Preparing Next Generation of Russian Officers

Russian military academies are busy preparing the next generation of gentlemen and officers, all the economic problems in their country notwithstanding. Russian daily "Izvestia" paid a visit to the most famous and elite academy - Suvorov Military School in Moscow (Moscokskoye Suvorovskoye Voennoye Uchlische), named after legendary 18th Century General Alexander Suvorov. There are now many Suvorov Military schools across the country, The first such academy was formed in Nizhniy Novgorod during WW2. During the war, many Soviet children were orphaned and left without parents, and the state assumed care of their future, establishing military-style schools for their education. In 1943-1944, seventeen Suvorov academies opened across the USSR. Since then, there have been more than 35 Soviet and Russian generals amongst the Suvorov graduates, together with numerous officers and high-ranking officials.

"Izvestia" talked with Major-General Andrei Nechaev, Head of Moscow Suvorov Military School, about his students' education. According to the general, "When the state created Suvorov schools in 1943, it had a major goal - to get children off the streets, to help the orphans. Today, the Suvorov schools have the following goal - to prepare an all-rounded graduate who is developed spiritually and physically, so that he could benefit the Russian state not only as a good soldier, but also by becoming a good teacher, engineer, biologist. We place an emphasis for our graduate on knowing two foreign languages, to be good in sports, so that you can speak with this young man on any topic, so that he could cite Pushkin's poetry or dance a waltz."

General Nechaev further told the newspaper: "We must be sure that our graduates are self-sufficient, so that they can get into any higher education institution without problems. Some people think that Suvorov school is only a military organization. But our students are studying 10 hours a day!. If a student does not learn his lesson, he automatically gets a bad grade. Afterwards, we are also punishing those officers who were supposed to oversee the students lessons."

Soon, Moscow Suvorov School will be admitting girls for the first time: "This year, we ordered a trial run to recruit girls to 8th grade, two platoons of 20 students in each. We are preparing a separate building for these 40 recruits. They will study together with the boys, and will only sleep in separate quarters. Some would say: "Why admit girls?" I say - so what? No problem, I do not see anything wrong with it! Our boys will do better as a result. When our female teachers go to school's sporting events - we have a lot of young teachers - the guys are always trying to show off in order to get the best result. And our boys will behave differently, too."

More info on the school - and its sister academies - can be found on this Russian-language site.