We’ve got many posts about Russian army. However, someone believes that the propaganda of strong Russia on federal channels often differs radically from the actual situation. While other countries hide their real power, Russia (in the absence of any) shows off all more or less embodied projects. Just recently the invention of a new plane was accompanied by a colorful show with a fanfare – an event for the country… but seems to be a mockery for the whole world.
So let’s look through the eyes of a casual observer how looks a prestigious military unit in the small town of Gvardeisky. That is so to say the starting point of a recruit on his way to becoming a defender of the Motherland…
1. A training unit “Landysh” (“Lily of the valley”). The place from where Russia dictates its indomitable will to the rest of the world community.
2. The parade ground. Soldiers are dressed like a gang of makhnovists. Trendy camouflage loses its color after 2-3 washes and becomes like dirty khaki smeared in oil.
3. Commanders. According to one soldier, these ones are good. But there is some major in the unit who is a big fan of slot machines and who regularly steals the soldiers’ cellphones.
4. A man on duty in barracks.
5. These are exemplary barracks where the photographer was allowed to come in. Other barracks which are in much worse condition (without a single stool and a bedside table) turned out to have limited access.
The soldiers of this unit are allowed to bathe once a week but since there is no bathhouse on the territory, they are driven to the neighboring unit. The problem is that 50 soldiers stuffed into the Ural Kung sweat so much on the way back that there is probably no point in such bathing.
In such circumstances, being unable to tidy themselves up, every wound and scratch festers. A paramedic doesn’t even have elementary brilliant green antiseptic. There are even no buckets to get the water from a faucet to wash. Two of them are used simultaneously for washing floor, doing laundry and keeping the trash.
6. Some more showing off. The operation called “The attack on the unit”.
The funny thing is that bullet-proof vests and arms are kept in separate barracks. As a result, only about 15 minutes after the beginning of the attack, the quick reaction group was ready to protect its borders. Needless to say that 10-15 seconds are usually enough for a well-prepared team.
7. Finally the soldiers have a chance to show their skills.
8.
9.
10.
11. It only remains to teach them safety measures.
Bullet-proof vests are all bigger in size. The helmets of the pattern of 1943…
12. And the last photo in the manner of the Beatles, against a background of especially secret cases for anti-aircraft missiles.
via digitaldharma
They taught us weapon safety before they handed us a rifle and then enforced it.
Weapons safety. Almost every soldier has his finger on the trigger in these pics
Putin dont love them. they even eating food for dogs like Belka and Strelka. are not they?
No evidence for the text in the fotos?
Well, actually that dude on “duty” – can’t be that, those people wear the old unifrom (even that color scheme is not used anymore) when they are about to do some dirty jobs, for example paint something or mess with vehicles.
They pay attention to how a soldier look a lot in the army, you can check the army’s time-table to see how much time is given for that, and they check that daily. Not to mention that you’re given a new uniform every half a year.
Not to mention that soldier’s boots have to stay clean even if the soldier is all in dirt up to the neck
those old generals and majors in white shirts has still that old and savage soviet mentality, and that’s not a good thing.
Yea … an awful conditions … but war is the most awful conditions you can imagine … maybe this bad experience will help them.
These guys were to poor to buy their way out of conscription slavery. No effective army can be fielded that consisits of slaves. That is why all civilized societies have all volunteer armies.
Israel, Germany and Switzerland are not “civilized societies”?
The Swiss army has an excellent reputation, but from the organisation point of view it’s as organized as a bunch of monkies: nobody’s ready for war, army technology is from 20 years ago, the expenses are astronomical and useless and it’s mandatory.
When was the last time the Swiss fought a war?
Germany has a free standing all volunteer army that is supplemented by conscripts and it is easy to get out of consciption.
Isreal is similar to Germany with the exception that they are constantly being attacked and terrorized by their neighbors. There every citizen should pack heat.
The officers in the white shirts are pretty young. I doubt even the major is much past 30. It’s a shame to see how these troops are equipped and housed. I can only imagine how they are fed and cared for medically. I don’t think the officers have it too good, either.
That’s it… I want to see more.
Their barracks building is in need of new roof, also.
im pretty much sure that the governement did a considerable effort to upgrade & modernize those units, EVEN this one from Gvardeisky. And what i’m pretty much sure of that “someone” put in the pockets the major part of the budget they recieved from the govt. so they can’t even buy new buckets!
My dad served in Black Sea Fleet as a marine decades ago. It was time when the first US ship entered the Black sea. He described it as a total chaos. There were no ammo, all leadership members ran around in panic, braking down the doors of warehouses to find equpiment. My dad told that they were actually able to see american ship with binoculars and all they had was a bit of ammo from the shooting range and granades without fuses… It´s a bit sad that thouse soldiers today seem to live in the same awful conditions, they prolly still eating sourkraut all the time, right? But who knows, they that what doesn´t kill you, makes you stronger.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing your father’s story.
So you’re saying Russia is a paper tiger?
No, I´m just saying that some order could preserv the losses of your soldiers.
Makhnovists were strong, principled believers of anarchist-communism. Their ragged, faded clothing was a sign of egalitarianism. Rank and perfect clothing are divisive.
Ripped and tattered clothing just make you look poor. How can you be a nonconformist when everyone else who is a nonconformist is wearing the same shaved head ripped clothes uniform?
Last pic: “I’m back in the U.S.S.R.”- Lennon is obviously the one in uniform with the cigarette.
@Yegor: and how can you say you love your country if you dont care about those poor soldiers who are your countrymen?
Amen Brother
Because it was their choice to enlist and they don’t do anything to improve their condition. I’d send a letter a day if I was in these conditions, but I make sure I don’t find myself wasting tax money like the army.
CONSCRIPTS! they have no choice.
sadly most russian rusted tanks dont start…
They produced some 40.000,00 brand new T-34 in WW2 if Im not mistaken
Maybe the enemy will drive up to the yards where the tanks are sotred so they don’t have to drive anywhere. In a head to head battle the air conditioned pussies of the American Army would roll over the Russian Conscript Slave Army in a few hours.
American Army won’t even get to them. The air conditioned pussies can only win in case of complete aireal superiority, which they won’t get. Even old Su-27 and Mig-25 will be able take out all those F-16s and F-15s, and then T-72s and RPG-7s will put the Abrams tanks out of their misery
Yeah, right, like Napoleon and Fuhrer did. 15 time zones to conquer, its not easy in Risk game, but in a real world? And yes, conscripts fight for motherland, not for oil..
O.K. send all of the 10 operational interceptors you have in the air. Field the 3 battalions of operational tanks you have. Then give every man woman and child in the city an AK to walk infront of the army and draw fire.
Hilter thought the same way as you do. Even when the “backward” soviet army was running over his bunker. You can start to pay some respect to this heroic country and people.
Yeah and he was right until Russia got it’s act together. At the start of WW2 the Russian military was in a shambles and millions of people paid the price. It is the same today.
You like to fantasize a lot, Testi. Hitler was right? Until he killed himself and was fried in a backyard? He was too arrogant. The Russians, Ukrainians, Belorrussians and all of the then soviet people proved Hitler wrong. That’s not fantasy, that’s History. It’s dangerous not to learn from it.
If I posed with the finger on the trigger I would get some ass kicking from comarades and drill seargent.
Same for my peers.
NATO army unwrited rulesbook
By the way the barracks need some better roofing
They’re being fed dog food, why not sleep in a dog house?
These guys see real bullets once during their term. They shoot 9 rounds to pass a test and that’s it for the most of them (at least as it used to be in the USSR). And they get plenty of ass-kicking one way or another.
a RUSSIA RUSSIA…always the same SHAME
Did you skip your coffee? You seem very irritable. I don’t recall the American Army ever fighting any wars for Isreal. I think Isreal has done pretty well on it’s own. Ask the Jordanians, Syrians, and Egyptians about that.
The only thing the Israelis have EVER supplied is people. ALL there equipment is foreign. Even the weapons, airplanes, etc. are developments from foreign engineering. The UZI uses german design, the Merkava uses GB armour, NATO gun design, US drivetrain.
Isreal is a top 5 exporter of weapons in the world. in a global economy who doesn’t use foreign components? Not every country can produce every component in a modern weapons system in a cost efficient way
Dont be a fool jew. Israel is a state created by jew bankers, financed by the same bankers and equipped by the westerns. Sooner or later it’s going to collapse just like every other superpower.
You hatred is amazing. Isreal was not created by Jews but by Europeans that didn’t want to take them in
I think they are civvies having a fun war game in an old barrack. They look happy enough. And there are too many good civvies cars. There is nothing wrong with the sleeping quarters, come on they are supposed to be soldiers, we have to rough it. Sounds to me as though some of the previous comments are whimpering about nothing. Yes their fingers are on triggers which only goes to prove they are not regulars, but civvies out for a fun and games weekend.
There was also a practice of sending off college grads that took military class to such camps to get some sort of military rank without having to go to the army as privates.
That’s pretty sad. In the second photo from the bottom, one guy is pointing his rifle at another guys face! And all but one has their fingers on the trigger!
Even if the gun isn’t loaded, that’s BAD practice! You get in that habit, and somebody WILL die when they’re not supposed to!
Exactly. The Russian Army is so poorly run the only defense Russia has is a nuclear exchange. Don’t you think that is a bad thing?
Having top notch planes and nukes is wise for Russians. Americans don’t dare to threaten countries with real nukes. Only poor countries with oil or nutty rulers. And still have a hard time.
Really. Take away the nukes and the US could decimate the Russian militayr. The Russian military on the other hand is really only capable of holding down it’s own people or a minor scirmish like Chechnia or Georgia.
Really. Take away your hair nad you’d have to buy a wig (!!). Or take away this, or… That’s how deep your comment was.
” training unit “Landysh” . The place from where Russia dictates its indomitable will to the rest of the world community” – LOL
))
Surely the “Landysh” is the most dangerious unit of the Russian army
I was there in 1988-89, from this time nothing changes absolutly. Greetings from Estonia.
Would’ja quit your posturing? I served 28 years in the US military – and by the end of it, was working with the Russians in places like the Former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda. So…this “Basic Training” makes me sick. But where do you get the ‘all the recruits have their fingers on triggers” crack? – pictures 8 and 9 look good, 10 you cant tell, now, in 11, one of the four has his finger in the trigger guard and the second from the right is just asking to get a faceful of rifle butt from the guy that is third from the right. Both third from the right and the guy behind him have their fingers on the trigger guards – which is OK by Russian rules, I hear, although my DI would have smoked me ragged about it.
And – I, for one, will not disrespect the Russian or Ukrainian Soldier. I’ve watched them from across the border, and worked alongside them. I’d rather work with them. It’s their politicians that are messed up – and the US ones aren’t any better.
СШ-40 helmets, 6Б-5 bulletproof vests, tarpaulin boots… Did they robbed a museum?