Watch Russian Troops Leap Through ... Flaming Croquet Wickets
A new video shows Russian special forces troops running an obstacle course.
One of the obstacles is a tunnel—formed by giant U-shaped stakes—on fire.
Forcing soldiers to jump through flaming hoops is a remarkably common phenomenon in authoritarian countries.
Troops in the Russian special forces, who were traveling to Uzbekistan, likely got more than they bargained for when they showed up for their military exercises.
Case in point: The Spetsnaz troops had to run an obstacle course with their Uzbek colleagues, including a section that was on fire. Flaming hoops (burning rings of fire, if you will) and other obstacles are notoriously common training tasks among authoritarian countries.
Russia's own Ministry of Defense posted the minute-long video to its YouTube channel:
The video description reads:
Servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan have begun combat coordination to perform combat training tasks at the Termez mountain range in the Surkhandarya region.
The special forces units of the two countries made a 15-kilometer march, breaking through an anti-personnel barrier, a moat with water, a destroyed wall and a tunnel.
Russia has approximately 17,000 Spetsnaz, or "Special Designation," troops divided into 14 ground force and naval brigades. The majority of Spetsnaz troops are highly trained light infantry along the lines of the U.S. Army Rangers (though troops of the 346th Brigade are reportedly similar in training to Delta Force or Seal Team Six). The troops in this exercise are possibly from one of the three Spetsnaz brigades based in the nearby Caucasus, or the 3rd Guards Spetsnaz Brigade at Tolyatti.
Russia's Ground Forces typically don't practice with flaming obstacles, though other countries and transnational groups do. Western countries definitely do not. The more authoritarian the nation or group, the more likely fire is involved in their training. The practice is particularly common in the Middle East and Central Asia.
In 2014, People's Liberation Army troops based in Heilongjiang province propelled themselves through flaming hoops, in one case carrying a suppressed assault rifle. A similar video emerged in 2016.
Here's a photo of recruits to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a terrorist group based in the West Bank, jumping through flaming hoops:
And here's a video of a Pakistani anti-terrorism squad jumping through flaming hoops:
It's really not clear why countries insist on making their soldiers and police jump through fires. Flaming hoops are rarely—if ever—seen on the battlefield. The act of jumping through a flaming hoop, or navigating a flaming tunnel, seems to be more of a demonstration of personal bravery, or an act of devotion to a cause, leader, or regime.
Last but not least is this 2020 video of Egyptian police cadets at their graduation exercise. This one outdoes all of the others by including not one, but four flaming hoops, as well as a hoop made of army rifle bayonets and lined with sparklers.
Please, don't try any of these at home.
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