In a recent mass brawl at a military base near Moscow, new recruits attacked regular soldiers who had been serving for a long time. For experts, the story behind it shows how morally rotten the Russian army is – and has been for a long time.
We hear them again and again in this war. Tales of ill-equipped Russian soldiers. About soldiers whose morale is very low. About trainers and leaders making mistakes. About the corrupt system in the Russian army.
We experienced a particular case of moral rot this past weekend. At a military base near Moscow, newly mobilized recruits attacked contract soldiers who had been serving for a long time. In a mass brawl, Putin’s troops fought against Putin’s troops.
The Russian Internet portal “Baza” wrote about the reason for the violence: “The newcomers were not received there with bread and salt – on the contrary: the soldiers serving there demanded their clothes and mobile phones from the newcomers.”
The conflict escalated. The younger ones got the upper hand. They beat up the old folks. Around 20 “older people” had to lock themselves in a building and call the police from there.
Experts analyze what is happening on Twitter. The British historian and author Chris Owen writes: “It is a battle of all against all in the Russian army.” Ruthless self-interest reigns here.
American historian Anne Applebaum notes, “This is exactly what happened when new prisoners were brought into the Russian gulags.”
This approach of the elders even has a name in Russia: Dedovshchina. It describes the pattern that has been widespread in the Russian army for decades, that the old systematically bully the young. Insults, torture, robbery are all part of the Russian rot.
This time the new recruits vigorously opposed this practice. The matter was then settled by the military police and representatives of the Ministry of the Interior. Both sides – the regular soldiers and the new recruits – refrained from reporting them.
