Amelie Tolvin, a visiting scholar at the University of Helsinki, dives into the intricate dynamics of the Russian military and society. She discusses the alarming casualty rates in Ukraine and why Russian citizens remain largely passive. Amelie reveals the brutal culture in the military, including historical hazing practices, and how financial incentives target impoverished regions for recruitment. The conversation also addresses the normalization of violence and its implications for Russian identity, offering a sobering view of the ongoing conflict.
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Russian Military Brutality History
The Russian military has a long history of brutality towards its own soldiers, including blocking detachments and penal battalions sending troops on suicide missions.
Harsh hazing rituals called didoshina contribute to systemic violence and mistreatment within the military culture.
insights INSIGHT
Sadistic Hazing in Russian Army
Unlike other militaries where hazing aims to prepare soldiers, Russian hazing is sadistic and wears soldiers down.
This violence often involves officers and extends beyond basic training, profoundly shaping soldiers' identities.
insights INSIGHT
Immediate Combat and Disposable Troops
Russian soldiers are thrust immediately into combat with little training, facing extreme violence and poor supply.
A tiered infantry system exists where some units are disposable, reinforcing a cycle of violence on the battlefield.
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Given the way Russian military cheifs send their troops into combat without regard for rates of attrition and casualties, it seems to bamboozle many Western commentators that the Russian people are not rising up against their leaders. Why? Amelie Tolvin, a visiting scholar at the University of Helsinki’s Aleksanteri Institute, provides some clear insight about why revolution is unlikely, but also why Russian troops fight in the way they do (war crimes and all).
Over the past 3 years – since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine - various military leaders, diplomats, military chiefs and commentators have been at pains to tell us all that the Russian military is on the verge of collapsing. They have quoted figures of dead and injured from that conflict that seem almost impossible for a Western audience to accept. Indeed, the loss rate of people on the Russian front has been so high that people suggest there are no more men in Russian to recruit or conscript. Amelie provides some important corrective evidence that needs to be better understood.
This Means War