Classes are held at the Rusichi military sports training center. The training is free and people with zero training and those who want to refresh their NVP or army skills school course can go through it. The only condition for visiting is 18 years of age.
Students will be taught how to handle weapons, combat tactics, rules of survival and first aid, how to operate walkie-talkies and much more. According to the organizers, Novgorodians are interested in this topic. Now the classes are attended by about 20 people, and their number continues to grow.
“People are interested in acquiring useful skills not only from the civilian environment, but also from the military. In addition, they have a practical application in everyday life,” assures Ruslan Barabanov, deputy director of the Rusichi Center. “Situations are different: you can find yourself in a natural disaster zone, get lost in the woods, experience domestic trauma … Here we learn how to ensure our own safety in critical circumstances.”
Most of the students are young men, but there are also a few women. One of them is Tatyana, a tourism specialist and former athlete. “In the current situation, everything is to be expected,” she says. – “It is never superfluous to be able to stand up for yourself and help protect the homeland. When I was in school, the NVP had unfortunately already been cancelled. He later attends survival classes, but they don’t teach, for example, how to handle weapons. That’s exactly what I’m interested in.”
The first lesson was devoted to fire training. True, they did not allow anyone to shoot – they learned to assemble and disassemble a Kalashnikov assault rifle, got acquainted with its device. In the future, they promise to show how it handles other types of weapons: pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers and grenades. Shooting is also in the plans, but for that you will need to go to a commercial shooting range.
Another section of the program is orientation and topography. At an introductory lesson on this topic, the instructors told what compasses are and how to work with them correctly, how to choose a landmark and not get lost in the forest, and why for this you need to take into account the difference between the geographic and north magnetic poles of the Earth. As it turned out, only a few people in the group had basic knowledge about it.
“Let’s say I have a task to go on an azimuth of 45 degrees. I put the compass in my palm and set the reticle to 45 degrees. And I begin to spin until the magnetic hand aligns with the letter N, which indicates north. Now, in the direction of the crosshair, I choose the farthest stationary landmark and move in its direction. You don’t need to constantly check the compass, it’s easier to go from landmark to landmark,” Ruslan Barabanov explains and shows.
They study in class and calculate the distance traveled from the number of steps. For this, such a measurement unit as a parshag is used – that is, two human steps. For a person with a height of about 170 cm, it will be equal to about one and a half meters, and based on this, the mileage can be roughly calculated.
The courses are still running in test mode – the curriculum is being shaped, the schedule is being adjusted and student enrollment is continuing. Classes are held twice a week – one weekday and one weekend. As the instructors say, on weekends, training can last up to four hours – it takes time to put the material into practice.
By the way, they will teach in practice not only shooting, but also digging trenches – engineering training is also included in the program.
“You can’t say theoretically, it’s an applied skill,” says the instructor. “Let’s go somewhere outside the city and dig.”
It is supposed to start digging trenches before winter – until the ground freezes.