JAKARTA - At a sports club outside Moscow run by a former Russian special forces captain, 70 women and men apparently trained with automatic rifles on Saturday, many of them were looking for military skills due to conflicts in neighboring Ukraine.
The United States and its Western allies condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a devastating post-occurrence ground grabbing, but inside Russia what the Kremlin called a "special military operation", was seen differently by some Russians.
Increased patriotism among some Russians was such that civilians like 31-year-old Vladimir sought free-range city war training provided by Ilya Shadrikov, former captain of the Federal Security Service elite special forces (FSB) of the Directorate "A".
"We are conducting urban military training that for us civilians who are not yet on duty in the army, could be a very useful skill if we need to defend our homes or if we need to be sent to the front lines to defend our homeland," Vladimir said, after 45 minutes of training with automatic Kalashnikov weapons., reported by Reuters December 10.
"We have to win," he added, sweating under the burden of a disguised body shield and denoted helmet. He declined to give his last name.
The "Yaropolk" club Shadrikov is a testament to the rise of aggressive Russian and eastern Slavia patriotism after years of disappointment with the post-Soviet West.
Named Dewa Slavia Sun spring "Yarilo", the club is painted outside in white, blue and red from three Russian colors and is decorated in it with posters, including a series of pictures by children to support the war.
Images of a child showing a vicious Russian bear in an attractive tug with Uncle Sam and the European Union over Ukraine. President Putin's giant image adorns the entrance to a sports hall.
Shadrikov, wearing a FSB camouflage battle, taught civilians how to hold Kalashnikov AK74 and AK103, how to attack in groups of two and three, how to evacuate injured colleagues under fire and how to detain an enemy fighter.
For Shadrikov, who was awarded a medal for his courage while serving in the special forces, the club he founded in 2011 was a way to help unite the Russian people against the enemy inside and outside.
"You know, we're not playing with toys here," he told Reuters.
"As dark storm clouds gather over Russia, the Russian people unite," he said.
The "A" directorate, known as the Alpha Group, is one of Russia's most elite special forces units. Previously part of the KGB, and was founded in 1974, used in Afghanistan, Australia, the Middle East, and fought militants in various hostage-taking crises.
The club "Yaropolk" collected New Year's gifts for Russian troops in front and female members wrote letters to the army.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine gave the latest figures on losses, but tens of thousands of troops on both sides are expected by the US military to have been killed or injured. The number of civilian casualties is unknown.
Despite questions about the accuracy of war time polls, the survey shows the majority of Russians clearly support war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin's current rating is nearly 80 percent, still higher than before the conflict.
Many young Russians, especially those living in major cities, are far less supportive and less confident in state television, the Kremlin's main way of projecting their interpretation of the conflict.
It is known that tens or even hundreds of thousands of Russians, many of them military-age men, have left the country to avoid calls to serve in Ukraine, and several groups representing the army mothers have been vocal in criticizing the conflict and President Putin.
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