PUTIN'S TINY ARMY
Some parents would gasp at the thought of their children playing with a toy gun, but these Russian children are actually encouraged to take up real arms. Military sports club, ‘Berkut’, (meaning golden eagle), trains up tiny Vlads and Boris’, who dream of joining the elite units of the Russian army and fighting under the command of President Vladimir Putin. Pictured on their website brandishing a hand gun, is a young boy, dressed in military fatigues with his finger over the trigger. Children as young a five are sent on forced marches, given battlefield training, taught hand to hand combat, and how to use military equipment. 12 year olds are also taught to fire Kalashnikov assault rifles and other small arms. During the clubs regular camps some children are given the opportunity to parachute jump during their paratrooper training. The club based in Zhukovsky, Russia, claims to provide military training designed to develop the younger generation of the “motherland” - a term synonymous with the former Soviet Union and the communist rule of the last century.
Other great stories
HYPNOTIST JAILED FOR SEX ABUSE
A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state .
DIABULIMIA LEFT ME INFERTILE AND GOING BLIND
For years Jeorgia Woodd, 30, abused her body, having succumbed to a condition known as 'diabulimia' .
BABY WHALE AND MOTHER LAP UP TOURIST ATTENTION
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
SNOWHERE TO HIDE MY NUTS! RARE RED SQUIRRELS FROLIC IN THE SNOW
If you had to scrape the snow off your car this morning or slip-slide your way into work over icy pavements spare a thought for these little critters .
EASTER ISLAND REPLICA STATUES DESTROYED IN SEA FALL
A project to create an underwater tribute to the stone Moai statues of Easter Island ended in disaster when 15 replica structures were destroyed after toppling from a boat and into the sea .
'DYING’ SCARE SAVES 3ST ANOREXIC
AN anorexic woman whose heart stopped after she starved herself to 3st has revealed that ‘dying’ for a minute helped shock her into recovery .
THE POP-UP HOTEL RETURNS TO GLASTONBURY
GLAMPING is taken to a whole new level in the form of the luxurious Pop-Up Hotel .
STORM CHASER PHOTOGRAPHS STUNNING EXTREME WEATHER
These photographs of extreme weather capture storms furiously rolling across the sky above America .
ABANDONED CARE HOME LIES FORGOTTEN
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
HOUNDTON TABBY
FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters .
STUNNING ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE
LOCATIONS bursting with vibrant greens and chestnut browns, these photographs capture the peaceful English countryside in all its glory .
'GRENADE' DIET PILLS PUT AIRPORTS ON ALERT
AIRPORT staff have been put on alert after diet pills that come in grenade shaped containers sparked security alerts .