[golergka]

Army has been the most despised and low-status part of Russian society for the last 30 years, and mandatory service has been something that anybody with any means tried to avoid like he'll for even longer. The only people who go into an army career are those who don't have any means or talents for anything else.

[greedo]

That's what I've been reading. Kamil Galeev (@kamikazani) has done an excellent job of describing how the Army has been intentionally castrated.

[yurymik]

For anyone wondering, there's a missing 'l' in the handle. Correct one seems to be `@kamilkazani`

[greedo]

Thanks for the correction!

[AnimalMuppet]

Hmm. Intentionally? That would be beautifully ironic if Putin nerfed the army (judging a competent army as being a threat to his rule), and then he didn't have a working army when he wanted to invade Ukraine.

[golergka]

Of course. Most authoritarian regimes intentionally castrate their armies, kill promising generals and remove authority from officers, because otherwise they get military coups.

That's the secret power of a functional democracy: it can empower the military.

[greedo]

Yeah, a competent military would be a threat to the state. So keep it neutered, have an alternate state service that can blunt the threat of a coup, etc etc. Oh and use the military as a source of graft so you and your friends can benefit financially.