Russian victory day parade12/28/2023 ![]() Take punching the plywood, used as a so-called toughness training exercise and also as a form of collective punishment. They are turned into submissive, intimidated, and obedient drones who will not ask unnecessary questions nor show any independent thought or initiative. The survivors of this hazing say the main goal is to break young men. In 2006, as reported, the then-prosecutor-general of Russia, Vladimir Ustinov, even admitted in a speech to President Vladimir Putin and his prosecutor colleagues that he “is unable to do anything about the criminality in the armed forces.” (I interviewed these sources during my history studies and early journalism work on this subject and reached back out to many for this piece.) The same attitude is expressed all over the Russian internet. Multiple sources, both those who served in Soviet times and those with experience in the modern Russian Armed Forces, have described this hazing to me as not just a byproduct of service but as a deliberate part of Russian military indoctrination. It’s a process that leaves Russian soldiers brutalized and traumatized it in turn teaches them to inflict pain on others. But in Russia’s army, dedovshchina is a unique cultural staple and a formative part of the military identity. Western militaries have worked hard to reduce bullying and hazing in the ranks with some, but not complete, success. In Russian, it’s called dedovshchina, a brutal internal army regime that began in Soviet times but is thoroughly embedded in modern military culture. ![]() 25, 2019, conscript Ramil Shamsutdinov opened fire on fellow soldiers, killing eight of them, after what he said was a prolonged period of beatings and threats of rapes.Įvery six months, approximately 130,000 Russian conscripts are called up for their year of service, where most of them will face sadistic hazing. Two weeks later, he killed himself with his AK. Artyom Pakhotin had the word petukh-meaning rooster (figuratively, “prison bitch”)- carved into his forehead as a punishment for smoking in the barracks. It took three days for him to get any medical aid. Andrei Sychyov had his legs and genitals amputated from frostbite after he and at least seven other conscripts were forced to squat in the snow for hours during New Year’s Eve celebrations, during which they were brutally beaten.
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