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Putin visits army boot camp, fires sniper rifle, pounds fist on table

Source: Meduza

The Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected an army boot camp at the West Military District’s army base in the Ryazan region. The Commander-in-Chief toured the training facility together with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. The Defense Ministry’s TV channel Zvezda then released footage of the visit.

Putin inspected the conscripts’ gear and equipment, and watched new recruits “overcome an assault strip as part of a platoon,” as well as “exercises for combating enemy armored vehicles in close combat.” When visiting the firing range, the president fired several shots from a sniper rifle.

Putin fires a sniper rifle

The president also talked to new soldiers, engaging one of them in the following conversation: “Skills getting better?” “Yes, Sir!” “Feeling confident?” “Yes, Sir!” Putin then shook the soldier’s hand and wished him good luck.

Putin shakes hands with a soldier

The president also asked soldiers whether they had any problems or complaints. They said they didn’t have any. Putin showed his approval by pounding his fist on the table.

Putin pounds his fist

Russia’s so-called “partial mobilization” began on September 21. The Defense Ministry claimed that its plan was to draft 300,000 new conscripts into the Russian army.

Soon, the media began to report that soldiers were leaving for the front without sufficient training, or even without any training at all. There’re also more than 20 cases of new conscripts dying at Russia’s army bases, even before they’d ever see combat.

On October 14, Vladimir Putin announced that 222,000 conscripts had been drafted as part of mobilization. 33,000 of them were already attached to army units, and 16,000 were engaged in combat. Putin then promised to finish the mobilization campaign “within two weeks.”

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