Despite a recent attack on a Russian military base in Syria that reportedly caused serious damage to weapons and equipment stationed there, Moscow is bullish on the overall progress of its forces. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently noted that the fighting potential of his forces rose by one-third following structured reforms and direct involvement in various global hot spots. Shoigu:
"Over the past three years, we have conducted structural reforms of the Armed Forces, which contributed to the successful solution of strategic tasks in the Arctic, on the Crimean peninsula, in the Mediterranean Sea, deep-sea areas, and airspace."
The defense minister noted that since 2013, his forces have received more than 15,000 units of new and modernized weapons and military equipment. Shoigu said that this year, more than 80 military units will receive modern weapons such as modernized T-72B3 tanks, Su-24M and Su-25 aircraft, and Carapace-S air defense missile systems, as well as Iskander-M missile complexes. He added that modern weapons and equipment in the military now account for 47 percent of the total, and that military exercises have increased threefold in their intensity.
Youth, Patriotism, and the Search for a Russian Revival
Alongside the well-publicized efforts to modernize the country’s military forces, Russia’s military establishment is also thinking of how to better attract and retain the next generation of Russian youth, trying to fulfill a dual purpose of instilling interest in the military while fostering national patriotism. Back in the Soviet days, Communist Party-affiliated Young Pioneers (10-15 year-old kids) and Komsomol (16 year-olds through college-aged youth) would participate in regular paramilitary-like drills that included marches, formation drills, physical training, and war games, along with learning Communist history and life.
Essentially combining elements of the Boy Scouts with the National Guard, these organizations drew mandatory membership across the Soviet Union, with the brightest and most ardent patriots selected from such groups for continued leadership in the Communist Party and Soviet governing structures.
In gearing up for a global confrontation with America and the West, the Soviet government thought it absolutely essential to begin training its youth for upcoming political-military conflicts, while at the same time exercising control over how its young people spent time in and out of school. Similar organizations existed in every Socialist and Communist nation during the Cold War, serving as a way to indoctrinate people into the Communist way of life and to protect societies against what they considered harmful Western influences. The practice survives today in places such as China, Cuba, and North Korea. Russian Daily Komsomolskaya Pravda reports on the return of such military indoctrination directed at Russian youth -- the Yunarmia, or Young Army.
According to the paper, Yunarmia’s main activities will center around military and sports games, and trips to places of past Russian and Soviet military glory. Its members will take honor guard positions at the Eternal Flame cemeteries (places where Soviet military heroes and soldiers are buried). The initiative to create Yunarmia belongs to none other than Shoigu, with the Russian Defense Ministry even developing a military-style uniform for its young members.
At a recent ceremony where 200 kids across Russia were accepted as Yunarmia members, Shoigu said that "we would like for this movement to grow with each passing day, so that it can include more and more daring, young, strong, purposeful kids who love our country, who know and appreciate our history." Each new member recited a pledge where the child declared "upon joining the ranks of Yunarmia, in front of my comrades, to solemnly swear to be always loyal to my homeland and to the Yunarmia brotherhood." This oath is indistinguishable from the one the Young Pioneers recited during their induction ceremony. Interestingly enough, the Young Pioneers were not fully disbanded as an organization -- despite the fact that schools across Russia no longer had to abide by the Communist organizational and rhetorical customs and norms, they still exist on a much smaller scale under the tutelage of the Russian Communist Party, which looks and talks as if the Soviet Union were still around. It's unclear whether Yunarmia and the remnant Young Pioneers will combine forces, but they are likely to work together, given their nearly identical and complementary missions of fostering Russian patriotism among the country's youth.
The notion of patriotism is a sore topic among Russian political, academic, and military elites. Following the demise of the Soviet Union, the idea underwent major changes in Russia, where many struggled to understand what relationship they now had to their new country without Communist ideology forcing people to abide by specific norms. In former Soviet republics, where Soviet norms of multiculturalism and adherence to Communist principles were replaced by the ethno-national identities of newly independent states, the situation was similar. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin talks about patriotism as the major unifying idea for his country. Following Russia's successful annexation of Crimea, its stealthy operations in Eastern Ukraine in favor of pro-Russia secessionists, and its recent military action in Syria, patriotism has received a major second wind across all of Russia that shows no signs of abating. No doubt Shoigu's Yunarmia will seek to maintain this newfound appreciation for their country among the next generation of Russians.
The “Cossack way”
And speaking of patriotism, Ukrainian daily Obozrevatel.ua noted a viral video making rounds on social media. In it, the Supreme Ataman of the Union of Russian Cossack Troops, Gen. Victor Ratiev, shouted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now "the Tsar" that his forces are sworn to defend. In the video, Ratiev says that he would personally rip off the shoulder straps of any Cossack who opposes the president or allows himself to say something against Putin. "That is not the Cossak way -- Cossacks have always been for the faith, the Tsar, and the Fatherland! Today, Putin is the Tsar, and he is the only one that remains who can save Russia!"
