One student said firearms practice would “make life easier” for him in the future. (File)
Vladikavkaz, Russia:
David, a fourteen-year-old Russian student, learned something new this month: shooting accurately with a Kalashnikov is more complicated than with a pistol.
With other students, he experimented with weapons as part of basic military training – a feature of the school program that was abandoned in the final years of the Soviet Union but has been reintroduced since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In the southern city of Vladikavkaz this month, teenagers in camouflage uniforms took turns firing weapons and practicing first aid under the eyes of instructors.
“It’s easier to shoot a pistol. And it’s harder to aim with an assault rifle,” said David, a thin boy with black hair and glasses.
He said firearms practice would “make life easier” for him in the future. Military service is mandatory for young people in Russia, whose war in Ukraine is now in its third year.
Sergei Menyailo, a retired vice admiral who is now the leader of Russia’s North Ossetia region, referred to the conflict in remarks to young people, telling them that the training would help them “fulfill their military duty within a team” if they had to fight one day.
The Ministry of Education issued a decree at the end of 2022 introducing basic military training into the school curriculum as part of a subject called “basics of life safety”. Critics see this as part of an increasing militarization of Russian society since the start of the war.
Boris Kantemirov, local head of a voluntary organization that supports the armed forces, said the training provided skills any soldier would need.
“Everyone must be able to save lives, handle weapons and be physically fit,” he told Reuters as gunshots from the training camp rang out in the background.
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