In the USA kids with guns is taboo… in Russia it’s encouraged:
Children as young a five are sent on forced marches, given battlefield training, taught hand to hand combat, and how to use military equipment. 12 year olds are also taught how to fire Kalashnikov assault rifles and other small arms. During the clubs regular camps, some children are given the opportunity to parachute jump during their paratrooper training. The club appears to urge Russian parents not to wait until their child becomes a compulsive gambler, drug addict or alcoholic, before sending them to the club.
Full story – Daily Mail
They’ll probably all grow up to be bloodthirsty murders though right? Oh wait they won’t. It’s good to see girls involved. I find it interesting the part about urging Russian parents to send their kids to this camp before they grow up to be compulsive gamblers, drug addicts, or alcoholics. Are those issues that huge in Russia, more so than in the US?
In a few of the pictures it looks like the AK’s are actually cast replicas, I could be wrong though.
What type of handgun is in picture #1 if you follow the link? Some type of training one?
Thoughts?
Hat tip: Jorge
Comments
16 responses to “Putin’s Tiny Army – Youth Military Training Camp In Russia”
Looks like an old school paintball gun. After googling that exact term, I found it to be a Sheridan PGP.
I like the kid in picture 7. If that were a real gun someone would have a rather sore thumb.
“Are those issues that huge in Russia, more so than in the US?”
It is difficult to get on any form of public transport in Russia without seeing at least one person slumped over an open bottle of alcohol.
Most Russians do what they can to avoid doing their compulsory military service because it is so brutal, I doubt parents would happily send their kids to this.
They should probably teach the kids not to crawl with their finger on the trigger, BEFORE issuing them with real AK’s. Other than that, good idea, and something I would have loved as a kid!
What you can’t see here is the 20 other kids off camera not issued rifles, waiting patiently to scavenge from the cold dead hands of their comrades.
I’m going to go with my gut feeling on this one that all firearms in all photo’s are not the real deal. Even though the safety levers were all in the safe position every kid has a finger inside the trigger guard. We all know that’s a NO-GO. With everyone crawling so close together on the ground maybe they are training to be a suicide squad. One belt fed is all it would take to sweep this mess away.
From the Ruskies I’m friends with, I gather that the rampant alcoholism is in part a by-product of the communist era. Think about it: there were no incentives to work hard, and there was little reward for your work. You actually couldn’t work too hard, or else you’d make all your other comrades look bad, and somebody would report something about you to the authorities. What are a lot of men going to do if they can’t go out and conquer the world? Drink. That’s also why all those fly Russian women are ready to hop on a plane as soon as an American wants to propose. You don’t drink, gamble, or act like a derelict on a daily basis? Congratulations, you’re marriage material for those women. Sex and sex appeal was also the only real way women could provide for what they needed during the CCCP era. They figured out pretty quickly how to get what they wanted by using their charm and other assets.
Guess that kinda explains the US welfare joke too…
Kind of cool, but in the Russian context this is about weakness and a siege mentality. Russia is a miserable, hopeless society with population dropping due to early mortality and low, low birthrates. They lost tens of thousands of young men to the wars in the Caucuses with tens of thousands more being traumatized beyond social utility by the Soviet-style tactics (ie, insane risk to troops or horrible war crimes by troops). Part of grabbing Crimea and other Russian-speaking populations is simply to add to their headcount and hopefully increase their population replacement rates. The other components are to stoke nationalism to provide Putin a legitimizing narrative.
The older AKs do look like solid dummies; the well-worn example held upside down in one pic has the stye of pistol grip fitted to the original Type 1 from 1951-2.
The AK-103 and other variants series will be MMGs i.e. factory-built summies with working parts.
Actually the first photo with the kid in the lower right foreground – I’m trying to figure out what’s the deal with that AK. Looks like a solid-stocked 103, with smooth dust cover, 24mm threaded FSB, but has a 45-deg gas block? If they’re real rifles, maybe the camp just gets all sort of re-arsenaled formerly busted rifles that are put back together with whatever parts are in the bin.
Thoughts? As we descend other countries rise :-(
Thoughts? Training this Tiny Army and invading neighboring countries you claim are really yours anyway reminds me of another leader in another time.
now look what we got! spinless sob who is afraid of his own people, and should be for the rest of his life. he’s done more damage to our country without mentioning any war! the just remember that the biggest army is us gun owners, DONT GIVEM UP! we need to follow some other countrys guidelines when it comes to training our (already poisoned about guns by liberals) youth. who are where in education? tell me america isn’t going to hell soon, out with the old in with the new. I know why my mother would rather die than be saved from cancer, she was embarased for our country because it has changed since she was a kid. aka: born 1930.dies 2002. god rest her soul. and I am glad I won’t live forever. and I am scared for what our youth will have to face. it only takes a few titan missles to drive by your front door to scare the hell out of a young man! (my youth)!
Used to be called “pioneers” I think back in the day.
Soviets would also refer to the BSA as a “paramilitary”
Training org
Makes me think of ancient Sparta where they start their young off in permanent military acadamies. I’d love to send my 5, 8, and 10 year old boys to this kind of training every summer.
The Russians and other eastern European countries developed the concept of total defence of their
nations from the commander in chief right down to the last individual civilian thus giving a multi layered defence. The same principle as with the minutemen in the usa and the local militia, to the National Guard and State Guards. The major point here is it is a DEFENSIVE setup not an OFFENSIVE
system, this is a philosophy the West fails to comprehend.
The EU and NATO and in particular the USA push closer to the Russian borders so Russia begins to think defensively and protects its assets and its resources, its historical links and peoples. Its the same
as if mexico encroached on California the USA would respond to protect its citizens.
I notice nobody has mentioned the fact Exxon Mobil wants to exploit oil in western Ukraine and Shell
the east of Ukraine having already recently discovered oil in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania.
Russia has developed a major skill in being able to drill at sea for oil bringing them on a level with the
USA and other developed oil exploration nations. Chevron wants to frack in Romania the Romanian local people don’t want it to pollute their land. Much of the hype and propaganda against Russia is so
blatantly obvious. We don’t need another cold war, or hot war. Bear in mind also the USA needs to upgrade all its military hardware and convince other nations especially in Europe to buy USA made just as in the Vietnam war as it escalated the oil industry weapons cartels were at a low ebb, so you
create fear and find an enemy once again Russia, and up goes defence spending, defence sales, oil
sales, industry increases its the old story. Create a boogeyman and all the industrialists make billions
Training kids to be self sufficient to be able to defend their nation is not just a Russian thing I was trained to use weapons as a cadet then later as a reservist and I am not a blood thirsty killer I am
a medic trained to save life. Don’t believe all you read search for the truth with an open mind.