Free Republic

Every six months, approximately 130,000 Russian conscripts are called up for their year of service, where most of them will face sadistic hazing. In Russian, it’s called dedovshchina, a brutal internal army regime that began in Soviet times but is thoroughly embedded in modern military culture. Western militaries have worked hard to reduce bullying and hazing in the ranks with some, but not complete, success. But in Russia’s army, dedovshchina is a unique cultural staple and a formative part of the military identity. Multiple sources, both those who served in Soviet times and those with experience in the modern Russian...

Over his many years as the leader of Russia, President Vladimir Putin has dedicated a lot of time and effort to controlling history. The Kremlin works hard to ensure Putin’s constructed worldview, in which Russian greatness is derived from the country’s past glory and suffering, is taught in schools and shown in all media and academic discourse as reality. A shocking and important example of this was the closing late last year of the Memorial human rights organization, which investigated Soviet repression, with the prosecution claiming that Memorial “creates a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state and...