2/17/20
Having the Russian word for “****” carved on his forehead with a razor blade as punishment for smoking an illicit cigarette in his barracks toilet was the last straw for Private Artyom Pakhotin. Two weeks later, on April 19, 2018, he shot himself dead with an AK-74 during his platoon’s drill training session in the Urals region of Sverdlovsk. “Mom, don’t believe what anyone tells you. They’re bullying me here, exhausting me psychologically and extorting money … I don’t see how I can go on. I’m already very tired. I’m sorry it all turned out like this,” said his last text message to his mother, shown on the local TVK television channel. Pakhotin’s case isn’t unique. Dedovshchina, Russian for hazing, has been part of life for conscripts in the Russian army since the end of the 17th century, when Russian Emperor Peter the Great first introduced compulsory military service. In 2008, the authorities introduced reforms that included cutting compulsory service from two years to one and changing the military’s management structure and education system. Extreme hazing persisted until 2012, when the effects of the reforms became evident. But today, conscripts nearing the end of their year-long stint still bully new arrivals through rape, beatings and humiliation, sometimes with tragic consequences.
There are no official statistics on the number of hazing cases in the army, but a report from the RBC news website said that in 2018 more than 1,100 military personnel were convicted on charges of abuse of power, and 372 for violence. All able-bodied Russian men are obliged to complete a year of compulsory military service before they turn 27, although thousands manage to avoid it by bribing recruiting officials and doctors. According to official statistics there are 1.9 million Russian army personnel, about 80% of whom are conscripts. Another military NGO — Mother’s Right — estimates based on the requests for help it has received that only 4% of military conscript deaths happen in the line of duty, while 44% are suicides. “Conscripts face extortion, beatings, bullying, inducement to suicide and other crimes,” said spokeswoman Anna Kashirtseva. Commentators said that the nature of dedovshchina is also changing, with the extortion of money playing a more central role nowadays. “Soldiers have almost no leave, they are trapped and isolated from relatives and public control.” Kashirtseva believes that dedovshchina still exists because, in most cases, nobody is held responsible for it because of the country’s lack of a legal culture. “Russians think that beatings, bullying and extortion in the army are a school of life for conscripts, which every boy has to graduate from if he wants to become a real man,” she said. The Defense Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment on the scale of hazing in the military.
rof Especially one where you are the low man on the totem pole and violence from above is encouraged
