point against a side who have spent much of the season in mid table in the U18 Premier League South standings.
Their equaliser finally came with seven minutes of normal time remaining as Russ defied Arsenal 'keeper Remy Mitchell from the penalty spot to secure a hard-earned point for Leicester.
Next up, the young Foxes, currently 12th in the table, welcome Fulham to LCFC Training Ground on Saturday 1 May (12pm BST kick-off).
The details...
City: Odunze; Kutshitnza, Aisthorpe, Cook, Abdullah; Madivadua, Maswanhise, Fitzhugh, T. Pennant, Ewing (c); Russ.
Subs not used: Chibueze, Braybrooke, Booth, Cover, K. Pennant.
Goal: Russ 83' pen.