Thread by @zoyashef

A thread on morale in the Russian forces, and the impact on the forces of a culture of dedovshchina, which is an extreme form of hazing that new conscripts in the Russian forces are subjected to.

There have been many reports of defections from Russian side, but also of Russian-on-Russian attacks, such as alleged killing of brigade commander Yakov Ryazantsev, who reportedly died after being run over by an armored vehicle driven by his own troops.
politico.eu/article/russia…

Now, I'm not saying the one and only reason Ryazantsev was likely killed by his own forces was because of dedovshchina (which, literally translated, means something akin to "the reign of the grandfathers".) But I do think this could well be a major contributing factor.

Dedovshchina has been widespread in Russian forces since the Soviet period. What is it? It’s the most brutal form of hazing you can imagine. Simply put, it’s the torture of junior members of the armed forces by those above them on the food chain.

I’ve heard stories about it first hand from family and friends who have been conscripted. Conscripts are raped, beaten, suffer sleep deprivation, are forced to lick floors and toilets, to eat excrement, to torture others.

This Vice doco from 2006 makes for some brutal watching. vice.com/en/article/gqd…

Russia claims it has stamped out dedovshchina, in large part by reducing the length of time new conscripts serve (to try to get rid of the grandfathers). But it remains a major problem, with repeated instances of suicide and revenge killings.

In 2019, for instance, there was this report of a Russian conscript who allegedly shot and killed eight of his fellow soldiers, including two officers, on an army base, with his father blaming the his son's torture at the hands of the dedovshchina.
theguardian.com/world/2019/nov…

Now here's the thing. We know Russia is using conscripts to fight its war against Ukraine. Most estimates indicate that approximately 25 percent of the Russian military is made up of conscripts. (Further reading: politico.eu/article/what-t…)

There are all the obvious reasons why using conscripts in a hot war is a bad idea. They don't have much training, they have little technical expertise. They're basically kids - born in the 2000s.

But now add to all that, the fact that these kids have been brutalised by their superiors. They have been deployed to Ukraine with expired and insufficient rations, and are being asked to sacrifice their lives for people who have literally tortured them.

Research indicates the most important factor in motivating armed forces is the bonds formed between members of a squad. There are other elements (ideology, patriotism, self-preservation), but the bond is the No. 1 motivator. See: usacac.army.mil/sites/default/…

But in Russian forces, the bond is, to put it mildly, fucked. You have young conscripts who have been tortured by their so-called brothers in arms. They have been brutalised, and then told to go fight alongside the people who have brutalised them.

In one of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's speeches on social media, he addressed Russian conscripts directly, saying: "If you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people ought to be treated … The way you were not treated in your army."

That's super smart. Because Zalenskyy knows exactly what he's talking about. He knows what these kids have been through at the hands of their so-called superiors.

Now, consider this scenario: A quarter of your forces have been tortured by a whole bunch of other members of your forces. Now all these people are deployed into a hot war, with guns. How can any of these people trust one another to have each other's backs?

If you're one of the conscripts who has recently been beaten or raped or both by someone you're fighting alongside - do you really want to die for them? Or might your finger slip on the trigger? Might you accidentally run over them?

Or might you, perhaps, take up the Ukrainian president's offer to lay down your arms? /end

An addendum: Most of the Russian forces were conscripts at one point. The system is such that the conscripts are tortured, and then they become the torturers.

Apologies folks, as a couple of people have pointed out, I got the wrong name for the Russian killed by his own troops - it was Medvedev not Ryazantsev. Not sure if I can fix in the thread, but will see what I can do.

And for those interested in further reading, lots of things out there, here's a good contemporary one: themoscowtimes.com/2020/02/17/dec…