Oct 02 2008
“A Letter to the Minister of Defense”
Against the backdrop of the late summer invasion of Georgia, the announced annexation of South Ossetia, and the Russian state’s ongoing efforts to expand military and economic influence into South and Central America comes a minor event that offers a slightly different perspective on the degree of Russia’s military resurgence.
A few days back a young Lieutenant named Vitalii Efremov posted a homemade rap video to the Russian-language site RuTube decrying the sorry living conditions and poor pay endured by Russian soldiers — and the Ministry of Defense’s apparent indifference to their suffering. As the UK’s Times OnLine notes:
The lieutenant modelled his video on Stan by Eminem, in which the rapper sends a letter to a frustrated fan. The Russian letter is to Anatoly Serdyakov, the Defence Minister, and is set against a backdrop of military decay: a crowded barrack room with peeling wallpaper, a scabrous bathroom, erratic shower water and broken equipment.
Just as Stan complains that Eminem does not reply to his post, so the lieutenant’s e-mail moans about a lack of response from the Minister. The video said that no progress had been made on granting cheap credits to professional soldiers, such as Lieutenant Efremov, who want to buy their own home.
The Minister was not amused. Efremov has since been deployed to Siberia.
[...] the meantime, visitors concerned about recent Russian military developments may want to check out this post from The Russian [...]