Russia To Build 'Reichstag' For Children To Attack

The Russian military is to build a replica of the Reichstag building in Berlin for children to attack at a theme park.

It'll allow them to recreate the raising of the Soviet flag atop the Reichstag in May 1945 - one of the most iconic images of the fall of Berlin.

Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the replica at the Patriot Park just outside Moscow will be smaller than life-size.

He added that the idea is for Yunarmia members "to storm a specific location, not something abstract".

The Yunarmia, or Young Army, was created in 2015 to encourage patriotism among the young and teach them basic military skills.

It's not yet clear whether the public will also be able to storm the replica, or just members of the Youth Army.

The German government had no immediate comment to Mr Shoigu's statement, which comes amid a bitter strain in Russia's ties with the West.

Mr Shoigu said the theme park will also feature a replica of Second World War-era Soviet army positions and a forest guerrilla base.

The Soviet role in the Second World War has been used as a national rallying point in recent years, with the country's Victory Day one of the most important in the annual calendar.

On the occasion in 2015, Kremlin-backed Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov had a mock-up of the Reichstag built in the centre of capital city Grozny.

Soldiers in Soviet WWII uniforms rushed towards it, shooting 'Nazis' along the way.

They then tossed swastika flags and other Nazi emblems at Kadyrov's feet after the building had been 'seized'.

Mr Shoigu added, meanwhile, that modernisation of the Russian military will continue this year, after the country received a sweeping array of new weapons in 2016 - including 41 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Amid tensions with the West, the Kremlin has continued to spend big on new weapons despite Russia's economic downturn.

Mr Shoigu told politicians the air force will receive 170 new aircraft this year, while the army will receive 905 tanks and other armoured vehicles and the navy will receive 17 new ships.

He added that three regiments of Russia's strategic nuclear forces will receive new intercontinental ballistic missiles this year. Each regiment has up to 10 launchers.

As part of President Vladimir Putin's military reforms, the armed forces have received new weapons and now engage in regular large-scale drills.

A severe money crunch after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union left the military in tatters, with most of its planes grounded and ships left rusting at harbour for lack of funds.

Russia has used its revived military capability in Syria, where it launched an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad and used the conflict to test its new weapons for the first time in combat.

Cover image courtesy of Matthew Field.

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