After yesterday’s post on police checking ID to find draft-dodgers, I want to add a bit of context as to why young men try so hard to stay out of the Russian military.
In a word, it comes down to hazing. I’m no expert on hazing in the Russian armed forces, but here is what I do know:
- In 2004, at least 44 (Government figure), and as many as 3,000 (human rights group estimate) Russian draftees were killed in hazing incidents or commited suicide as a result of hazing. (Source: Pravda)
- In the same year, Human Rights Watch released a report on hazing in the Russian military, and called on the government to do more to stop it. HRW estimated that hazing caused the “deaths of dozens of conscripts every year, and serious—and often permanent—damage to the physical and mental health of thousands others. Hundreds of conscripts commit or attempt suicide each year, and thousands run away from their units.”
- In 2006, Private Andrei Sychyov was beaten so badly that his legs and genitals had to be amputated. His case was one of the few to be publicly discussed in Russia, because the doctors treating him leaked information to the media. (Sources: Radio Free Europe, NPR)
- After Sychyov’s case became public, news outlets discovered another case at least as disturbing.
- The St. Petersburg Times reported on the humiliation, beating, extortion and other trials Russian conscripts face following the Sychyov case. Despite the testimony of a hazed soldier, Russia’s Defense Minister dismissed continuing concerns about hazing.
Zachary Tracer 
Word, interesting stuff man. It seems to me that the hazing, along with the demographic crisis, are two problems that Russia will no longer be able to ignore.