Posted on 02/13/2007 8:54:08 PM PST by aculeus
The Russian military is reported to be investigating claims that army conscripts were forced to work as male prostitutes in St Petersburg.
The command of the interior ministry unit denied the claims made by the Soldiers' Mothers human rights group.
The group says it was contacted by a parent of a conscript who had been forced to work as a male prostitute.
Last year, an 18-year-old soldier was so badly beaten that he had to have his legs and genitals amputated.
The BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says the latest claims follow a series of scandals which have damaged the Russian army's reputation.
A spokeswoman for the Soldiers' Mothers, Ella Polyakova, told the BBC that in St Petersburg there was "a network of clients" who would pay for sex with soldiers.
Older servicemen are said to have forced younger conscripts into prostitution and then taken the money for themselves.
Brutality
The Sychev bullying case drew worldwide attention to Russian army abuses.
Private Andrei Sychev was forced to squat for several hours by fellow soldiers and then tied to a chair and brutally beaten up last year.
As a result he developed gangrene in his legs and genitals, which had to be amputated.
Now permanently disabled, Pte Sychev has just announced that he is to write a book about his ordeal.
Such cases have highlighted the appalling conditions suffered by some Russian service personnel at a time when Russia is seeking a greater role on the world stage, our correspondent says.
Published: 2007/02/13 13:32:57 GMT
© BBC MMVII
I don't even want to know what basic training was like.
Well the Communist spent 70 years taking God out of their society.... no wonder this is where they ended up.
A commissar in the Soviet Union went out to one of those state collective farms, grabbed the first worker he came to and said, 'Comrade, how are the crops?' "'Oh,' he said, 'Comrade Commissar, if we could put the potatoes in one pile, they would reach the foot of God.'" "And the commissar said, 'This is the Soviet Union. There is no God.' and he said, 'That's all right, there are no potatoes.'
- Ronald Reagan
I told that one in history class in the 1960's. The teacher shot me an angry look.
Correct. You correctly picked up the civilizational mafiosity streak.
It is just hoax.
How is it "just hoax"?
They were ruled for 75 years by criminals who were in charge of making the laws. That teaches a person not to respect the laws, that if the rulers are criminals, you should be a criminal too in order to live. The only law is: don't get caught.
They were taught "capitalism is theft" a/k/a Marxism for decades. They believe it. They act it.
Proverb "zakon chto dyshlo, kuda povernyosh' - tuda i vyshlo" antedates "75 years of rule by criminals". Antedates by centuries, thus the attitudes indicated by it [and to which you refer in equally old "ne poiman- ne vor"=do not get caught] are indeed primordial there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.