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| Caucasus |
| 1,500 hard boyz running around in Chechnya |
| 2004-01-24 |
| 1,500 militants grouped in some 80 bandit rings are currently operational in the Chechen Republic, a source at the headquarters of the federal forces in the region told Tass on Friday with reference to a report prepared by headquarters chief Rear Admiral Yury Maltsev in Khankala. The "bandit rings" are a Russian term (and a fairly apt one given how much these guys are said to be involved in the drug and kidnapping trade) used to describe the Chechen jamaats that each operate under a local commander but ultimately answer to Basayev. The groups are mainly manned by residents of western Chechnya who posed as forced migrants to gain the legal status in the republic and âforeign mercenaries from far and near abroad who keep playing the key role in the separatist forces,â Maltsev was quoted as saying in his report. In 2003, the federal troops killed 335 extremists and detained 75 criminals listed on the federal and local âmost wantedâ registers, according to the source. During the same period of time, the military confiscated more than 3,000 pieces of small arms, about a million rounds of ammunition and 4.5 tons of explosives. The headquarters official also said police forces in Chechnya had detained nearly 1,500 individuals on suspicion of maintaining links to militants. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 It's not only the conscripts. The Russian NCO and officer corps are thoroughly corrupt. I'm sure the Hard Boyz get a long way with a little cash. |
| Posted by: Pete Stanley 2004-1-24 2:18:33 AM |
| #4 The Russian Army is generally made up of people to poor to buy their way out of consciption. Even with the war in Chechnya, the Russia Army loses more soliders in non-combat situation tan in fighting. This is due to the hundreds of suicides, the scores of murders, and the spread of HIV, Typhus and other diseases through the ranks. Most soldiers barely get enough to eat, are beaten and tortued by their superior officers, and try to get through the war alive, while making money from various criminal enterprises; such as smuggling, gun running and extortion. |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-1-24 1:41:25 AM |
| #3 Maybe we should deploy a brigade (173rd?) to chechnya, give the mutts something else to shoot at*. *you know what i mean if you=grunt |
| Posted by: 4thInfVet 2004-1-24 1:00:53 AM |
| #2 That's because the Russians are fighting these guys by and large with draftees - hence the high corpse count on their end. We have a far more professionalized and trained military and to be quite frank - you get what you pay and train for. Not to say the Russians don't have their own trained and disciplined forces, they do, but the difference between the average American and the average Russian soldier are rather striking and I know who I'd rather at my back. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-1-24 12:41:59 AM |
| #1 I've noticed most of the alleged "Hard Boyz" seem to fold up like lawn furniture when confronted with (U.S. Army) regular infantry. Of course, I could be mistaken. |
| Posted by: 4thInfVet 2004-1-24 12:39:16 AM |