Translator’s Note: The following is just too funny and just too sad. What better example could one wish for of a country and people who have not just completely lost their way but actually appear to have lost any sense of honour and pride. One has to have completely lost one’s moral compass to act as described below. It is beyond imagining that the British or US (or indeed almost any other) army could sink to this. The danger, of course, is that although the event in question was totally harmless, an army so devoid of morals or pride will as a matter of course sink to anything, including atrocities.
Orchestra Leadership Will be Punished For Parade in Bunny Costumes
Translated from the Russian by Dave Essel
Fontanka.ru reports that the tribunal of the Leningrad Military District has completed its investigation of the military band which performed in bunny costumes, the symbol of Playboy magazine, at a private evening parry.
The district’s military prosecutors have completed their report which has been to the CiC of Leningrad Military District Andrei Tretyak. The document demands the prosecution of Sergei Yezhov, the officer commanding the 5th Military Orchestra of the Leningrad Military District as well as of his second in command and head of music Sergei Vovka.
The investigation ascertained that soldiers of that orchestra had performed in bunny costumes. This had previously been categorically denied by the the press and public relations department of the Leningrad Military District.
Since the publication of the military prosecutors’ report, it has been impossible to obtain any kind of comment from the high command, which according to regulations now has one month to decide how to punish those guilty of this offence.
News of the parade appeared in July when it was reported that a military bus pulled up at the XXXX Restaurant on the corner of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt and Devenskaya Ulitsa and that from it there disembarked a brass band in bunny costumes. Th musicians then proceeded to play their way into the establishment. Customers at the XXXX Bar later confirmed that it had indeed been a military brass band in Playboy bunny costumes
La Russophobe 
Considering the officers of the “Glorious” Russian army also pimp out their troops as male prostitutes, this should come as no real surprise.
Mass firings as Russia reforms bloated military
Today, 08:15 | Associated Press
“When I entered the Army back in 1975, I thought I’d be given a certain kind of lifestyle, you know, stability, housing, status,” said Kulikov, sitting in the temporary two-room apartment he shares with his 23-year-old son. “But after two decades, I have nothing to show for it. This place is exactly the size of a jail cell.”
Kulikov has been waiting for a new apartment for 13 years, but claims he was removed from the waiting list several times because he angered his bosses. He also says corrupt officials are demanding $40,000 for his “free” apartment.
The reforms to the army were announced after Russia’s conflict with Georgia last year. Russia’s army was designed in the Soviet era to fight huge tank battles with NATO on the plains of Europe, and it had a surprisingly hard time crushing Georgia’s tiny, lightly-armed military. The Georgians shot down at least four Russian aircraft in five days, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin outraged.
“I feel very disappointed and bitter,” said retired Col. Vyaslav Solyakov, 51, chainsmoking on the porch of the trailer his family has been living in since 2002. The trailer sits at the edge of a parking lot and is home to 12 families, who share two bathrooms and one kitchen. It was supposed to be temporary housing, but seven years later, they are still there.
“During the upheaval, they needed the Army to protect the country, but when we need the government, it’s not there,” said Solyakov.
Inside the trailer, the conditions are dire. Some rooms have mold on the wall, and most are only big enough to fit a bed and a small table.
“I feel totally betrayed,” said Solyakov’s wife, Nina. “On the weekends, when everyone is home, people have to stand in line to wash the dishes. It hurts to even think about it.”
http://www.kyivpost.com/world/47046
PS The kremlin will ignore them for a few more years and the problem will go away, based on their average life span?
“Death solves all problems – no man, no problem.”
Joseph Stalin quote