Russian Army Recruitment Video: 'Pain Makes You Stronger'

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The intense recruitment ad comes at time of renaissance for the Russian army.

“Be all you can be”? Not today. “An Army of One"? No chance.

“This is … the first day of your new life.”

That’s the new slogan the Russian military is using to attract recruits, according to what appears to be a new video for the Russian armed forces. The video, which first appeared online in early May, shows a young recruit thinking back to his time kicking a soccer ball around his neighborhood, hanging out with friends and lying in a wheat field with his lady.

No more time for that. The video quickly snaps to the shirtless, hairless, muscular young man in a barracks bunk, waking up in formation.

“Who you were yesterday doesn’t concern anyone anymore. What do you know about yourself? What are you capable of?” the voice-over says in Russian, according to a translation. “The questions may remain without answers, but would you be able to sleep well?”

“To know yourself is to know the limits of your abilities. To hell with limitations! Are you ready to break yourself, every day? Here pain makes you stronger, scars are a daily occurrence. Here you decide to prove something to yourself.”

“This you try to see in each shadow of your enemy, because without an enemy there is no battle, and without a battle there is no victory. But in reality, the main enemy … is you, the you from yesterday. Your mission: Track down the enemy, catch up with him, overcome, become better than him and return as a victor. Because tomorrow is the first day of your new life.”

This life of scaling walls, training on bolt-action rifles and parachuting out of airplanes can be yours, all courtesy of the Russian Ministry of Defence, according to the video.

U.S. News was unable to contact a spokesman at the ministry despite multiple attempts. Requests for comment to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., were not returned.

Russian blog Svodka claims the video was first created in mid-2013 by art director and producer Alex Mikhaylov. He did not respond to a request for comment in time for this report.

The video emerges at a tense time for the Russian military, which still has more than 10,000 troops assembled on the country's western border. The Russian government, under the leadership of former KGB officer Vladimir Putin, claims the troops are only conducting training exercises and points to their presence on Russian soil. Putin says he has the right to deploy forces abroad to protect ethnic Russians, including those in Ukraine, but hopes he will not have to do so.

Comments posted to the video’s YouTube page in both Russian and Ukrainian include support and criticism for the Russian military’s recruitment efforts as well, as their actions in recent weeks.

The U.S. and its allies have blasted the massive formation as an instigator during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

“Russian forces arrayed on the border across from eastern and southern Ukraine continue to have a destabilizing effect inside Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said Friday, “not to mention the irregular elements that are in eastern and southern Ukraine fomenting the violence and the instability that's going on there.”

The recruitment ad also comes at a time of rebirth for the Russian military, which has widely publicized its efforts to acquire 21st-century technology and adopt new tactics.

“The intensity and quality of the forces’ training have improved,” Putin said in March, also citing defense purchases last year.
The country reportedly has a $70 billion military budget, which is the world’s third-largest.

The U.S. government still relies on Russian military contractors for critical missions in Afghanistan. It purchases Mi-17 helicopters for the fledgling Afghan air forces, uses heavy-lift contractors to move large equipment and relies on Russia for at least a quarter of all gas used by NATO troops.

President Barack Obama and European Union allies have levied multiple waves of economic sanctions against Putin’s advisers and other Russian officials, as well as banks and trade organizations.

Source: US News

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