Probably there is no more "foreign" topic in specialized military publications than the topic of special forces. If you wish, you can find so much interesting and so much invented by journalists in open sources that it is breathtaking. The topic periodically arises and also quickly disappears depending on the next victory or defeat of a special forces unit of any army in the world.
Or when it is simply necessary to convince readers of the approaching horror that awaits them just tomorrow.
The horror at the far end of Europe
Now, such horror is somehow necessary at the far end of Europe. Although the author has his own opinion on this "for some reason", he does not have any facts confirming it. Therefore, it would be more correct to pretend that this phenomenon is incomprehensible to anybody.
So, the Spanish newspaper ABC.es published another article about the "terrible units" of the armies of the world under the name: "Navy Seals" against the Russian "special forces": which of the elite units is the most lethal in the world? For those who want to learn something new about the special forces, there is nothing new in this material, just like in this one.
I would like to say right away that for Spanish journalists, judging by the text of the article, the topic is "dormant", like the South American jungle or the Russian taiga. And the material serves as an advertisement for "seals" rather than at least some attempt to compare the training and capabilities of fighters of different armies. So, in the aspect stated by the authors, this article should not be discussed in general.
Do not compare the capabilities of special units of different countries, as well as special forces in general. Any unit has clearly defined tasks for which it is being prepared. Does anyone doubt the capabilities of the Alpha wolfhounds? In their ability to conduct anti-terrorist operations or to capture (destroy) RDH of a potential adversary? But the work of this special unit is "at zero" or "behind the ribbon" is questionable. Other skills are needed there.
In the end, what is special forces training? It's just a competent selection of candidates. Next, psychophysical training, general physical training, and training in the techniques and skills of a particular unit. In general, differences appear in the last point. In tactical and special training, if more specifically.
In their article, Spaniards describe in quite a detail the admission to the U.S. Navy's SEAL Special Forces. What difficulties the selected candidates have in their training. The pinnacle of "horrible training" is, according to the authors, "a week in hell. ...when the fighters at Coronado base work continuously for five days during the exercise. Normal, in general, survival course in the preparation of special forces.
It is doubtful that these very "SEALs" will be able to get a nettle beret in the special forces unit of the National Guard of Russia. The same way as to pass the selection to some other special units of our armed forces. Even in their own secret structure Team 6 (Team 6) will be quite difficult for them to get into.
By the way, there is another closed to the public special forces unit - Delta Force. The 1st special task force for "especially delicate tasks". The group is so classified that the soldiers, even while on military bases in the U.S., do not wear uniforms and appear to be civil servants of the U.S. Army. And the operations of this unit, which have become known due to major failures, speak exactly of "sensitive" operations where specialists are really needed. Of course, the press is not talking about victories.
What about the Russians?
What about the Russian special forces? Who should Europeans be afraid of today? And here everything is covered with the gloom of mystery. Naturally, for Europeans from Spain. Particularly mysterious are the GRU and FSB sleepers. Accordingly, those who can organize a lot of problems for the enemy in a special period, and those who can organize these problems, organized by similar structures of other armies on our territory, quickly eliminate.
If we put aside beautiful words, nothing is known about the Russian special forces. Even though the Internet is full of videos about the operations. I will give an example of what is known about the Russian special forces, according to the authors of the article. I repeat, do not hope to find a grain of new in the material. Only then will it be scary if nobody can understand its essence.
So, Russian fighters pay a lot of attention to sambo, a system of wrestling, which is specially designed for special units and is very different from sambo wrestling. Next, fighters are trained with the use of live ammunition and real explosives (why is it in the Russian SWAT one of the highest percentage of deaths in the learning process in the world). SWAT troops can act as part of a unit (8-10 people), as a group (2-3 people) and individually.
The biggest failure of the Russian SWAT team in the West is considered to be the events in Beslan. This means the assault by Alpha fighters of the school captured by the militants. When not only elite unit fighters died, but also many hostages were killed. The total number of casualties was 370. Speaking of other units that would operate in such situations and have performed the operation better, the authors do not tell.
In order to help the authors from the ABC to scare their fellow citizens more scared of Russian special forces, I will cite a quotation about the selection of the USSR GRU in SNG, written by former GRU fighters Anatoly Yefimovich Taras and Fyodor Dmitrievich Zarutsky ("Intelligence Training: GRU Special Forces System"):
The commander of a separate Guards reconnaissance company, Hero of the Soviet Union, Captain Dmitry Pokramovich solved the issue of selection as follows: "After a 40-kilometer transition, Pokramovich suddenly turned his company into a chain, she overcame the plowing, then followed the march-throw, then again crawling in the Plastunsky way, and when the scouts in the flooded then floated in the eyes of red and green circles (it seemed another meter - and the spirit out), then followed by a sharp, as a shot, the team: "In one line become!
Scouts lined up facing the commander, conducted roll-call numbers and the number, named the last fighter, irrevocably meant the list of the company for today. Those who were late and those who were behind were immediately dismissed. Pokramovich did not accept any explanation...
Will the politicians give you an answer?
So why are special forces again raised in the Spanish press? All the more so because it is so clumsy and superficial. The answer will be given to us by politicians. Almost in all European countries, and in Russia as well, not to mention the United States, the thesis that the world has come to the point where any, even the smallest regional conflict can easily turn into a world war is openly voiced today.
Under these conditions, the military began to exert active pressure on the parliaments and governments of their countries to increase the budget of the armed forces. That's where the next "scarecrows" came from. Why Russian special forces? Well, you should agree that it is a little difficult to frighten the Spaniards with the sudden appearance of Russian tanks or a breakthrough of Russian divisions to Madrid.
And the unknown and terrible SWAT team will be quite suitable for this. Terrible monster-killers, able to destroy alone companies and battalions of ordinary infantry, and in the company to take the capital of the country without much difficulty. What can be more convenient to frighten the population brought up by Hollywood? Russian special forces, similar to the aliens from the horror movies ...
That could be the end of the story. However, historical experience shows that big wars often start with small and non-aggressive countries. They begin "out of fear of being conquered". Influence of fear occurs everywhere. And there is less faith in their own army, especially in European countries. Make conclusions...
A new group of Russian specialists arrived in Venezuela to provide military and technical assistance. This was stated by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to the Venezuelan leader, the new group of Russian specialists arrived in Venezuela "a few days ago" by two planes. Russian specialists replaced the first team, which was in the country from March this year to the end of June.
The main task of the newcomers is to assist the Venezuelan army in repair and modernization of military equipment supplied by Russia within the framework of military-technical cooperation.
A few days ago, two planes with personnel providing military and technical support landed. They are in Venezuela. Those who arrived at the beginning of the year left, and a new team arrived- said Maduro.
We shall remind you that the first group of Russian servicemen arrived in Venezuela on March 23 this year by two planes - An-124 and Il-62. Later, the "pro-American" leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Juan Guaido, accused Russia of military intervention and deployment of the Russian military contingent in the country. After that, Russia was accused of military invasion of Venezuela by the U.S. and its "partners".
In Moscow, they categorically rejected all accusations and stated that Russian specialists come to the country to help repair and upgrade the supplied equipment and weapons. The Venezuelan army is one of the major customers of Russian arms: the country has been supplied with T-72B1B tanks, BTR-80A, Grad and Smerch multiple rocket launchers, Pechora-2M, Buk-M2EK, S-300 anti-aircraft systems, and many other weapons.
Western media are concerned about the possible deployment of Russian bases in Venezuela.
The U.S. publication National Interest has published a piece on the possible proximity of Russian nuclear submarines to the U.S. borders. According to journalists, this looks like a repetition of the Caribbean crisis.
According to the officer, after the U.S. withdrew from the RIAC treaty and began to instantly test previously banned missiles, Russia gets the full right to place submarines and ships near the U.S. territorial waters, at military bases in Venezuela.
Russian sailors on duty off the U.S. coast may be equipped with Calibre cruise missiles, as well as some supersonic weapons.
"In particular, we are talking about the Zirkon missile, which is capable of hitting various targets at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers," said Bogatyrev.
However, the Americans' talks that Moscow is ready to repeat the Caribbean crisis cannot be taken seriously.
Obviously, at the moment Washington is trying to expand its influence to impossible limits, placing previously banned missiles both near the Russian borders and near China.
And if the leadership of the overseas hegemon wants to threaten the rest of the world, it must accept the consequences of its actions. Nevertheless, the likelihood of a nuclear war is assessed by American experts as extremely low.
As previously reported, nuclear weapons will not be used even if Russia conducts an operation to join the Baltic States.
Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation: We immediately agreed to stop lying!
This is the first detailed interview I've given in seven years! - The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia, Army General Sergei Shoigu said before the beginning of the almost two-hour conversation.
We all remember the emotional background against which Sergei Shoigu was appointed the head of the Russian Defense Ministry in autumn 2012.
And we all know how long, difficult and thorny the way our Armed Forces have passed in this tiny period in terms of history. Today, the army is no longer a "sick man" of Russian society and is no longer a subject of scathing ridicule on the part of foreigners. Today, the Russian army has regained the respect of its friends and potential and real enemies.
Sergei Kuzhugetivich himself has repeatedly stressed that without Vladimir Putin's support and personal participation he would have been unable to achieve anything in terms of creating a modern army in Russia. But, as all government experts know well, simply getting the president's support is not enough. This support needs to be managed competently. How exactly did Sergei Shoygh succeed in this? And what awaits our Armed Forces and our country ahead? The Russian Defense Minister spoke about all this and many other things in an exclusive interview with "MK".
- Sergei Kuzhugetivich, I belong to the part of the Russian citizens who live under the motto "as long as there is no war". Is the Russian Defense Minister afraid of war?
- Of course, war is a terrible thing. I say so because I know very well what it is. For the first time, I faced war in 1992, when I was instructed to create a peacekeeping force in South Ossetia. And we did it. The Ossetian-Georgian conflict was the first war on the territory of the former Soviet Union that was quickly and successfully stopped. Then there were Abkhazia and Transnistria... There too, we managed to disengage the parties and stop the fighting and take away a huge number of our compatriots. But there were almost full-scale wars there.
We must also add Bosnia and Herzegovina, other conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the war in Afghanistan. Having had the opportunity to see all this from within for many years, I am convinced that the security of the country depends primarily on how strong its army is and how much it is able to defend its country. And also from the confidence of the citizens in their army.
Naturally, I am just like you, a supporter of the fact that there is no war. But in order for it to be gone, our army must be very strong, well-armed and equipped, and, most importantly, internally prepared to defend its homeland.
- For as long as I can remember, it was believed that our army is a state institution, which is in the deepest, most systematic, even hopeless crisis. And then suddenly, at some point, something clicked in the public consciousness, and everything changed as if by magic. How can you explain it?
- The revival of the army was not instantaneous. It all started in 1999 when Basayev's and Khattab's gangs invaded Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky districts of Dagestan. And then Prime Minister Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, with our limited capabilities at that time, began to make fundamental decisions on reforming our Armed Forces. Then there were the events of 2008 - the treacherous attack of Georgian troops on South Ossetia, the death of our peacekeepers under the fire of Georgian "Gradov" and the response of the group of Russian troops to force Georgia to peace. Later, based on the results of the analysis of that operation, systemic decisions were taken in the area of military construction. First of all, to form and finance a new State arms program.
Issues related to the construction and training of the armed forces, the provision of modern weapons and the development of the military-industrial complex are under constant control of our President. Beginning in 2013, however busy the working schedule may be, the President will hear in Sochi in the autumn and spring the leadership of the Armed Forces, representatives of the DIC and relevant leaders in the Government of the Russian Federation on all aspects of military construction and ensuring the military security of the country.
Therefore, there was no magic. There were big and not very big, noticeable and not quite noticeable steps towards a comprehensive transformation of the army. Our key task was to synchronize all aspects of troop training and construction, including training of professional personnel and the supply of modern weapons. We analyzed current and future threats, as well as the capabilities of the army to protect our country from them. We have dealt with the state of the troops up to each military unit. And as a result of this complex work, a number of program documents, including the defense plan, were developed.
Next, the work began with questions that seemed to lie on the surface, which I asked the commanders.
These questions were simple and clear: why should a fighter go to the bathhouse and wash once a week? Why should he only change his underwear once a week, spending all his time from morning to night at the range? Why does a soldier's tea room have to be at the other end of the unit, and to have tea, a soldier has to go through the parade, risking getting a couple of outfits in line? Why do soldiers have to wear hand washers for laundry and laundry? Is it impossible to put washing machines in all barracks? And why in the third millennium at all - porch women?
Naturally, the meaning of reforming the army was not only to improve the lives of soldiers. Our actions also had a tough military necessity, dictated by the reduction of the conscript service life to one year. If the service lasts only one year, the training should be more intensive. It means that it is necessary to save the soldiers from performing unusual tasks as much as possible. They should stop snowing or collecting leaves from morning to night. In permanent locations, they should stop going to the kitchen or washing toilets with pre-fluid products. Having realized all this, we went on to install almost 35 thousand shower cabins, 16 thousand washing machines, and 21 thousand vacuum cleaners in the barracks during the year. We bought the most modern equipment for wet cleaning and organized meals using the buffet system. They developed and ordered production at domestic enterprises and provided all military personnel with convenient and high-quality field and everyday outfit made of modern materials. The presence of such equipment where previously there were always only mops and buckets is now perceived as a quite normal and commonplace business. And so gradually, gradually, gradually in all directions.
- For as long as I can remember, it was believed that our army is a state institution, which is in the deepest, most systematic, even hopeless crisis. And then suddenly, at some point, something clicked in the public consciousness, and everything changed as if by magic. How can you explain it?
- The revival of the army was not instantaneous. It all started in 1999 when Basayev's and Khattab's gangs invaded Tsumadinsky and Botlikhsky districts of Dagestan. And then Prime Minister Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, with our limited capabilities at that time, began to make fundamental decisions on reforming our Armed Forces. Then there were the events of 2008 - the treacherous attack of Georgian troops on South Ossetia, the death of our peacekeepers under the fire of Georgian "Gradov" and the response of the group of Russian troops to force Georgia to peace. Later, based on the results of the analysis of that operation, systemic decisions were taken in the area of military construction. First of all, to form and finance a new State arms program.
Issues related to the construction and training of the armed forces, the provision of modern weapons and the development of the military-industrial complex are under constant control of our President. Beginning in 2013, however busy the working schedule may be, the President will hear in Sochi in the autumn and spring the leadership of the Armed Forces, representatives of the DIC and relevant leaders in the Government of the Russian Federation on all aspects of military construction and ensuring the military security of the country.
Therefore, there was no magic. There were big and not very big, noticeable and not quite noticeable steps towards a comprehensive transformation of the army. Our key task was to synchronize all aspects of troop training and construction, including training of professional personnel and the supply of modern weapons. We analyzed current and future threats, as well as the capabilities of the army to protect our country from them. We have dealt with the state of the troops up to each military unit. And as a result of this complex work, a number of program documents, including the defense plan, were developed.
Next, the work began with questions that seemed to lie on the surface, which I asked the commanders.
These questions were simple and clear: why should a fighter go to the bathhouse and wash once a week? Why should he only change his underwear once a week, spending all his time from morning to night at the range? Why does a soldier's tea room have to be at the other end of the unit, and to have tea, a soldier has to go through the parade, risking getting a couple of outfits in line? Why do soldiers have to wear hand washers for laundry and laundry? Is it impossible to put washing machines in all barracks? And why in the third millennium at all - porch women?
Naturally, the meaning of reforming the army was not only to improve the lives of soldiers. Our actions also had a tough military necessity, dictated by the reduction of the conscript service life to one year. If the service lasts only one year, the training should be more intensive. It means that it is necessary to save the soldiers from performing unusual tasks as much as possible. They should stop snowing or collecting leaves from morning to night. In permanent locations, they should stop going to the kitchen or washing toilets with pre-fluid products. Having realized all this, we went on to install almost 35 thousand shower cabins, 16 thousand washing machines, and 21 thousand vacuum cleaners in the barracks during the year. We bought the most modern equipment for wet cleaning and organized meals using the buffet system. They developed and ordered production at domestic enterprises and provided all military personnel with convenient and high-quality field and everyday outfit made of modern materials. The presence of such equipment where previously there were always only mops and buckets is now perceived as a quite normal and commonplace business. And so gradually, gradually, gradually in all directions.
And the key was the return of our army to real combat capability?
- Everything is done for this. First of all, we have achieved the required level of intensity of training of units. Today, all the training ranges are more than 80 percent loaded. This has also led to the need to change our ammunition consumption rates, which at the time was several times lower than in the West. Leaving it like this was a waste of time in the entire combat training process. Having studied in detail the experience of the Soviet Army and the standards of the Western armies, we have increased the standards of ammunition consumption for combat training by 5 times. And you see the result.
Soon the question appeared on the agenda: how can we objectively assess the real impact of our measures? We in the leadership of the Ministry of Defense came to a common opinion: it is necessary to conduct really surprise inspections of combat readiness. We reported our proposal to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and received support - the inspections really became surprised from the battalion to the army and the military district. Three people knew about their training: me, the Chief of General Staff and the one who planned the surprise inspection. We agreed at once that we should stop, roughly speaking, lying. The distorted information was a common scourge. Many things were hidden or distorted.
Previously, all training was conducted only on the technique of training and combat team, that is, tanks, BMP, which everyone knew as "our father". We went to the familiar training ground, knew what risk to put a sight on to hit the target, which is literally in the "neighboring vegetable garden". Simply put, everything could be done with your eyes closed. And in fact, with formally good indicators, it did not matter if the equipment was fired from standard equipment.
Now guess what happened when we conducted our first surprise inspection, lifted tens of thousands of people all over the country and threw them together with the standard equipment over very long distances to unfamiliar ranges? During that inspection, the units went to unfamiliar training grounds not on training grounds, but on standard equipment. None of them - I emphasize once again, none (!) - complied with the standards for "satisfactory". I could have told you for a long time about how we got out of this pit. But in order to save time, I will stop and say only the main thing.
At the cost of incredible efforts of the country's leadership and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, we have achieved that our army has become what it is today - an army of constant readiness. We now have all the units - the units of constant readiness.
In parallel with the transformation of the army itself, a program of modernization of the military-industrial complex to re-equip troops with modern equipment and weapons was carried out by the President. And today, I have no doubt that by 2020 we will increase the level of equipment of our troops with modern weapons to 70 percent, having increased it almost fourfold since 2012. Undoubtedly, in order to implement such a large-scale program, it was necessary to create the most modern systems of control over its execution from the machine tool at the enterprise or the amount in the bank account on the line of the state defense order to a specific unit of armament supplied to the military unit. These are hundreds of thousands of positions for continuous round-the-clock control and, if necessary, prompt action. In particular, and for their solution in the shortest possible time the National Center of Defense Management was established, which controls the progress of the state defense order, combat and supporting tasks with the help of high-tech automated system 24 hours a day.
- A lot of prestige to the Russian Armed Forces has been added to the course of civil war in Syria by the activities of our ACS. But is it possible to judge the general state of affairs in our army on the basis of this separate episode with a large, but still limited number of participants from our side?
- Those who think that in Syria we fought with a bunch of fanatical and primitive militants are wrong. We fought with the largest terrorist organization of thousands of people, or more precisely, the system. Let me remind you that it was supported by individual countries interested in the instability of the region. The terrorists had hundreds of tanks, multiple rocket launchers, armored vehicles and hundreds of thousands of tons of ammunition that had been seized from Iraqi and Syrian armies in previous years, and hundreds of trained suicide bombers. There was the most modern equipment, including communication and reconnaissance equipment. They had a well-established international system for evacuating the wounded, a working mechanism for collecting taxes in the occupied territories, and a black market for artifact trade.
The proceeds from the illegal sale of oil played a very important role in ensuring the activities of terrorists. Before the Russian Federation was involved in the fight against international terrorism in Syria, the Igilovites, under the nose of the international coalition, produced more than 100 thousand barrels of oil per day. And the sale of this raw material brought terrorists more than 5 million dollars a day.
In Syria, we had to learn to fight in a new way.
And we learned it. If we talk about fighter, army, assault, long-range and transport aviation, then almost 90% of all flight personnel have gone through the fighting in Syria. We have those who have 150-200 combat flights - and that's in addition to all those who were engaged in providing for their flights on the ground. There was a time when the pace of cargo delivery to Syria reached two thousand tons per day. And this is the fleet, this is transport aviation, this is the work of our supply bases, ports, this is redeployment, reception and maintenance of equipment. It is the involvement of representatives of our industry and science: it came to the point that representatives of more than 70 enterprises, engineers, designers worked in Syria at the same time, eliminating the shortcomings of equipment on the spot.
Based on the results of this work, the President gave direct orders for the improvement or enhancement of certain characteristics of some weapons samples. This was also the case with our Calibre cruise missiles, long-range aviation weapons, and submarines.
You have probably noticed that in the history of the Soviet Union's and Russia's aircraft carrier fleet in Syria, it was used for the first time in combat conditions. If we talk about the use of high-precision weapons, for example, it used to take so long to load a mission into a cruise missile "Calibre" that the target could leave. And today, the time to load a mission to the Calibre has been reduced, I must stress, in multiples. And this work to reduce the time for the transfer of targets is ongoing.
The commanders of regiments, brigades, divisions, army commanders, commanders of military districts, heads of central bodies of military administration of the Ministry of Defense, as well as faculty members of almost all higher military schools have passed through Syria. As a result of the fighting in Syria, of course, we have conducted a large analysis of the flights, and not one, and not ten. I can tell you that about 300 types of weapons were improved taking into account the Syrian experience, and 12 samples, which were considered promising, we simply removed from production and from the armament.
- How likely do you think Russia's participation in any full-scale armed conflict in the near future is likely? And what strategic areas of Russia, in your opinion, are the most dangerous in the near future?
- The question you asked is not an easy one. Perhaps it is not for an interview like ours. But still, I will try to answer it. I hope that there is no question about a full-scale war today. And all the risks and consequences of such a full-scale war are obvious to everyone. There are a lot of different statements about the Third World War. The most accurate and adequate of them seems to me to be: "I do not know what exactly the Third World War will be. But I do know for a fact that it will be the last. However, if we talk about the number of threats to our country, they do not become fewer. The United States has already withdrawn from two important nuclear arms control treaties. So far, there remains the START-3 treaty, which is also under discussion in the U.S.: should it be extended or not? As a result of this approach, the world is becoming more unpredictable and less secure. At the current level of informatization and automation, there is a high probability of an error in the arms control system. That is why information security has recently come to the fore. When you realize your vulnerability and are interested in maintaining a balance and equal security for all, it makes you turn your head-on. And when you think, as inertia continues to suggest in the United States, that the balance of power is in your favor, you can come up with a variety of ideas, including some that are not the most reasonable. It is in this situation that I see the main threat now, and not only for Russia.
- - In Kyiv, the threats of "triumphantly entering Moscow with tank armor" can be heard from time to time. Is there a danger of a direct military confrontation between the armies of Russia and Ukraine?
- - I don't even want to think about it. I very much hope that the Ukrainian people and authorities will have the will, strength and opportunity to cool down the hotheads that call for such stupidity and a crazy story. Once upon a time, extremists in Ukraine will still have to be stopped. It is only a pity that this has not been done before.
But I will return to your question. Ukrainians are brotherly people. My relatives on my mother's side are from Ukraine. My grandfather is buried there. My grandfather survived the occupation there. My mother's brothers went to the front of Ukraine. And, by the way, I was baptized at the age of 5 in one of the temples of Stakhanov, Luhansk region. And I am absolutely convinced that we will live in peace and good neighborhood with the Ukrainian people. The time for this, I am sure, will come.
- Can we consider the process of transformation in our Armed Forces completed? Or is the concept of "military reform" still relevant for our country?
- The concept of "military reform" should always be relevant to Russia. The world around us is constantly changing. And we must be very sensitive to these changes and change ourselves. What happens if we do not do it, we can understand by the example of our recent history.
At the beginning of our conversation, you rightly noticed that the Russian army was in a state of decline until recently. Why did this happen? There are immediate reasons that everyone knows about. The deep crisis of the entire society and state in the 80-90s of the last century. The hasty withdrawal of troops and equipment from Eastern Europe to absolutely unfit sites. Lack of housing. Moral suffering and humiliation of those who spent their entire lives preparing to defend their homeland and suddenly faced a complete collapse of their plans and prospects, their needlessness and lack of protection from the state.
But there were other, deeper reasons for what happened. We did not understand the essence of what was happening around us in time and for a very long time. I will allow myself to sharpen my thoughts even more. If the West had continued to behave as it began to do during Gorbachev's reign," he said. "If the West hadn't been able to keep all its promises, if it hadn't been able to move NATO closer and closer to our borders, if it hadn't been able to expand its influence in our near abroad, if it hadn't been able to get involved in the internal affairs of our country, it would have seemed to me that they would have succeeded in the end. They would have been able to solve the task they set for themselves - the destruction and enslavement of our country. As it is actually done with "Young Europeans" and former Soviet republics.
- So, from your point of view, we are lucky that the West has revealed its true, far from vegetarian intentions in time?
- We were lucky that we managed to stop in time. The process of returning to common sense, as I said, began in 1999. Since then, we have had a hard time, hard time, but we have managed to make the world stop being unipolar today. Naturally, the West does not like it very much and is making every effort to regain its monopoly on influence in the world. Someone believes that the West's open large-scale opposition to Russia began only five years ago - from Ukraine and Crimea. But this is a mistake. We can recommend recalling in detail what exactly happened in the 90s, in 2008 and 2013. No matter what nonsense was said and written about us during the period when we were preparing for the Olympic Games in Sochi! And this was not only a manifestation of information warfare.
I do not want to go into details in particular. But the point of what is happening, in my opinion, is the following: in the West, templates, and algorithms have long been created to overthrow any inconvenient for them legal power in any country. Of course, all this is done under the slogan of promoting democracy. Well, here is the country where they "came with democracy", this democracy has taken root: in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya? Or in the former Yugoslavia, which they forcibly partitioned into six countries with their "democratic" bombardments in 1999. And one can simply forget about sovereignty and independence after any American intervention. Does anyone wonder that in Libya most of the oil fields belong to American or US-controlled companies? Our Western colleagues like to accuse Russia of waging some kind of "hybrid warfare" there. But I must say that real hybrid wars are waged by the West itself. Now, for example, leaving Afghanistan in a dilapidated state, the Americans are diligently making a fuss in Venezuela - also, of course, for the sake of "the triumph of democracy"!
- The U.S. military budget is tens of times higher than Russia's. Can Russia in principle withstand America effectively under such conditions?
- Our Supreme Commander-in-Chief has already answered this question in detail and argumentatively. Not just can - Russia is already quite effectively opposing America. It opposes thanks to our science, our industry, our new developments. And besides that, we are not trying to compete with them on all fronts. If you put the U.S. military budget on the shelves, you will come to understand: the huge costs they spend on different kinds of bases, scattered around the world. Such bases at America 170. U.S. expenditures alone for the same operation in Afghanistan are almost equal to our annual defense budget. Giant money is spent by the United States on private military companies, on aircraft carriers. But does Russia need its five to ten aircraft-bearing groups if we are not going to attack anyone? We need funds that can potentially be used against such aircraft-bearing groups of the enemy in case of aggression against our country. This is incomparably cheaper and more effective!
I have given you only a few isolated facts. Even so, it is clear that we do not need to compare our defense budget with that of the United States. In terms of the size of the defense budget, we are only the seventh largest in the world. Saudi Arabia and Japan, by the way, are also ahead of us in terms of this indicator. The main thing is that we are quite effective in our military spending, which is very much spent and is under the close control of our Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
- Your former government colleague and current head of the Accounts Chamber, Alexei Kudrin, has periodically argued that the current level of defense spending and expenditures on the defense industry is an unburdening burden on the Russian economy. What do you think about this?
- In Soviet times, Mikhail Zhvanetsky had such a work of art. I won't remember it literally. But the point was that we do not have enough sausage, and there are a lot of us. There are not enough pants, and there are a lot of us. We do not have enough soap, but we have a lot of us. Conclusion: There must be fewer of us. The walls that we have an inflated defense budget are, as I see it, built on very similar logic. It is necessary to be afraid not of big expenses, but of small incomes, and that is exactly what our economists need to work on. Some time ago, it was very fashionable to speak about the fact that our agriculture is a "black hole" that absorbs all the money invested in it, but does not give any opposite effect. Now, for some reason, this "black hole" is not spoken about anymore. Now everybody is proud of the fact that we have great harvests, that we feed the country ourselves. But would this have happened if we hadn't invested a lot of money in agriculture before?
Let's go back to the army.
Our Armed Forces have already been almost halved. We are offered to be guided by some vague criteria - a lot, unreasonably much, too much. But I do not know such units of measurement! But I have something to remember about the moral state of the army, which was in 2012, and not in the hungry 90s. Then 124 thousand lawsuits were filed against the Minister of Defense by officers. And this is despite the fact that we had 157 thousand officers at the time. 80% of these lawsuits were related to a delay of three to five days or more in the payment of salaries. Do you have this in mind?
Of course, it is necessary to deal with saving state funds on a regular basis. When soon after our appointment to the post of Minister, we began to work closely on our housing and communal services, we realized that there is no accounting of resources. As soon as we installed 120 thousand metering devices, the cost of housing and communal services fell by several times. Why hasn't any smart economist, marketer or financier told us this before? The army, which means that the state was simply ripped off like a sticky pawn at the expense of this.