What it's like to be a conscript in the Russian military
Russia has a large military, with an active and reserve personnel of over 3 million. The country relies on conscription and each year hundreds of thousands of men between the ages of 18 and 27 are bound by law to join up.
The length of service for conscripts is 12 months, cut from 24 months in 2006. The Russian government's eventual plan is to move from relying on conscripts to an increasingly professional military force.
Training is 12 weeks long, but it's famously brutal. Major reform efforts began in the mid-2000s to replace a system which still resembled the Soviet Union's. But to outside eyes, the system for recruits seems eerily similar.
The fitness standards accord a 3-kilometer run to be finished in less than 12.4 minutes, a 10-kilometer march in less than 56 minutes, a 100-meter dash in under 14.4 seconds and 12 pull-ups for soldiers that have been in service for less than 6 months, according to the US Army's Foreign Military Studies Office.
Russia's military says that "the Constitution of the Russian Federation stipulates that defense of the motherland is a duty and responsibility of a citizen of the Russian Federation" — it's a criminal offence, though many do avoid the call.
Columbia University's Journal of International Affairs suggests recruits are overwhelmingly from working-class or peasant backgrounds, with 40% growing up in single-parent families or orphanages.
In 2014, Russian defence minister Sergey Shoygu announced that for the first time, professionally contracted soldiers outnumbered conscripts. This year, he said there had been so many applications that some had to be delayed.
The fall of the Soviet Union left an enormous military which quickly became a shadow of its former self, in terms of its capabilities. Though the funding has been cut dramatically, a lot of the same military culture prevails despite attempts at reform.
Violent hazing referred to as "dedovshchina" is reportedly common during training Russian military training' In 2006, the New York times cited official figures saying that 16 soldiers were killed by the practice, and hundreds more committed suicide.
In 2004, Human Rights Watch described the system, saying that "dedovshchina is distinguished by predation, violence, and impunity. During their first year of service, conscripts live under the constant threat of violence for failing to comply with limitless orders."
Basic training is conducted in different centres around the enormous country, with standard duties like drill and fieldcraft. Weapons training on the standard issue AK-74 is a part of the course.
Most of life's essentials are provided for by the military, but the pay is absurdly low. A Russian journalist for Komsomolskaya Pravda said in 2012 that he was paid 400 roubles per month — less than $13 at the time.
The journalist also described his six-day trip to Russia's distant east, and the division among the recruits between conscripts from different parts of the country — soldiers come from Russian federal republics, like Dagestan and Tuva, and there's apparently little mixing.
Though for many conscripts their period in the military is dull and repetitive, when Russia is at war the situation can change dramatically. In the later years of the Soviet Union, conscripts fought in Afghanistan, and in the 1990s conscripts were deployed in the war in Chechnya.
Some reports suggest that the invasion of Ukraine has also weakened military reform efforts. In the Moscow Times, Alexander Golts reported that troops with the 33rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade deserted a post in southern Russia because of the poor conditions.
Golts said that because of a shortage of fresh troops to fight the war in eastern Ukraine, conscripts were being prodded by their commanders into joining as regular troops, at which point they could be sent to an active warzone.
The Russian military itself lists the educational advantages of military service. After their conscription is over, young Russians are able to enter a university on "easy terms" which includes "replacement of examinations by interviews or reduction in the number of examinations."
Despite reports that military reforms have been allowed to fall by the wayside, the government has hiked military spending considerably. The country originally planned to increase the defence budget by 33% this year.
Popular Right Now
Advertisement