Dedovshchina

Dedovshchina (Russian: дедовщина, IPA: [dʲɪdɐˈfɕːinə]; lit. reign of grandfathers) is the informal practice of hazing and abuse of junior conscripts historically in the Soviet Armed Forces and today in the Russian armed forces, Internal Troops, and to a much lesser extent FSB, Border Guards, as well as the military forces of certain former Soviet Republics. It consists of brutalization by more senior conscripts, NCOs, and officers.

Dedovshchina encompasses a variety of subordinating and humiliating activities undertaken by the junior ranks, from doing the chores of the senior ranks, to violent and sometimes deadly physical and psychological abuse, not unlike an extremely vicious form of bullying or torture, including sexual torture and anal rape. There have been occasions where soldiers have been seriously injured or killed.

Etymology

The term is derived from "ded" (Russian: дед, meaning grandfather), which is the Russian Army slang equivalent of gramps, meaning soldiers after their third (or fourth, which is also known as "dembel" (Russian: дембель or "DMB" (Russian: ДМБ) half-year of compulsory service, stemming from a vulgarization of the word "demobilization" (Russian: демобилизация demobilizatsiya) – this word is erroneously used by soldiers to describe the act of resigning from the army); soldiers also refer to "dembel" half-year of conscription, with the suffix -shchina which denotes a 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 grants seniority to conscripts promoted to various sergeant and yefreitor ranks.

History

Hazing existed in some military schools of the Russian Empire, including the Page Corps.

The origin of this problem is often attributed to the change in conscription term brought about by the law of 12 October 1967, causing two different groups of conscripts to be simultaneously present in the army: those who were drafted for three-year service and those only for two-year service. However, A.D. Glotochkin researched psychological problems of young soldiers before 1967.

During the same year, a decision was reached to draft conscripts with a criminal history into the ranks, due to a demographic crisis following World War II. While oppression by older conscripts has probably always taken place in the army, after that date, with the introduction of the four-class system (created by the bi-annual call-ups) it became systematic and developed its own rules and ranks.

Current situation

Many young men are killed or commit suicide every year because of dedovshchina. The New York Times reported that in 2006 at least 292 Russian soldiers were killed by dedovshchina (although the Russian military only admits that 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". The BBC meanwhile reports that in 2007, 341 soldiers committed suicide, a 15% reduction on the previous year.

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

In 2012, a draftee from Chelyabinsk region, Ruslan Aiderkhanov, was tortured to death by his seniors. The one witness who was willing to testify against the alleged perpetrators, Danil Chalkin, was later found shot dead in his military base. A contract soldier, Alikbek Musabekov, was later arrested in this incident.

In 2019, according to the Russian military prosecutor office the situation with dedovshchina is getting worse. Incidents of hazing in the army during 2019 have increased. 51,000 human rights violations and 1,521 sexual assault cases. In the same year, Ramil Shamsutdinov shot 10 of his colleagues at a Gorny military base, 8 of them fatally. In court, he alleged that he was subjected to beatings and threats of anal rape.

Government actions

Overall, the Russian state has tried and has had mixed results in curtailing dedovshchina. In 2003, on the specific issues of denial of food and poor nutrition, Deputy Minister of Defence V. Isakov denied the existence of such problems.

Since 2005, the Russian Ministry of Defence has published monthly statistics of incidents and crimes including cases of death.

Russia has changed some of the rules made in 1967. Most notably, criminals are no longer accepted into the army.

Beginning in 2007/08, the conscript service time was reduced from two years to one; dedovshchina primarily occurs when second year conscripts abuse first year conscripts so this measure is partially intended to curtail the practice.

In 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defence established a military police force as a way to counter dedovshchina. According to Russian media reports, up to 20,000 service members may be assigned to serve as military police.

Dedovshchina in popular culture

Several Soviet and Russian films portrayed the dedovshchina despite the military's abstention from helping the production. Following is the selected filmography:

• Do It — One! – Делай — раз! – 1990
• The Guard – Караул – 1990
• Afghan Breakdown – Афганский излом – 1990
• 100 Days Before the Command – Сто дней до приказа – 1990
• Air Hunger – Кислородный голод – 1992
• The Green Elephant – Зеленый слоник – 1999
• Demobbed – ДМБ – 2000
• The 9th Company – 9-я рота – 2005
• The Search – 2014

Also, in the novel The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy writes that veteran Soviet naval captain Marko Ramius refused to allow dedovshchina to be practiced anywhere on his boat, dismissing it as "low-level terrorism".

See also

• Andrey Sychyov
• Bullying in the military
• Fagging
• Inside the Soviet Army
• Ragging
• Military sexual trauma

Further reading

• "Lawmakers pass bill to reinstate isolation cells in Russian army". RIA Novosti. Moscow. 15 November 2006.
• Conscript's Prostitution Claims Shed Light On Hazing
• Military Conscripts Caught In Deadly 'Cycle Of Violence'
• Thousands Dodge Military Service as Draft Begins
• Army Cracks Down On Military Service Loophole
• Russian Officer Kicks Soldier To Death
• Dmitry Puchkov about dedovschina: Oper.ru Oper.ru (in Russian)
• Book by Yury Polyakov (Ю́рий Миха́йлович Поляко́в): Сто дней до приказа ("One Hundred Days Till the Release Order", written in 1980, but was only able to be published in 1987). One of the first books to discuss this taboo subject, only publishable after Perestroika. A film based on the book and bearing the same title also came out in 1990. (In Russian)
• Oleg Divov, 2007, "Oruzhiye vozmezdiya" (Оружие возмездия, Weapon of vengeance)
• Françoise Daucé, Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski: Dedovshchina in the Post-Soviet Military: Hazing of Russian Army Conscripts in a Comparative Perspective. (Foreword by Dale Herspring) Soviet & Post-Soviet Politics & Society 28, Ibidem: Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-89821-616-0.
• Golts, Alexander. "The Social and Political Condition of the Russian Military." In The Russian Military: Power and Policy, edited by Steven E. Miller and Dmitri Trenin, 73–94. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2004. ISBN 0-262-63305-1.
• Sakwa, Richard. Russian Politics and Society, 4th ed. New York: Routledge, 2008. ISBN 0-415-41527-6.
• Special Issue on Dedovshchina The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet States. 1/2004.
• Hazing in the Belarusian army Belarus Digest
• The Wrongs of Passage: Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of New Recruits in the Russian Armed Forces