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.
A student has finally hit puberty after a four year battle against anorexia stunted his growth .
A woman has shed half her body weight after undergoing a gastric sleeve op to shrink her stomach .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
RESTING his weary head on his flipper, this little seal pup takes a much needed nap after an afternoon of strenuous yoga .
With an abandoned tricycle sitting in an empty corridor, this derelict but once grand mansion could be the setting for The Shining .
A GIRL nicknamed JAWS by bullies who taunted her because of her underbite is em-bracing her new post-surgery life .
Bathers on a New Zealand beach stripped naked and took to the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to shatter the record for the world's largest skinny dip .
A woman who was addicted to eating curries has shed an impressive 8st after giving up her favourite food .
The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .
FROM THE world famous Girl with a Pearl Earring painting to a jaguar in the grass, these incredible drawings are created from coloured ballpoint pens .
A mischievous fox cub demonstrates his playful side by biting his sibling’s tail .
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .