Copyright © 2021 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

Russian Defense Ministry creating a “Youth Army”

The Russian Defense Ministry founded the "Youth Army" troops for children from 8 to 18 years old in 2016. (Photo: RIA)
The Russian Defense Ministry founded the “Youth Army” troops for children from 8 to 18 years old in 2016. (Photo: RIA)
Edited by: A. N.

As part of its program to restore Soviet-era practices of pre-induction military training, something the LDNR has been pressing for since last year, the Russian defense ministry has announced plans to create a new militarized youth movement that will provide military training to young people before they reach draft age.

On the one hand, such a program will help the Russian armed services by ensuring that draftees will know something about military standards before they report for duty. And on the other, it will give the regime yet another force it can use either to drain off energy from other paramilitary groups in Russia or alternatively to fight them or others in the streets.

Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu announces the creation of the Youth Army militarized movement, May 2016 (Image: rt.com)
Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu announces the creation of the Youth Army militarized movement, May 2016 (Image: rt.com)

Yesterday, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told a meeting of 500 delegates from 85 regions at Moscow’s Patriot Park that he and his ministry are committed to establishing “hundreds of centers of patriotic training and hundreds of centers of Youth Army throughout the country.”

“We will do everything in order that you will be the strongest, the most intelligent, the most handsome and what is the chief thing the most worthy citizens of our country,” Shoigu said, via a system of military-sports competitions, clubs and spartakiads of various kinds of military-related skills. The ministry “already developed a structure of the Youth Army movement tied to locations of military bases, commissariats, service academies, and facilities of DOSAAF [the paramilitary Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Fleet organized in 1927 – Ed.]  and TsSKA [Central Sports Club of the Red Army – Ed.].”

A week ago, the defense ministry said that the Youth Army movement would be organized over the course of the summer and that it would be fully operational by September 1. It added that its members would study “the foundations of tactical operations and the military history of Russia.”

A defense ministry source told the Grani.ru portal that “’the Youth Army’ will have a full-scale military-patriotic and military-sports program” and that its members would practice shooting skills with pneumatic weapons.”


Edited by: A. N.
You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!
Total
0
Shares
Related Posts