This summer the once mighty Russian Army has once again asserted itself on the world stage. But at home, the two million man strong subscript army is going through painful changes, with preparations on the way to making it a professional army.
In the process, the feared Russian special forces “Spetsnaz” are finding themselves lacking the adequate numbers of good recruits. After years of hibernation, the secretive paramilitary organization “Kaskad”, dedicated to the military and ideological indoctrination of children has once again been reborn. This time, not with the sponsorship of the Communist Party, but the Russian Orthodox Church. This summer, hundreds of Russian children have participated in special military-ideological summer camps. During the holidays, kids as young as 10 live in tents in the forest, learning everything from shooting to advanced anti-terrorist tactics, with the purpose of producing suitable recruits for the Russian Special Forces.
SOT:
- Company, get up!
- Fix that T-shirt!
- Faster, faster, faster
The reveille sounds in the Military camp, Vostok 2, and sleepy young boys are forced out of bed by strict sergeants.
SOT:
- Places…You have two minutes to use the bath room.
This is a Military Patriotic Summer Camp for kids; they have become very popular in Russia.
Here boys as young as 10 get to live like soldiers for an entire month. If they do well, a career in the Russian Special Forces awaits.
SOT: Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
- They have different backgrounds, but the predominant majority have a destined future. Some of them have parents in Chechnya. Some of them have parents in the Special Forces fighting terrorism. And these children clearly want to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
Captain Gennady Korotayev has previously served in the so-called Spetsnaz Forces, and he wants Russia to have a more powerful army.
SOT: Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
Here at the Parade Grounds there should be a picture of the commander-in-chief. And various military agitation. Presently Dmitry Medvedev is our commander-in-chief.
Half an hour of hard morning gymnastics under the strict gaze of Medvedjev is concluded by prayer.
The Russian Church is one of the camp’s main sponsors, and today Father Vladimir tells the children about Russian History’s proudest moments, and the fall of Man:
SOT: Vladimir Sakharov, Priest, the Russian Orthodox Church.
..Sin is always a result of the will of Man…
Our job today is to make our boys manlier. Because in the rest of the Russian society today – maybe even in the rest of the World – women dominate in the raising of children.
Even the modest breakfast is served in a military manner.
They are given only a few minutes to swallow their porridge before they must be on parade.
Today they are practising open terrain warfare.
SOT: Gleb, 11 years:
-I don’t know what subjects we are having today, but right now it’s Tactics.
-What is Tactics?
-We will learn to walk and stand correctly with our machine guns.
SOT: Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Commander of the Camp:
We are going to add some smoke. It makes it a bit more realistic, like in real combat.
So that the boys get a psychological feel of the war.
SOT:Andrey, 10 years.
Don’t you feel homesick?
-Yes, but sometimes I almost forget it. I feel homesick all the time, but I say to myself: Get a grip of yourself, and be a man.
Standup: It’s something very disturbing in seeing children from the age of ten running around with real machine guns. But the Russians claim you have to start at that age in order to make a good soldier for the Special Forces in the future.
SOT: Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
I think that all men, at least all real men, are attracted to guns. At least this is how it has always been in Russia. If one of the boys is handed a knife or a sword, he is immediately fascinated by it, much more than he would be a car. I think this is something genetic in us Men.
Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
Legs back! Wider!
It’s quite brutal when the children learn how to capture enemies.
Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
Turn around! On your knees! On your knees, hands behind your head!
Captain Gennady is frustrated that his child soldiers are not aggressive enough when they have a go.
Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
We must try to teach them that you shouldn’t pamper your enemy. They must understand that you can’t shoot a prisoner, but if they try to resist…
-So being aggressive is important?
Absolutely!
-Point the gun at him. Be tougher!
SOT: Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
When it comes to killing people, we try to imagine that those we are trying to kill are not really human. Because they have stepped on the most sacred; our home country.
SOT: Gleb, 11/Andrey 10:
-Who do you think could attack Russia?
-A lot of people could do that. America! Or some of the Eastern countries.
Finally the boys get to try some real combat.
Terrorists have taken hostages. And the anti-terror force is deployed.
-Grenade!!
Smoke, blank shots and powerful airguns make the exercise more realistic.
SOT: Gleb, 11 years
There is a long, dark corridor up there. Everywhere there are holes and cracks in the floor. There are many rooms, and it’s difficult to see where you’re going. It’s very scary!
The 13 year old terrorist Kolya becomes the hero of the day, when he single-handedly takes out the entire anti-terror force.
SOT: Kolya, 13 years
-Yes, he looked in without pointing his gun in first. I took him out immediately.
- So you killed him?
-Yes, that’s right.
SOT:
-Doesn’t it concern you that the children are taught how to kill here?
Vladimir Sakharov, Priest, the Russian Orthodox Church
We teach the children to defend. Here you don’t go to war in order to kill, but to defend your country with your own blood. It’s a just and merciful way.
The children at the military summer camp have already been assigned to the different branches of the Special Forces.
If Andrey and Gleb do a good job this summer, they will be asked to join other exercises in the coming years – before they join the Spetsnaz forces when they are 18.
SOT:
-What are you going to tell your friends at home about this?
Gleb, 11/Andrey 10:
They won’t believe us! They probably don’t even know that such a thing exists. No one is going to believe us.
Captain Gennady believes that the military training of children is the future of the Russian Army, and he hopes that his project will stand as a warning to enemies of Russia all over the world.
Capt. Gennady Korotayev, Camp Commander:
We Russians always greet our friends with open arms. But I want to say this:
Don’t push us! We want to live like we wish. You can live as you wish.
But don’t be aggressive towards us, or take our people hostage.
You better not do that.
Location: Kolomna, Russia
Director: Øystein Bogen, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, TV2
Camera/Video editor: Aage Aune, TV2