Military-patriotic clubs that train youngsters are on the rise in Russia in recent years. Prospekt Magazine visited one such training camp in the suburbs of St Petersburg to talk to its organisers, namely Yan Petrovsky - Veliki Slovan, Vice-Commander of Dshrg Rusich subversion task force.
Sestroretskiy Rubezh is not just a museum of military prowess but also the training ground for a new generation of Russian patriots. The territory of the museum regularly serves as a practice field for the Sestroretskiy Rubezh youth patriotic club. The organisation offers a selection of sports activities, military training, and patriotic education to youngsters aged 7-17, as well as excursions and historical re-enactments
Today, Sestroretskiy Rubezh is hosting instructors from Rusich, a partner patriotic organisation. The group, counting six men in their early 30s in full military gear, provides military training to both children and adults. Rusich’s leader, Yan Petrovsky, is also the vice-commander of the Rusich task force, a homonymous group of Russian volunteers that fought in Eastern Ukraine on the side of pro-Russian separatists. Petrovsky has been accused of war crimes in Ukraine and is suspected of extremist activity in Europe. Despite his questionable reputation, his men hold him in high esteem as a veteran and a patriot of Russia.
“All Russians have patriotism in their genes; it’s just that not everyone can discover and understand those genes,” states Petrovsky. Rusich’s task consists of making sure that those genes are properly cultivated.
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