Dedovshchina

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Dedovshchina (Russian: дедовщи́на) is the name given to the informal system of subjugation of new junior conscripts for the Russian armed forces, Interior Ministry, and (to a much lesser extent) FSB border guards to brutalization by the conscripts of the last year of service as well as NCOs and officers.

Dedovshchina involves a spectrum of subordinating activities performed by the junior ranks: from carrying out chores of the senior ranks to violent (and in extraordinary circumstances fatal) hazing, being not unlike an extremely vicious form of bullying. It is often cited as a major source of poor morale in the ranks.

1 Etymology
2 History
3 Current situation
4 Government actions
5 See also
6 References
7 Further Reading

[edit] Etymology

The term is derived from "ded" (grandfather), which is Russian army slang equivalent of gramps, meaning soldiers at their third (or fourth, which is also known as "dembel", stemming from a vulgarization of the verb demobilize) half-year of conscription, with the suffix -shchina which designates type of order, rule, or regime (compare Yezhovshchina, Zhdanovshchina). Thus it can literally be translated as "rule of the grandfathers." This is essentially a folk system of seniority based on stage of service, mostly not backed by code or law, which only grant seniority to conscripts promoted to various Sergeant and Efreitor ranks.

[edit] History

This started as a modern parallel to the worst historical forms of fagging in British schools, even with an organized hierarchy, but there the very professional hierarchy actively joins in making it utter abuse, causing many recruits to avoid service for fear of their health or even their lives.

The origin of this problem is often attributed to the change in conscription term with a new law of October 12 1967, when two different groups of conscripts were simultaneously present in the army: those who were drafted for 3 years service and those only for 2 years. While oppression by older conscripts has probably always taken place in the army, after that date, with the introduction of the four-class system it become organized and with its own rules and ranks.

In 2007 the Russian government lowered military service time to 1.5 years and plan to finish the reform with 1 year military service in 2008. The expectation is that this action will positively affect the situation with Dedovshchina.

[edit] Current situation

Many young men are killed or commit suicide every year because of dedovshchina.^[1]^[2] The New York Times reported that in 2006 at least 292 Russian soldiers were killed by dedovshchina (although the Russian military admits that only 16 soldiers were directly murdered by acts of dedovshchina and claims that the rest committed suicide). The Times states: "On Aug. 4, it was announced by the chief military prosecutor that there had been 3,500 reports of abuse already this year (2006), compared with 2,798 in 2005".

Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia works to protect rights of young soldiers.

[edit] Government actions

Overall the state has done little to curtail Dedovshchina. In 2003, on the specific issues of food denial and poor nutrition Deputy Minister of Defense V. Isakov flatly denied the existence of such problems.^[3]