Stardate 20020828.1723

(On Screen): As a followup to my commentary on the state of the Russian military, evidently the situation among the conscripted enlisted men hasn't improved since the fall of the USSR, and in some ways it's actually grown worse. Two Russian soldiers working as border guards have been arrested by authorities after having murdered eight of their fellow guards. The motive appears to have been revenge for extremely severe hazing they were subjected to.

Desertions, shootings and murders have plagued the cash-strapped and demoralized Russian armed forces since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Many of the incidents are blamed on vicious hazing of young conscripts by older soldiers, and on alcohol abuse.

To anyone familiar with the reality of the Soviet military, out of which the Russian military emerged, this is no surprise at all.