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
MAKING A SPLASH - GORILLA GOES APE IN WATER

While often referred to as the kings of the jungle, gorillas - for all their might - are notorious hydrophobes .

PERMANENT LIP FILLERS LEAVE WOMAN UNABLE TO SMILE

A woman has been left unable to smile after undergoing emergency surgery to remove infected lip fillers .

THE DANGEROUS WORK OF SULPHUR MINERS

These are the men with one of the most unpleasant jobs in the world .

TEEN GIRL TRUCKER YOUNGEST IN UK

Blonde teen Jess Stubbs has certainly got girl power - as Britain’s youngest TRUCKER .

I LOST HALF MY WEIGHT AND BECAME A WOMAN

Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror .

IRELAND'S HIDDEN BEAUTY

THE TOWERING Irish cliffs of Moher stand tall over the rippling Atlantic Ocean .

ABANDONED CALIFORNIAN GOLD RUSH TOWN

A once bustling gold rush town in Mono County, California now stands completed deserted .

CHEEKY WHITE TIGER CUB

WITH HIS PAW covering his mouth, this cheeky cub looks amused by something .

TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES

She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl .

EXERCISING OTTERS

A group of otters put on a show of aqua aerobics, as they raise their flippers perfectly in sync .

STUNNING UK LIGHTHOUSES

A photographer has travelled the length of the UK capturing lighthouses and their picturesque surroundings .