GGeneral Sobolev, after criticizing Kadyrov, recognized beards as permissible in the army, Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev clarified that he was not against beards, but against untidiness. Requiring the military to shave off their beards is “nonsense,” but they should be “in a normal form,” he noted
Victor Sobolev
Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Defense, clarified his words about the need to shave beards for the military, after which the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov criticized his statement. As Sobolev explained to RBC, he is not against beards, but against the untidiness of military personnel.
“I was at the readiness review of the regiment formed in the Chechen Republic before being sent to the SVO zone. The head of the republic was also there. They looked like (soldiers. —RBC), we can say, great, they are perfectly equipped, all in the same uniform, with insignia. Everyone had beards, and no one was against it, including me. To require them to shave off their beards— it was nonsense»,— said Sobolev.
However, he stressed, this does not negate the fact that a serviceman “should be in a normal state, regardless of whether he is at war or not.” He explained that he was not “against beards”, but against the untidiness of soldiers.
“If [the military] wear a beard for religious reasons, then this is not something that is permissible, [it is necessary], because it somehow unites them,” he added.
The dispute about beards among the military began after a number of military officers and telegram channels reported that military personnel on the frontline began to be required to shave and refuse mobile phones, although the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin denied the appearance of such claims against the military. In a conversation with RBC , Viktor Sobolev calledshaving for soldiers is an elementary requirement of military discipline. “I don’t think that with any of the most intense combat activity there aren’t 15–20 minutes to get your appearance in order. Peaceful people look at a soldier, he should be a model,” he said. He explained the ban on mobile phones by security requirements.
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Evgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner’s PMCs, reacted to his words, calling such demands “archaic”. “80% of the time at the front, soldiers wash from a bottle, and shaving is generally a great luxury. A considerable part of both Muslims and Orthodox Christians wear a beard according to religious customs. The beard on the front is a symbol, it’s a tradition,” Prigozhin said. Prigozhin also called the use of mobile devices for the military necessary due to the fact that they can be used to determine the location, transmit data about the general situation, and so on.
Ramzan Kadyrov also agreed with him, reminding that for some military men a beard is part of a religious way of life. “I am seriously sure that this is an obvious provocation, which is designed to extinguish the morale of the fighters who are in the holy war for the sake of the Almighty and who only wear for the sake of the Almightybeard, as our beloved Prophet did,” he wrote in his telegram channel. Kadyrov suggested sending the guardians of the charter to the front line.
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