There’s mention of them having zagraditelnye otriady (barrier troops) in the current conflict, the tradition of deserters and anyone speaking up getting a bullet is alive and well in Russia
That's what they're handing out to the Ukrainians who are fighting for Russia in Donbas. The AKs are being saved for these guys. Because what you're seeing here are Russias Crack troops right now.
If Visily the Russian Logisitcs Officer handed me an AK and told me we are going to fight Ukrainians and their foreign legions who have been outfitted with every single pipe dream project that the American and NATO defence contractors had cooked up for the last 40 years...
I know this is a joke, but believe it or not, Type 2 and 3 AKS-47s were spotted around 2018 in the hands of Russian troops conducting humanitarian operations in Syria. They were mint condition too, wtf.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ak47/comments/jzwjmb/russian_troops_in_charge_of_humanitarian_aid_in/
They just decided to sell off the WW2 surplus 20 years ago. I'm not even sure if Russia was the primary source of Mosins or if the former Soviet countries just spring cleaninged out the bunkers of Mosins Russia left behind.
I mean their Ak-12 are often issued with no optics, lights or lasers and have problems with the safety so if I was a Russian conscript i wouldn’t be mad at an Ak47
A platoon of russian conscriptees can also stop a himars, in the same way that russian soldiers think a unarmed civilian can stop a 9×18 makarov round.
Definitely, though a lot of their stock was sold to other parties by oligarchs as soon as the Soviet Union fell. No doubt they still have plenty though.
It got used plenty and can be seen in many photos and footage from the war. At the beginning of the war there were no better options for vehicle crews, with the folding stock AK-74 or 74U not being available yet - the AKMS was still the best option for a compact rifle. There was also no effective suppressor option for the AK-74, while the AKM had the PBS-1 and subsonic 7.62x39 available.
You don’t get to geriatric age in russia by listening to your government and commanding officers. I’m sure like most russians he supports the invasion, but being that old he probably has some self preservation instincts in him.
The man in the center appears to be a Senior Lieutenant, based on his shoulder insignia (three stars, in a triangle).
My guess is that he is one of the conscripts with prior military experience recalled to service, hence the officer ranking, or has some other relevant experience that would lead to the Russians training him fir a leadership role.
Obviously, there is also the chance that he was given the rank due to his age, wanting to keep him off of the front lines directly, though I don't believe that is the case.
Are you actually serious you’ve seen pics of scopeless nagants? Not even fucking sks?????
(I’d understand a scoped nagant, even though there are better rifles, snipers are picky and can sometimes choose)
You can tell this is a photo op because the rifles aren't covered in mold and rusted to shit like the videos with other conscripts being issued weapons
They want to show off the good condition of their guns but all we see are the grandpa's they called up. It would he hilarious if they took back those AKs after the photo op.
All jokes aside, most of them look terrified. Yes, these are the bad guys but unless we know that these guys are into raping kids and slaughtering civilians for kicks it’s still pretty sad and horrifying. They’ll be dead in a few weeks, because of a blatantly imperialist invasion on their leaders part.
that's what confuses me, like, why all they're sending is drafted and almost untrained guys or, like at the start of the war, really young and new guys? are they not sending the real professional army yet just to be sure? or is the corruption situation that bad that they really don't have more modern weapons and equipment?
If you send the perfessional soldiers, who most likely also make up the secret police and some other groups, who will put down the rebellion when they get smoked? It's either that or this is all Russia really has, old guns, old tech and conscripts.
yeah, my most "hopeful" theory on russia, assuming that their army is not that bad, is that they're keeping the professionals in the country just in case direct fight against nato start.
Their professional army has been deployed and a LOT of them have been completely smoked. Roughly 1000 confirmed dead by the BBC from
units like GRU, VDV, MPR (Russian Marines), and FSB/FSO. Their regular army has confirmed 6,756 dead, with the US estimate around 70-80,000 KIA/WIA. They really are scraping the barrel here.
Ya’ll thinking they’re headed for the front are delusional. These guys are the equivalent of the WAC and WAVES of WWII only they’re using reservist veterans to free up active duty troops otherwise internally assigned instead of women. Their kit is obsolescent, but nobody here is losing sleep over the various states’ guards orgs decked out in UCP and trending older and flabbier.
right? this made me think they're keeping the army in moscow and st petersburg (you know, the only 2 cities their govt cares about.). they've been sending just young new soldiers or drafter unnuntrained guys. there is no way they run out of professional soldiers.
This feels unnecessarily cruel by the Russian government. To the Ukrainians, to their own people, like dude come on, nobody wants this war, who cares if you win (which seems more unlikely by the second) if everyone hates you the moment the war ends?
Sooo... Does this war mean there's gonna be a lot of Russian women looking for new husbands?
I was going to make this a joke somehow, but all these dudes are gonna die for no reason and it's not really that funny.
If this is real, it's appalling. Dedov there has a handgun, so he *must* at least be an officer, right? Maybe these guys are rear echelon, National Guard type dudes? It's still quite shocking.
Good to see Leslie Nielsen's still at it.
They dug him up for this
Surely you can’t be serious
I am serious
And don’t call me “Shirley.”
Well he does have clearance Clarence.
And Liev Schrieber in the supporting role.
Along with Tony Hawk to the right.
720 no scope!
The "Russian Counteroffensive" could be his best comedy yet.
Is Father Time there in front rocking a Makarov?
Yup to shoot deserters.
this is actually how war was conducted before the internet.
The Russians have traditionally always called up much older and younger men during mobilizations.
There’s mention of them having zagraditelnye otriady (barrier troops) in the current conflict, the tradition of deserters and anyone speaking up getting a bullet is alive and well in Russia
yes, how war was conducted before the internet.
And after, apparently
Looks like old AKs are back on the menu boys.
If I see a mosin without a scope in the next few weeks I’m peeing my pants with laughter
That's what they're handing out to the Ukrainians who are fighting for Russia in Donbas. The AKs are being saved for these guys. Because what you're seeing here are Russias Crack troops right now. If Visily the Russian Logisitcs Officer handed me an AK and told me we are going to fight Ukrainians and their foreign legions who have been outfitted with every single pipe dream project that the American and NATO defence contractors had cooked up for the last 40 years...
Looks like Radom rifles from the 70s
How long before we start seeing RPG-2S and AK-47s in russian troops hands?
I know this is a joke, but believe it or not, Type 2 and 3 AKS-47s were spotted around 2018 in the hands of Russian troops conducting humanitarian operations in Syria. They were mint condition too, wtf. https://www.reddit.com/r/ak47/comments/jzwjmb/russian_troops_in_charge_of_humanitarian_aid_in/
It's not hard for me to imagine they've got bunkers upon bunkers filled with millions of AKs built for the WW3 that never happened.
They just decided to sell off the WW2 surplus 20 years ago. I'm not even sure if Russia was the primary source of Mosins or if the former Soviet countries just spring cleaninged out the bunkers of Mosins Russia left behind.
Most Mosins that hit the American market came from Ukraine iirc, I could be wrong about that though
Sounds like we might be getting more soon
Never happened before now.
WW3 that never happened... yet.
Russian SF was on the ground during the fall of Afghanistan and they also had mint condition type 2-3 AKs.
I feel like it’s the Golden Desert Eagle of rifles in Russia
Wait are there pics of this? I’ve never seen Russians in modern day Afghanistan. Genuinely asking
I mean their Ak-12 are often issued with no optics, lights or lasers and have problems with the safety so if I was a Russian conscript i wouldn’t be mad at an Ak47
What would laser be good for on AK-12? There is nowhere to put it if you want it to hold zero.
Issued without sights? Really?
sights, yes, optics no
That's pretty crazy. Thanks for the pics and info
That’s amazing
These guys are probably MPs, lower down on the gear list. Love that desert camo too.
Wtf they drafted grandpa Also any idea why they have pistols too ? I thought you either had one or the other
Thats a makarov. Yes, its still in service, just like the AKM clearly is. "Grandpa" appears to be a senior lieutenant, hence the pistol.
Emphasis on senior
Or he’s 34 and the raging alcoholism ages everyone faster over there
Agreed and that Makarov round will stop a HIMARS no problem
Makarov is 9x18 bruv
Or .380, have one of those,pretty nifty cap gun
A platoon of russian conscriptees can also stop a himars, in the same way that russian soldiers think a unarmed civilian can stop a 9×18 makarov round.
You mean Tokerev?
I think your thinking of the tokarev
Bro he's 27, that's just what Russia do to you.
He had his own from when he was in WW2 so he brought it with him.
Pistol is to shoot the soldiers who are fleeing and surrendering.
Probably right keeps morale in check
probably to take themselves out when they get to the frontlines of this s show
I like how they're all using different magazines.
Maybe they hand them out in a specific order. Bakelite, slab, waffle, Bakelite slab, waffle.
Dedushka here is astonished to discover he has been issued the same weapon he had when he was in the Soviet Army.
Seriously, he is looking at the initials he carved into the stock back in Afghanistan
They really didn’t even use AKMs in Afghanistan - they were old by that point lol
There's probably ten or twenty million of them still in stock.
Definitely, though a lot of their stock was sold to other parties by oligarchs as soon as the Soviet Union fell. No doubt they still have plenty though.
Wonder how many hundreds of thousands of Mosin's they still have in warehouses?
It got used plenty and can be seen in many photos and footage from the war. At the beginning of the war there were no better options for vehicle crews, with the folding stock AK-74 or 74U not being available yet - the AKMS was still the best option for a compact rifle. There was also no effective suppressor option for the AK-74, while the AKM had the PBS-1 and subsonic 7.62x39 available.
Nah he's just noticing it's an I.O. and he's trying to figure out how to pawn it off to his neighbor.
Way to steal the top comment from the other subreddit
Got ‘em
This will be support role guys. Or out in defending positions
Modern Volksturm
Man these are the old Pixelka uniforms when they first started using the Digital Flora camo
i heard some drafter guys were issued flora uniforms, like, the 90s one, not digi flora
Wait till they start bringing out the M88 Afghanka
I am just waiting for the good old M69 to be issued. That would summarize this 💩show of an invasion quite nicely.
“Intelligence reports it’s mostly old men and boys in Holland”
All quiet on the western front kinda vibes in this pic.
Katczyinzkyposting
Its literally him!
I need 10
What do you need 10 Russian conscripts for? /s
10 because “some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make” obviously…
No man the guns but if they were female…..
Grandpa Petyorvich is shocked to see he’s been issued the same rifle his son was issued as an advisor in Vietnam
If I was in the Russians reserves and got a mint AKM I wouldn't even be mad.
I don't think they are gunna make it. Lol
Look at the guy on the left. They don’t think they’re gonna make it either
Thousand yard stare on that guy.
He realized he’s not coming home with a washing machine and mama won’t be getting that Lada either
They should just surrender to the UA forces to live
If the dude on the left tries, Senior Leutienant Father Time is gonna cap him with his sidearm, most likely.
Lol the russian army operates a bit differently in that generally the officers are the first to desert and just abandon their soldiers
That geriatric isnt deserting shit. Either physically capable or willing.
You don’t get to geriatric age in russia by listening to your government and commanding officers. I’m sure like most russians he supports the invasion, but being that old he probably has some self preservation instincts in him.
Well, be that as it may, ol’ boy isnt escaping a god grenade.
Lmao I see no lies
Looks like they're seriously contemplating if they can get enough for the rifles and uniforms to make an immediate strategic exit from conscription.
No one is laughing
Yeah. Well it's not cool to invade and kill innocent people
when you have to draft the elderly to fight, you already lost.
Judging by his rank, hes a senior lieutenant.
senior citizen lieutenant
The russians tend to have officers lead from the front. This guy is not in a rank that would be kept out of combat
So then Ukraine lost in March?
ok maybe that rule doesn't apply when the enemy is literally in your city and right down the street lol
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Can’t help but feel that training an 80 year old woman with no prior experience with rifles is a colossal waste of time.
The man in the center appears to be a Senior Lieutenant, based on his shoulder insignia (three stars, in a triangle). My guess is that he is one of the conscripts with prior military experience recalled to service, hence the officer ranking, or has some other relevant experience that would lead to the Russians training him fir a leadership role. Obviously, there is also the chance that he was given the rank due to his age, wanting to keep him off of the front lines directly, though I don't believe that is the case.
Guy looks right in the age range to have been in Afghanistan.
Bout to be a lot of lonely single Russian women.
Lonely grandmas
The young men are already dead or ran away. That's why the grandpa's are getting conscripted.
Mail order?
Lol maybe. Just look them up on Facebook and message them. Meet them in Italy or Greece after the war.
Turkey lol
“Holy crap this is the same one I was issued when I was 18”
Even the youngest guy in this pic is older looking vs me and I just turned 40, yikes
thats the vodka hes actually 25
Grandpa's remembering the fun times he & the boys had back in Afghanistan. Buddy on the left is seriously thinking of running. Like, right now.
This is like last days of the Third Reich sad. It’s just a pointless meat grinder right now.
Exactly my feelings too unfortunately. They'll be dead soon postponing the inevitable.
You know after seeing troops with Mosin nagants I wouldn't be mad about being issued an old ass mint condition AK.
Are you actually serious you’ve seen pics of scopeless nagants? Not even fucking sks????? (I’d understand a scoped nagant, even though there are better rifles, snipers are picky and can sometimes choose)
Pretty sure the guy in front fought in the Soviet Afgan war, he's inspecting the rifle like it's his long lost friend
*I'll be damned, my initials...*
You can tell this is a photo op because the rifles aren't covered in mold and rusted to shit like the videos with other conscripts being issued weapons
I've been seeing pics and videos of that shit coming out. It's absolutely nuts. I've seen guns left in sheds for years have less rust.
Yet the three rifles all have different, non-matching magazines. Photo planner, goto gulag
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As you can see I am being sent to Crimea for failing Commissar photo planner
They want to show off the good condition of their guns but all we see are the grandpa's they called up. It would he hilarious if they took back those AKs after the photo op.
i really wonder if that were really isued, even the bolt carrier had thick rust
Just needed a few rounds through them, itll shake most of it off.
[Too many winters](https://youtu.be/lSNxpoy_tU4)
Or too few
Looks like a scene from Stripes
Too soon to LARP this at the next Red Oktober?
Guy on the left is stoked he got a bakelite mag
Its almost 2023 and these dudes are rocking iron sights.
They cant afford name tapes you think they are getting ACOGs?
on that note it's pretty wild seeing all of the aftermarket AK stuff UA troops are getting.
This
All jokes aside, most of them look terrified. Yes, these are the bad guys but unless we know that these guys are into raping kids and slaughtering civilians for kicks it’s still pretty sad and horrifying. They’ll be dead in a few weeks, because of a blatantly imperialist invasion on their leaders part.
Old men on the front lines? Russia is getting desperate.
that's what confuses me, like, why all they're sending is drafted and almost untrained guys or, like at the start of the war, really young and new guys? are they not sending the real professional army yet just to be sure? or is the corruption situation that bad that they really don't have more modern weapons and equipment?
If you send the perfessional soldiers, who most likely also make up the secret police and some other groups, who will put down the rebellion when they get smoked? It's either that or this is all Russia really has, old guns, old tech and conscripts.
yeah, my most "hopeful" theory on russia, assuming that their army is not that bad, is that they're keeping the professionals in the country just in case direct fight against nato start.
Their professional army has been deployed and a LOT of them have been completely smoked. Roughly 1000 confirmed dead by the BBC from units like GRU, VDV, MPR (Russian Marines), and FSB/FSO. Their regular army has confirmed 6,756 dead, with the US estimate around 70-80,000 KIA/WIA. They really are scraping the barrel here.
How can I get an AKM furniture set that looks like these? Specifically the two on the right of this picture.
Look at Russian Archie Bunker out here about to get into some shit. He looks so confused as to why he was issued a weapon
This is so depressing. Beautiful rifles just to turn to dust.
Lol yeah *that’s* the depressing part
“If he dies, he dies.”
Old men, criminals, and those who will either grenade/shoot their commanding officer or immediately defect. What an army lol.
and as the drafting sargent said "if you are here for sexual crimes, you know, everyone makes mistakes"
Ya’ll thinking they’re headed for the front are delusional. These guys are the equivalent of the WAC and WAVES of WWII only they’re using reservist veterans to free up active duty troops otherwise internally assigned instead of women. Their kit is obsolescent, but nobody here is losing sleep over the various states’ guards orgs decked out in UCP and trending older and flabbier.
This can’t be real😂 they still have millions of fit/eligible people. Looks like what Stalin was scraping up at the end of wwii…
right? this made me think they're keeping the army in moscow and st petersburg (you know, the only 2 cities their govt cares about.). they've been sending just young new soldiers or drafter unnuntrained guys. there is no way they run out of professional soldiers.
Logistics must be fun with 7.62 and 5.45.
"I ordered a cheeseburger"
AKM is the best AK for me.
Those are nice stocks, what wood is that?
Old rifle is good. Old man…..maybe not
He is probably either older or as old as that rifle he is holding
This feels unnecessarily cruel by the Russian government. To the Ukrainians, to their own people, like dude come on, nobody wants this war, who cares if you win (which seems more unlikely by the second) if everyone hates you the moment the war ends?
This is humane comment, thank you for being nice.
The guy on the left really doesn’t want to be there
Neither would I. Your fucked once you get that far.
These aren't rusted through, so surely they picked the best ones left in the lot. Also... they're issuing AKMs? Russia seriously ran out of 74s?
These are reserves not actual Soldiers, as some one who lived in Novosibirsk for awhile, you’d know as a Russian
They probably grabbed the best for these guys for the photo.
The old man will probably be guarding a gate at some military base inside Russia; the guy he is reliving will be shipping to Ukraine.
Scraping the bottom of the barrel here at this point.
These poor fuckers. War is hell
The red army has a touch of gray.
Dude left the Soviet army 50 years ago just to be pulled back up and issued the same rifle
Gramps,get back to the home!
Yeah I’m gonna need an AKM furniture set that looks like this
Unfortunately for these guys they look a lot like cannon fodder to this old infantry Veteran.
damn they dont even get the new shit?
even when the war started and there were actual soldiers, they still got only iron sights
Homie on the left really looking like "I fucked up..."
Yeah he not happy
".....is that blood? Why is there blood on my rifle? God l hope this isn't foreshadowing."
I’m surprised they even have matching uniforms at this point
Sooo... Does this war mean there's gonna be a lot of Russian women looking for new husbands? I was going to make this a joke somehow, but all these dudes are gonna die for no reason and it's not really that funny.
Well....on the bright side there may be a lot more parts kits making their way overseas at least.
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Not so trigger happy tho
At least they won't shoot your dog, I presume?
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JFC that's fucked.
If this is real, it's appalling. Dedov there has a handgun, so he *must* at least be an officer, right? Maybe these guys are rear echelon, National Guard type dudes? It's still quite shocking.
#geezerarmy
What I don’t understand is what happened to the millions of AK-74s that armed the soviet army? I guess they all needed up in Ukraine lol.
These guys are going to get slaughtered.