Baptised by fire

This year, 397 young men and girls have become the Military Academy cadets – after passing strict medical and psychological shortlisting and centralised testing. Some faculties even had 16 applicants per study place. 

Basic military training began in August and, by now, cadets have already learnt how to handle weapons, studied the military regulations and drill training. A test of strength – which was actually a comprehensive tactical lesson at the Belaya Luzha training centre – then followed. It envisaged six training grounds where cadets worked out the ways to fight tanks and armoured vehicles, throw a hand shaped grenade, and move along a battlefield in the defensive position and under attack. They also learnt how to wear a protective set of radiation, chemical and biological protection.

Eight girls are also trained shoulder to shoulder with guys – on a par, with no indulgency. Among them is Kristina Tkachuk who entered the Aviation Faculty. Her great-grandfather was a military pilot, so the girl has been in love with airplanes since childhood. The girl studied at the Polotsk Cadet School and well knows how to disassemble and assemble a machine gun. “In school, I heard often about fights against tanks and have already experienced it personally. I was not afraid but the emotions were overwhelming. I did everything as I had been taught, and threw a grenade exactly at the target,” she smiles.

The comprehensive tactical lesson became the final stage of the combined-arms training of cadets. They are now psychologically prepared for a real fight. Most of these young people are only 17-year-old but, four years later, they will graduate from the Military Academy as real officers and patriots of their Homeland.