RUSSIA: HOMELESS ORPHANS JOIN RUSSIAN ARMY
15.1 هزار بار بازدید -
9 سال پیش
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(3 Nov 1998) Russian/Nat
(3 Nov 1998) Russian/Nat
A batch of homeless orphans has joined the Russian army - rather than lead a life of destitution on the streets.
The special platoon of 11 to 14-year-olds is part of an anti-chemical warfare battalion based at an army barracks in the town of Kineshma.
Their commander claims the streetkids were heavy smokers and vodka drinkers when they arrived at the base.
Now they are uniformed, disciplined "boy soldiers".
Homeless children in Russia lead what can seem a brutal and shocking existence.
Abandoned by parents to a life of extreme poverty, they quickly turn to the worst vices of adult life, like alcohol and drug abuse.
These children in St Petersburg, Russia's second city, are just a fraction of the thousands across the country left to a miserable fate on the streets.
But now, the military has stepped in.
A crack unit specialising in combating chemical warfare has adopted a band of streetkids, pledging to turn them into boy soldiers.
Based in the provincial town of Kineshma, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Moscow, the battalion houses and trains the boys in army tradition, drilling them in marching, karate and weapons training.
For most of the boys, aged between 11 and 14, the prospect of a roof over their heads was enough for them to join up.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Before I lived with my grandma. I don't have a mum. She left me and went away....I don't miss her."
SUPER CAPTION Andrei Smirnov, Boy soldier
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"My father is in prison. My mum died."
SUPER CAPTION: Sergei Yaguzhen, Boy soldier
Their superiors acknowledge that - with their background - these boys are no ordinary soldiers receiving an ordinary military training.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There are complications. You have to be a friend and father at the same time, a person who keeps an eye on them the whole time, who can tell them off. But the best thing they can get is our praise."
SUPER CAPTION: Dmitry Kudryavtsev, Unit Sergeant
Like all members of Russia's armed forces, the boys swear an oath of allegiance to obey and serve.
They even get their own military ID cards.
All this is supposed to instil in them a sense of duty and discipline, far away from the rough and tumble of street life.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Almost all of them smoke and swear. When they arrived here they were like wolf cubs. They couldn't go near each other without fighting, swearing, smoking. We struggled ... Now they've become softer, kinder."
SUPER CAPTION. Major Yevgeny Afonin, Commanding Officer
The Russian media is full of stories of bullying and starvation in the army, so it is paradoxical that these homeless kids have found comfort as soldiers.
Most of them seem content with their lot, but the expression in their eyes says they've experienced more in their short lives than many grown ups.
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A batch of homeless orphans has joined the Russian army - rather than lead a life of destitution on the streets.
The special platoon of 11 to 14-year-olds is part of an anti-chemical warfare battalion based at an army barracks in the town of Kineshma.
Their commander claims the streetkids were heavy smokers and vodka drinkers when they arrived at the base.
Now they are uniformed, disciplined "boy soldiers".
Homeless children in Russia lead what can seem a brutal and shocking existence.
Abandoned by parents to a life of extreme poverty, they quickly turn to the worst vices of adult life, like alcohol and drug abuse.
These children in St Petersburg, Russia's second city, are just a fraction of the thousands across the country left to a miserable fate on the streets.
But now, the military has stepped in.
A crack unit specialising in combating chemical warfare has adopted a band of streetkids, pledging to turn them into boy soldiers.
Based in the provincial town of Kineshma, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Moscow, the battalion houses and trains the boys in army tradition, drilling them in marching, karate and weapons training.
For most of the boys, aged between 11 and 14, the prospect of a roof over their heads was enough for them to join up.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Before I lived with my grandma. I don't have a mum. She left me and went away....I don't miss her."
SUPER CAPTION Andrei Smirnov, Boy soldier
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"My father is in prison. My mum died."
SUPER CAPTION: Sergei Yaguzhen, Boy soldier
Their superiors acknowledge that - with their background - these boys are no ordinary soldiers receiving an ordinary military training.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There are complications. You have to be a friend and father at the same time, a person who keeps an eye on them the whole time, who can tell them off. But the best thing they can get is our praise."
SUPER CAPTION: Dmitry Kudryavtsev, Unit Sergeant
Like all members of Russia's armed forces, the boys swear an oath of allegiance to obey and serve.
They even get their own military ID cards.
All this is supposed to instil in them a sense of duty and discipline, far away from the rough and tumble of street life.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Almost all of them smoke and swear. When they arrived here they were like wolf cubs. They couldn't go near each other without fighting, swearing, smoking. We struggled ... Now they've become softer, kinder."
SUPER CAPTION. Major Yevgeny Afonin, Commanding Officer
The Russian media is full of stories of bullying and starvation in the army, so it is paradoxical that these homeless kids have found comfort as soldiers.
Most of them seem content with their lot, but the expression in their eyes says they've experienced more in their short lives than many grown ups.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
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