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Tagged: military

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  Bear Witness 12:46 pm on August 2, 2026 Permalink | 🔗Copy | Reply
  Tags: military, traditions ( 6 )   

  Russian Paratrooper Jumps From Apartment Building to Celebrate Airborne Forces Day

  A man in St. Petersburg celebrated Russia’s Airborne Forces Day (VDV Day) by jumping from a high-rise apartment building with a parachute.

  He landed safely near a fountain in the courtyard and reportedly walked away without injuries.

  August 2 is also Ilya’s (Elijah’s) Day in the Orthodox calendar. The Prophet Elijah is considered the heavenly patron of Russia’s Airborne Forces, which is why both holidays are celebrated on the same date.

  VDV Day is famous across Russia for paratroopers celebrating with reunions, heavy drinking, and the long-standing tradition of swimming in public fountains.
   

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  Bear Witness 6:06 pm on July 18, 2026 Permalink | 🔗Copy | Reply
  Tags: military, prison ( 2 ), war ( 6 )   

  Russian Region Offers Prisoners $5,100 to Sign Military Contracts

  Prisoners in Russia’s Rostov Oblast will be eligible for a one-time payment of 400,000 rubles, approximately $5,100, for signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and joining Russia’s war in Ukraine.

  Under the regional measure, the payment will be available to prisoners who sign military contracts in Rostov Oblast between July 20 and December 31, 2026. Russian media describe Rostov as the first region to introduce this specific regional incentive for people serving prison sentences.

  Source: Gorod N
   
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  Bear Witness 4:26 pm on June 28, 2026 Permalink | 🔗Copy | Reply
  Tags: immigration ( 5 ), military, soccer, sports, war ( 6 )   

  
  Three African soccer players were reportedly invited to Russia to play for FC Ural — but ended up being sent to the war in Ukraine.

  In 2025, 19-year-old Cameroonian player Stevis Astrid Mevungu Mbe, his brother, and a friend received an offer from a supposed agent to join the Russian club. Not knowing Russian, they signed documents and flew to Moscow.

  But after landing, they were taken not to a training facility, but to a military recruitment office.

  It turned out the papers they had signed were actually one-year military contracts. They were allegedly told they could return to soccer after serving.

  Stevis ended up as an assault soldier and was wounded three times. His friend was killed, and his brother was captured. After his contract ended in May, the surviving Cameroonian settled in Yekaterinburg, where he now coaches teenagers.
   
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  Bear Witness 11:59 am on June 16, 2026 Permalink | 🔗Copy | Reply
  Tags: airplanes, Dagestan ( 2 ), military, Soviet airplanes   

  

  Authorities in Dagestan painted a shark face on the world’s largest ekranoplan, angering locals and tourists.

  The legendary Soviet missile-carrying craft Lun has been sitting at Patriot Park near Derbent, on the Caspian Sea, since 2021. After it was turned into a museum exhibit, locals and visitors often came to take photos, film videos, and tour the giant machine.

  But recently, officials repainted its cockpit to look like a shark face with teeth. Not everyone appreciated the “creative” rebrand — many saw it as disrespectful to a unique Soviet-era object.

  The “Caspian Monster,” as U.S. intelligence once called it, is a hybrid between a ship and an airplane. It is 242 feet long, 63 feet tall, and had a takeoff weight of 380 tons. The Lun could travel over land and water at speeds of up to 186 mph.

  Park officials said they added the shark face because the missile-carrying…

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