When was the creation of the Streltsy army? Streltsy clothing and weapons

Streltsy army

On October 1, 1550, Ivan the Terrible issued a Verdict On the placement of a selected thousand service people in Moscow and surrounding districts, who laid the foundations for the first standing army in Rus', which had the characteristics of a regular army. It is on this day that the Day of the Russian Ground Forces is currently celebrated.

The history of the Russian Ground Forces dates back to the times of the princely squads of Kievan Rus. The struggle to overcome feudal fragmentation. The immediate predecessors of the Streltsy were tweeters. They appeared at the end of the 15th century.

The first mention of the participation of squeakers in hostilities dates back to 1508, when the Grand Duke ordered them to be sent to Lithuania. In 1512, 1000 pischalniks were recruited from Pskov and took part in the campaign against Smolensk. Since 1512 tweeters began to participate in border defense. In 1515 tweeters together with the boyar children and Cossacks they guarded our embassy in Azov.

In 1545, along with foot soldiers, horsemen were noted tweeters: Yes, those squeakers on horseback and on foot, every person would have a squeaker by hand. The main disadvantage of the pishchalniks was the temporary nature of the army - they gathered for the duration of the campaign, after which they went home. Another disadvantage was the need to arm yourself at your own expense. Therefore, they were able to turn into a permanent regular army only under Ivan the Terrible. It is he who is the first , Ivan IV, later nicknamed Grozny, issued the same Verdict, which played a primary role in the construction and development of the Russian regular army.

The activity was inextricably linked with the strengthening of the Russian centralized state. It had great progressive historical significance, because only a country united into a single centralized state can count on the possibility of serious cultural and economic growth, on the possibility of asserting its independence. And there can be no independence without a sufficiently strong army.

It was the king, nicknamed in the West Ivan the Terrible - Ivan the Terrible, who created the Streletsky army.

The Moscow state was ahead of Western European armies in the mass introduction of firearms, and Sagittarius were a more advanced military formation than the mercenary soldiers of European armies. And the word itself soldier comes from the Latin soldarius, which means "sold out."

At first Sagittarius recruited from the free townspeople and rural population. Subsequently, their service became lifelong and hereditary.

The Streltsy headquarters was originally called the Streletskaya Izba, and later the Streletskaya Prikaz.

Sagittarius were divided into elected (later - Moscow) and police (in various cities of Russia). Moscow Sagittarius guarded the Kremlin, performed guard duty, and took part in military operations. Policemen Sagittarius carried out garrison and border service, carried out instructions from the local administration. Sagittarius obeyed the Streletsky order, and during the war - to military leaders. Policemen Sagittarius were also under the jurisdiction of local governors. Sagittarius were uniformly uniformed, trained and armed (hand-held arquebuses, muskets, reeds, sabers, and partly pikes). The highest military-administrative unit of the Streltsy army was an instrument, later called an order, and from 1681 - a regiment.

Initially, the staff strength of the Streltsy Orders was 500 people, divided into five hundred. Subsequently, their numbers constantly increased. In the second half of the 17th century there were differences thousandths And seven hundredths orders. In the 1680s, the staff of the Streltsy regiments was unified, after which there were 1,000 people in each regiment, and in the regiment there were 500 ranks of 1 person, a bailiff 1 person, Pentecostals 20 people, foremen 100 people, but in practice the number of Streltsy in The regiments still ranged from 600 to 1,200 people.

Teners and Pentecostals made up the non-commissioned officer corps; bailiffs, re-elected annually, served as adjutants to order commanders. In the 1650s, the position was introduced five hundred bailiff or simply five hundred, chosen from among ordinary riflemen or junior commanders. He had the responsibilities of deputy commander of the order for organizing logistics support.
Until the middle of the 17th century, the officers of the rifle regiments consisted of heads and centurions. In the 1650s, the position of half-head was introduced - the first deputy commander of the regiment. During the Russian-Polish War of 1654-1667, the practice of the Streltsy service introduced the awarding of Streltsy heads with the rank of colonel, which initially had an honorary value. Accordingly, the half-heads complained with the rank of half-colonel. In 1680, the names of the Streltsy Heads were renamed to Colonels, the Half Heads to Half Colonels, and the Centurions to Captains. From that time on, senior rifle commanders began to automatically be assigned the court rank of steward, after which their official name began to sound like steward and colonel, steward and half-colonel.

At the head of the orders were the Streltsy heads (at the head of the regiments -), appointed from among the nobles by the government. The orders (regiments) were divided into hundreds and tens, and were mounted ("stirrup") and on foot. Sagittarius They lived in separate settlements, receiving cash and grain salaries from the treasury. In a number of places Sagittarius Instead of a salary, they were given land, which was allotted to them for joint use for the entire settlement.

The Streltsy army was armed with squeaks, reeds, half-peaks, and bladed weapons - sabers and swords, which were worn on a belt belt. To shoot from a squeaker, the archers used the necessary equipment: a sling ( Berendeyka) with pencil cases with gunpowder charges attached to it, a bag for bullets, a bag for the wick, a horn with gunpowder for rubbing gunpowder onto the charging shelf of the squeak. By the end of the 1670s, as an additional weapon and for making obstacles ( slingshots) sometimes long peaks were used.

The archers, like the Janissaries and Taborites, fought under the cover of field fortifications forming a camp, convoy, kosh, secondly, using the rich traditions of Russian military wooden architecture, a special fortification was created - walk-city, the device of which clerk Ivan Timofeev described in detail in his Temporary.

Walk the city was specifically designed only to fight the Tatar cavalry; its design took into account the features of the weapons and tactics of only the Tatars, since it successfully protected against arrows. Shots from firearms pierced the walls walk the city, especially since it was not protected from field artillery shells.
If walk-city was pulled together in a ring, then he could fight surrounded, and if the shields with loopholes stretched in a line, then he could cover a front 2 to 4 km long. Considering that in walk in town There were cannons, we can confidently assume that the main tactical technique of the archers in a field battle was to stun the enemy with a powerful fire strike, inflict maximum damage on him, disrupt his ranks and expose him to cavalry attacks. Gulyai-Gorod became a tactical prerequisite for the linear arrangement of the archers.

The Streltsy army showed its combat effectiveness during the siege of Kazan in 1552, in the Livonian War, repelling the Polish-Swedish intervention in the early 17th century, as well as in military operations with Poland and. Special role Sagittarius played in which the Tatars had a fourfold advantage over the Russians. In view of this advantage, our entire army occupied defensive fortifications. Sagittarius, being under the protection of the “walk-city”, they used tactics that the Dutch would later use. They, firing from behind cover, inflicted significant damage on the Tatar cavalry and exposed it to the attack of the cavalry led by Mikhail Vorotynsky.

By 1632, the total number of archers was 33,775 people, and by the beginning of the 1680s it had increased to 55 thousand. At the same time, the ranks of the Streltsy were replenished, first of all, due to the addition of Moscow Streltsy, of which in 1678 there were 26 regiments with a total number of 22,504 people.

The records of the Englishman W. Parry, dating back to 1599, allow us to unequivocally state that at the end of the 16th century, Moscow archers had a uniform uniform. This is what he writes: “... the guard, which was all cavalry, numbering 500 people, dressed in red caftans...”. Whether it was uniform in cut or not, we cannot say, but here is a description of the Russian archers, given in 1606 by a certain Paerli: "... the Moscow archers on foot, up to 1000 people, in red cloth caftans with a white bandage on the chest, were lined up in two rows. ..". The archers who were on duty or accompanying the king wore caftans, which they received in their orders, and at the end of the service they returned them there again.

"Sagittarius in 1613". According to A.V. Viskovatov, 1899

In the picture, the archers have the same weapons and ammunition: metal helmets, matchlock guns (squeaks), sabers and reeds. Over the shoulder are identical belts with wooden pencil cases for powder charges suspended from them. This ammunition was called "berendeyka".

Reeds were used both as a polearm bladed weapon and as a support for a heavy matchlock gun when shooting.

According to M.M. Khrenov, the military uniform of the archers of the early 17th century consisted of a long dress of the feryazi type with a turn-down collar, a hat with a fur band or an iron helmet, and a white baldric (berendeyka), worn strictly over the left shoulder.

Ordinary shooter. Miniature by A. Meyerberg, 17th century.

Streletsky head. Drawing by E. Palmquist, 1674

The Swedish officer E. Palmquist, who served the Russian Tsar in 1674, described the uniform of the Moscow streltsy in the most detail and accuracy:

Hat: Velvet, with a high cap and a fur band. The color of the cap depends on the shelf. The fur of ordinary riflemen is sheepskin, while that of officers (primary people) is sable. On the front of the cap, officers have a gold emblem in the form of a crown.

Upper caftan: Eastern European type, fastened from right to left with spherical or flat round gilded buttons. Buttonholes of colored (on the shelf) cord with tassels at the ends. Officers often have gold or silver cord. The number of rows of buttonholes and buttons is regulated by shelf. Sometimes instead of cords there is gold or silver braid. Stand collar. There are small slits on the sides of the floors, fastened with three buttons with the same buttonholes. The length of the caftan is slightly above the ankles.
The same caftan for cold weather was lined with sheepskin or fur and had a fur shawl collar and fur trim on the bottom of the sleeves. There are holes in the upper part of both sleeves, trimmed with fur.
The caftan is belted with a cloth sash made of colored fabric (on the shelves); officers have a sash with gold embroidery, fringe and tassels at the ends. The gloves are brown leather with soft cuffs; officers have gloves with hard cuffs and decorated with gold embroidery and fringe.

Zipun: Worn under a caftan. It has the same color as the caftan. The color is the same as the caftan. Fastens with the same buttons. Stand collar or no collar. Length above the knees. Officers' collars and sides are trimmed with gold or silver braid.

Pants (Ports): Straight cut, narrow at the knees, mid-calf length. Color is not regulated. There are no decorations.

Boots: Leather, color assigned to this regiment, with heels. Knee height.

General view of the Streltsy caftan according to the artist O. Fedorov, “Tseykhgauz” magazine, N1/2002

General view of the Streltsy caftan according to R. Palacios-Fernandez, Zeichgauz magazine

The name berendeika is derived from the word Bandelier, which denoted a musket belt with charges, tension and a bag with bullets and wads. In the inventories of the shells of the German musketeer regiments, berendeiki were called bandelers.

Armament

Sagittarius is entitled to: arquebus, reed and saber. They do not wear armor other than a quilted cloth caftan, only “iron caps.”

Berdysh

Berdysh is one of the oldest hand-to-hand weapons in the form of a wide ax on a long shaft with sharp horns, like the moon; for this reason, the berdysh was called lunata securis by the Romans; among the Slavs it is simply an axe, among the Goths - Bart and Bardisan2. The berdysh shown in the figure are kept in the Armory Chamber under numbers 243 and 244, where they were received in 1786 from the Life Guards of the Moscow Battalion.

The part of the reed intended for mounting on the shaft, like that of axes, is called the butt; the edge opposite the blade is called blunt, and the end drawn down is called a braid. The shaft of the berdysh - ratovishche - had an oval, round or faceted shape. Having driven the rativishche into the butt, it was nailed with rivet nails through the butt. The braid was also attached to the shaft with two or three nails and wrapped in several rows with a thin strap or rope. At the lower end of the battlement, an iron tip (podtok) was attached to stick the reed into the ground.

In Russia in the 16th century, the berdysh was a weapon of the Streltsy troops, for whom the berdysh served not only as an additional edged weapon, but also as a stand - a subpod (bipod) when firing from heavy matchlock rifles. A characteristic feature of the early reeds of the 16th century is the forging of the upper end into a single point; Obviously, the reed was designed for an injection. In the 17th century, the upper ends of the reed began to be forged into two shorter points. The planes of the reed were often covered with carved patterns, either in the form of simple dots and schematic leaves, or in the form of complex designs depicting unicorns fighting dragons, various chimeras and flowers.
The reeds of mounted archers and dragoons were made smaller than the usual type and had two iron rings on the shaft for a shoulder strap. Berdysh was an honorary weapon of the palace guards and a weapon of police guards until the end of the 18th century.

The following are allowed for the game: a shaft length of no more than 2.5 m, a blade made of rubber, cut in the center, semicircular and smooth, painted with silver, a total weight of no more than 2.5 kg.

The picture above shows a damask, slotted, gold-notched saber, or cleaver in Czech, made in the workshop of the Armory Prikaz by saber maker Nil Prosvit, originally from the Czechs, by order of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and by order of the gunsmith M.M. Saltykov in 1617

In Rus', the saber has been known since the ninth century; from the fourteenth century it became the dominant type of bladed weapon in the Russian army (in Western Europe - from the end of the 16th century). In the 15th-17th centuries, warriors of the Russian local cavalry, archers, and Cossacks armed themselves with sabers.

The following are allowed for the game: made of fiberglass, with a length from 70 to 105 cm and a weight from 0.7 to 1.2 kg.
The blades of sabers must be painted silver and not have nicks.

Allowed for the game: made of textolite and duralumin. The main requirement is safety during use. Weapons with protruding unrounded guards and jagged blades will not be allowed.

In the mass consciousness, the Streltsy appear as such idiots in red caftans, rushing wildly around the Kremlin shouting: “Take the demons alive!” Thanks to the film “Ivan Vasilyevich changes his profession.” Perhaps someone will remember from the school course that Peter the Great replaced the Streltsy with units based on the European model - due to the supposedly complete ineffectiveness and obsolescence of the Streltsy army. In fact, the Streltsy were perhaps the best fighters of their time, combining European and Asian fighting techniques, organization and equipment.

Ivan IV the Terrible played a significant role in the fate of the Streltsy. As a matter of fact, he established them and came up with a procedure for recruiting and arming, which lasted with minor changes from the middle of the 16th to the second decade of the 18th century (and on the outskirts of the empire - until the end of the century), going through numerous wars and campaigns. Moreover, the archers took part in the Northern War and the Prut Campaign (1711), establishing themselves as combat-ready units.

Failures, which were inevitable, should be chalked up to the military commanders who commanded the Streltsy, and not blamed on the Streltsy themselves. By the way, they had predecessors - squeakers, so called because of the use of squeakers in battle (this was the name for both hand-held firearms and small cannons). The Muscovites left far behind the armies of Europe in terms of mass use; the Streltsy had more advanced skills and combat techniques than the European mercenary infantry. The latter still clung to coldness and medieval tactics. In addition, the archers had higher military discipline and training: they successfully interacted with cavalry and artillery, which was rare among Western infantry. The archers' stamina on the battlefield surpassed even the famous Spanish infantry. The fighting spirit was also facilitated by the fact that all types of troops belonged, although to different classes, to the same people and faith. Whereas in Europe one could find, for example, cavalry from German reiters or Serbian, Polish, Hungarian hussars, and infantry from mercenaries recruited from the pine forest throughout all the territories of the then fragmented Europe. Often the troops simply did not understand each other, although research by historians indicates that the spoken language for different peoples at that time was Upper Middle Germanic. And, for example, the German Landsknechts and the Swiss infantry hated each other and could carry out a massacre, even if they were on the same side.

An interesting engineering and tactical solution of the Streltsy army was the “walk-city”: a movable protective wall made of wooden shields or logs, which saved the infantry from enemy fire (rifles, artillery or bows). They used Walk-Gorod both offensively and defensively, which sharply reduced losses. Artillery fire was also used through the loopholes of Gulyai - the city, inflicting untold losses on the enemy due to literally point-blank fire.

Ivan the Terrible, having established the Streltsy in 1540, initially recruited only 500 people. But the army grew quickly, at first at the expense of the townspeople and free villagers, but soon they began to serve for life, and the status was inherited.

At its peak, the garrison in the capital alone numbered 12 thousand, divided into 12 regiments. The Streltsy proved themselves during the capture of Kazan in 1552. And they repulsed the Krymchaks in the Battle of Molodi, despite the enemy’s fourfold superiority.

Organization, weapons

The supreme command of the Streltsy was exercised by the Streletsky Izba, later by the Streletsky Prikaz.

The Streletsky army was divided into Moscow and policemen. The first worked as the “Kremlin guard”, stood guard, fought for the country. Policemen served in garrisons, guarded the border, and performed police service. Local governors commanded the city archers.

All the archers wore uniforms (albeit in different colors; red outerwear was worn by one of the regiments of the Moscow archers) and weapons: a firearm, a berdysh (axe) and a saber. Such weapons made it possible to both engage in a fire clash with the enemy and conduct hand-to-hand combat independently at medium and close distances. This fundamentally distinguished the archers from European armies, where musketeers (arquebusiers), armed with guns, were covered by detachments of pikemen (spearmen), which limited both combat qualities and maneuver on the battlefield. However, a small part of the archers were also armed with pikes, but this was an uncharacteristic weapon for them, as an imitation of European armies. As protective equipment one could find a steel helmet, which did not interfere with rifle fire, and a cuirass. But this ammunition was purchased by the archers with their own money, unlike other equipment issued by the state. The uniform was divided into field uniform, gray or black, and dress uniform, regimental colors. The parade was worn on major holidays and parades. So films and paintings depicting archers on a campaign or battle in colored uniforms do not correspond to reality. But it is beautiful and elegant - what is needed for a positive perception by the viewer.

Privates, officers and, let's call it that - non-commissioned officers, were distinguished by their weapons. The Streletsky head was armed only with a saber; other commanders also received a protazan, luxuriously decorated.

Teners and Pentecostals served as junior commanders. Adjutants were chosen for a period of one year.

In the 1650s, the position of five hundred was established; it was promoted from the rank and file or junior commanders. Five hundred was engaged in logistics support with the rank of deputy commander of the order.

Until the middle of the 17th century, the officers of the rifle regiments were heads and centurions. In the 1650s, the position of half-head was introduced - the first deputy regiment. The Polish-Russian War of 1654-1667 introduced the rank of colonel into the chain of command, initially an honorary title for the head, without command of a regiment. The half-head could become a half-colonel. In 1680, colonels, half-colonels and captains remained, previously centurions. At the same time, senior rifle commanders were automatically promoted to stolniks. And now the official name combined military rank and court rank.

The highest military-administrative unit of the Streltsy army was first called a device, then an order, and after 1681 a regiment.

The archers were controlled in battle by war cries - yasaks. Scientists distinguish two types of yasaks - voice and musical (served with a drum and a bugle). Yasaki were codified and had the same meaning for everyone, thus achieving good controllability, correct and uniform understanding by the personnel of the given commands.

Finance

Separate settlements were allocated for the archers, where they could engage in gardening, crafts and trade. The treasury allocated cash and grain allowances. Sometimes the archers, instead of a salary, were given land for the collective ownership of the entire settlement.

State-issued cloth was issued to Moscow archers for sewing everyday caftans annually, and to city archers - once every 3-4 years. Expensive colored cloth was provided for dress uniforms irregularly, only on special occasions. The treasury supplied weapons, lead and gunpowder (in wartime, 1-2 pounds per person). Before a campaign or business trip, the archers were supplied with the required amount of lead and gunpowder.

The money and food required to maintain the archers were provided by the urban tax population and the Black Hundred peasantry. It was they who were responsible for numerous duties, including a special tax - “food money” and the delivery of “streltsy bread”. All this was received by the relevant departments, they then forwarded money and food to the Streletsky Prikaz. In 1679, taxes for the North and North-East of the country were replaced by a single tax - “streltsy money”.

In addition to supplying land, cloth and weapons, the treasury issued money to the archers, 20-30 silver rubles per year, substantial sums at that time.

However, salaries were often delayed, which caused streltsy riots to break out. Peter I, who suppressed it, used one of these riots (1698) as a reason to begin reorganizing the army with the disbandment of the Streltsy regiments.

The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation conducted a large-scale audit regarding the efficiency of use of forest resources in the country. It turned out that the scale of illegal logging is about 11-13 billion rubles annually - such damage to the country’s economy is unacceptable.

Indeed, the amount announced is amazing; with such a scale of theft, in ten years Siberia could turn into a steppe. But the main thing is that the state is not able to stop this logging. And if you carefully study the materials presented by the Accounts Chamber on the details of the state forestry system, you can draw conclusions that they are not particularly trying to stop it.

It is extremely simple to verify the validity of the announced figures: just study the satellite photograph of the Irkutsk region. All of them are small light rectangles in the middle of a green background, forming a bizarre mosaic. These are areas where there are no longer trees.

The report states that in the Irkutsk region alone in 2018, about half of the logging was illegal, and the damage caused to the state amounted to 4.45 billion rubles.

Satellite technologies do not allow tracking in which direction the timber is being taken away,

But according to information provided by the Federal Customs Service, the bulk of the wood goes to China. There it is processed at local sawmills, furniture is made from it, and most of it is brought back to Russia and sold, profiting from it.

The second identified scheme is the cutting and removal of not common pine or larch, but valuable wood, of which there is a lot here. The Chinese do not process this wood, but immediately sell it to other countries. The benefit due to the difference in cost is greater than in the manufacture and sale of furniture. The only loser is Russia, which is losing valuable timber in large quantities.

As follows from the investigation materials, the Irkutsk region is the leader in terms of the scale of illegal logging. However, in other regions neighboring China, they exist, just not in such quantities.

How much forest is being cut down illegally?

Timber constitutes a significant part of our country's export structure.

If we look separately at Siberia, where there is the most forest, then from 39 to 61% of the total export volume are products of the timber industry complex. In the Trans-Baikal Territory, the share of timber exports is approaching 100%. The region no longer sells anything abroad - only timber.

“According to the Chita Customs and the Trans-Baikal Railway,” notes the Accounts Chamber, “in 2018, compared to 2016 and 2017, there was an increase in the shipment of timber for export by 27.8%, which occurred due to an increase in the turnover of illegally harvested timber and the presence of a number of problems in implementing customs control over the turnover (export) of timber.”

The conclusion about illegal logging was made on the basis of basic calculations: auditors simply compared the official data of the Ministry of Natural Resources on the volume of harvested wood with the official data of customs officials on wood shipped for export.

The following interesting proportions were discovered in the Trans-Baikal Territory:

• in 2016, 992.3 thousand cubic meters were prepared, and 1,407.9 thousand cubic meters were shipped for export - 1.42 times more;
• in 2017, 990.1 thousand cubic meters were prepared, 1,735.9 thousand cubic meters were shipped - 1.75 times more;
• in 2018, 936.2 thousand cubic meters were prepared, and 1809.9 thousand cubic meters were shipped for export - almost 2 times more.

These figures clearly show that the amount of illegal logging in Siberia is rapidly increasing and that illegally harvested timber is indeed exported in large quantities to China.

Through what “holes” is stolen timber exported from Russia abroad?

The Accounts Chamber cannot answer this question, since it does not engage in operational activities and investigations. But she points out the “thin points” of state accounting and control of forest movement, which are not sufficiently strengthened.

The first such place is the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Ministry issues licenses for the export of timber within the framework of quotas, but does not check the legality of transactions with timber, since such an obligation is not legally assigned to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. “As a result, within the framework of tariff quotas, export volumes may include illegally harvested timber as the cheapest resource for participants in foreign economic activity.”

The second “thin spot” is LesEGAIS, a unified state automated system for accounting for wood and transactions with it. It was put into operation by Rosleskhoz in 2016, through which control is carried out at all stages of forest movement.

“During the operation of LesEGAIS, a number of significant shortcomings were identified,” states the Accounts Chamber. - Currently, there are no possibilities for interaction between the information systems of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, the Federal Customs Service of Russia, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Rosprirodnadzor, Rosselkhoznadzor, other interested executive authorities and LesEGAIS using a unified system of interdepartmental electronic interaction, as well as mechanisms for tracking wood volumes at the time of harvesting and volumes of wood specified in the foreign trade contract, allowing regulatory authorities to automatically check the supply chain.”

In addition, the LesEGAIS system does not contain information on wood transportation. Because of this, it is impossible to control the volume of timber from the place of logging to the place of consumption, so these volumes can easily increase along the way.

Control over the turnover of valuable wood species (elm, elm, elm, walnut, maple, etc.), for which there is an increased demand, is also not organized in LesEGAIS. These breeds are depersonalized and registered under the label “other”. Although they are more expensive and must be monitored separately.

The third “thin” place is customs. There is no law that obliges customs officials to check the legality of exported timber. Therefore, they act according to their mood: they will check there, they won’t check here.

And there is a fourth “subtle” place where the legality of the origin of exported timber should also be checked, but is not carried out - Rosprirodnadzor.

To transport them abroad, you need a CITES permit. Rosprirodnadzor issues such permits. At the same time, the department must ensure that Russia fulfills the terms of the CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

But permits are issued by Rosprirodnadzor without checking the origin of valuable wood species. They are not required to provide original documents, “which leads to falsification of data on the legality of the origin of the wood.”

“According to the Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Primorsky Territory, in 2016–2019, facts were established of illegal receipt by various legal entities in the Far Eastern Federal District of 34 thousand CITES permits for the export of wood (including endangered species - Mongolian oak and Manchurian ash) in China.

According to the Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Primorsky Territory, the volume of illegal exports to China in 2016–2019 amounted to about 2 million cubic meters of valuable wood, which led to economic damage to the state of up to 86 billion rubles and the removal of the specified volume from the tax base wood Subsequently, it was sold through the commodity and raw materials exchanges available in China to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region at a significantly higher cost (up to 10 times).”

Who is cutting down our forests - Russian businessmen or foreign ones?

“The majority of large enterprises in the timber industry are part of organizations whose head offices are located abroad, or whose founders are foreign organizations,” the Accounts Chamber answers this question.

For example, in the Arkhangelsk region, one of the main holdings of the timber industry complex, which includes forestry enterprises, are OJSC Ilim Group and LLC PKP Titan, whose parent organizations are located abroad.

According to the SPARK-Interfax system, the main shareholder of OJSC Ilim Group is the company Ilim SA (Switzerland), owning 96.37% of the company's shares, located in Switzerland, Geneva.

The parent organization of PKP Titan LLC is Shelbyville Enterprises Limited, located in Cyprus, Limassol.

In the Trans-Baikal Territory there are 4 organizations (Zabaikalskaya Botai LPK LLC, Polyarnaya CP LLC, Slyudyanka - Transbaikalia Group LLC, Trans-Siberian Forestry Company - Chita LLC), which account for 57% of the logging volume in the Trans-Baikal Territory region, created with the participation of foreign capital from the People's Republic of China.

Who gets forest areas for logging and how?

The area of ​​forest areas leased for timber harvesting as of January 1, 2019 is 168.4 million hectares. This is a lot - 14.7% of the total land area of ​​the entire forest fund of our country.

The annual permissible volume of wood removal is 269.2 million cubic meters. But, according to the Accounts Chamber, no more than 70% of this volume is officially cut down.

To rent a plot for timber harvesting, you need to take part in an auction and defeat competitors by offering the highest price for the lease.

Auctions are organized by forestry enterprises and regional forestry management bodies. They set a starting price for renting a plot, announce the date of the auction and review bids from participants.

If there is only one participant, the auction is declared invalid, and the contract with the only bidder is concluded at a starting price - very low.

In life, the winner of an auction is often known in advance - even before the auction is announced. The son of the forestry director, for example. Well, or some other good person.

The organizers open up the green light for him, rejecting other applications under formal pretexts, so that the desired plot goes to this good man, as the only participant, at a low price.

“As part of the audit in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, it was established that 40% of auctions were held with a single participant, as a result of which tenants pay minimum rates for 1 cubic meter of wood, subsequently selling the wood at the market price,” notes the Accounts Chamber.

This means that 40% of the plots for deforestation are obtained at the minimum price by “good people”, earning millions from them.

Well, the state is losing the same number of millions on these same 40% of plots.

Where are the forest rangers? Why don't they protect the forest?

Forest rangers are now called forest inspectors.

Firstly, there are few of them. Half of what it should be. “Despite the importance of solving the problem of minimizing illegal logging, item 4 of the list of instructions of the President of the Russian Federation dated January 31, 2017, which provides for ensuring the number of state forest inspectors in accordance with forest patrol standards - not less than 40.0 thousand people, has not been fulfilled.”

There are no traces of 40 thousand inspectors. As of July 1, 2019, the number of forest inspectors was 21 thousand.

In the Irkutsk region, the staff of inspectors is 23.8% staffed, in the Trans-Baikal Territory - by 12%, in the Arkhangelsk region - by 13%, in the Vologda region - by 8%.

People don’t want to become forest inspectors because their salaries are low (in the Trans-Baikal Territory, for example, from 16 to 22 thousand rubles), and they have to live and work in some “distant cordons”. There is no Internet there; it is impossible to quickly obtain the necessary information. But the load is wow. After all, you must not only patrol your area - the inspector also has a lot of other responsibilities.

In different regions, patrol areas differ in area hundreds of times. According to the standards of the Oryol, Kursk, Bryansk regions, one inspector is supposed to patrol 1 thousand hectares, and in the Republic of Sakha - 400 thousand hectares.

It is clear that one person cannot control either 1 thousand hectares or 400 thousand if he does not have an SUV, a snowmobile and an ATV. You can't get around that much with your feet.

But the inspectors have a problem with transport. As the Accounts Chamber found out, they have junk and rubbish at their disposal.

“Forest inspectors are not sufficiently equipped with the necessary equipment suitable for use. This reduces the effectiveness of forest patrol activities, since most forest areas are difficult to access throughout the year. Thus, the vehicle fleet of the Primorsky Territory Forestry Department has not been updated for more than 10 years. Of the existing vehicle fleet, only 58% of the equipment is in operation. The wear and tear of forest patrol equipment in the Kostroma region is 100%, in the Vologda region - 90%, in the Trans-Baikal Territory - 89%, in the Irkutsk region - 68.2%.”

If the inspector nevertheless discovers illegal logging on his site, he must check the documents of those who conduct it, take away their tools and vehicles, and deliver them to the forestry enterprise and draw up a report.

What levers does he have for this?

The inspectors do not have weapons. The law gave them the right to service weapons, but it has not yet been implemented. That's why they are unarmed.

The Accounts Chamber considers this a flaw: armed forest inspectors could more effectively suppress illegal logging. Although not in all cases either.

If a group of “black” lumberjacks is operating in a remote thicket, what will he do with them alone, even if he has a weapon? They probably also have weapons. They'll probably do something to him.

Another common case: in the thicket, it is not “black” lumberjacks who operate, but ordinary hard workers of that very “good person”, close to the management of the forestry enterprise, who seemed to have legally received a plot of land for rent and at the same time decided to cut additional cubic meters nearby.

What can the inspector do in this case? Draw up an act? Well, yes - and tomorrow he will be fired. The leadership of the forestry enterprise, which warmed up the “good man,” is unlikely to positively evaluate the inspector’s zeal.

The forest inspector is the weakest link in the forestry food chain. He can only “eat” someone who is even weaker than him. And weaker than him are the only local residents who went into the forest for free firewood, and the unrequited hard workers plowing in logging for the owner.

He must be punished for illegal logging. Master. But the inspector cannot reach him.

Judging by the figures from the Accounting Chamber, the violators caught by forest inspectors are so poor that there is no point in issuing fines to them.

“In the Primorsky Territory, as a result of violations identified during forest patrols in 2018, the damage caused to forests amounted to 948.1 million rubles, of which only 4.4 million (less than 1%) were voluntarily compensated. In court, out of the total amount of claims of 84.6 million, 20.5 million rubles (24% of the amount of claims) were recovered.

In the Trans-Baikal Territory, damage amounting to 298.3 million rubles was identified, 5.0 million (7%) were voluntarily compensated. In court, out of the total amount of claims of 41.8 million, damages in the amount of 0.07 million rubles were recovered. (less than 1%).

The main problem of non-fulfillment of the requirements of executive documents on compensation for damage to forestry is the financial incapacity of debtors. The majority of violators do not have a regular income, do not have movable and immovable property subject to inventory and seizure, do not have bank accounts or have accounts with a zero cash balance.”

The damage that such violators cause to the state is not comparable with the damage from illegal logging carried out on an industrial scale by large commercial companies.

But they conduct their business at a level where forest inspectors can only be seen through a magnifying glass - even if they are armed.

Is it possible to protect forests from theft?

An audit by the Accounts Chamber “revealed the lack of reliable information on the volume of procurement, turnover and export of timber in the country. This information varies in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, Rosleskhoz and Rosstat.”

This is the answer to the question.

If there is no reliable information, it is impossible to protect forests from theft. There's not even anything to talk about here.

To close this sad topic, we will present a few more conclusions of the Accounts Chamber - solely as information for thinking about the future of our forest wealth.

“Effective planning of forest use is hampered by the lack of up-to-date information on forest resources. 85% of forest management materials are more than 10 years old. This means that there is no reliable information about the state of the forest fund on an area of ​​974 million hectares. In addition, there is no unified information base on the use of forest resources.”

“An assessment of the prospects for the development of forest lands in the territories of the verified constituent entities of the Russian Federation showed that the lease of forest plots for other types of forest management, excluding timber harvesting, is practically not being developed.”

“Measures to prevent illegal logging are not effective enough and do not have an impact on the decriminalization of the situation in the forest industry; the volume of illegal logging and timber trafficking remains high.”

The lack of high-quality infantry in the army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow affected the effectiveness of combat operations. The answer to the problem was the establishment of the Streltsy army by Ivan the Terrible. The date of creation of this type of armed forces is considered to be 1550, when selected three thousand infantry and elected thousand cavalry from the best children of the boyars were established. These formations can be considered a prototype of the guard.
Selected infantry gave rise to the Streltsy army. Initially, the archers were divided into articles (500 people), which in turn consisted of hundreds and tens. As the army reorganized, articles gave way to orders, which in turn gave way to regiments. Unlike the cavalry, recruitment for the archers came from ordinary people, mainly from the urban population. At the head of the articles and hundreds were the boyars and the boyars' children.
The archers lived in special settlements (military towns) and were provided with a constant salary, which also distinguished them from the local cavalry. With the exception of the command staff, the archers were all armed with firearms (arquebuses). The main bladed weapon was the berdysh. The auxiliary weapon was the saber. There is a widespread belief that, along with its use as a bladed weapon, the reed was used as a support for the arquebus when shooting. Also, at different times, protazans, pikes, half-pikes, swords, hand grenades, etc. were used. Protective weapons were practically not used. There were both foot and horse archers. At the same time, both of them conducted combat operations in a dismounted manner. Horses served as a means of delivering infantry to the battlefield. Here we see a similarity between mounted riflemen and dragoons, which were originally created as mounted riflemen fighting on foot.
The Sagittarius formed the first regular army of the Moscow kingdom. The widespread arming of the Streltsy army with edged weapons distinguished it from the European infantry of that time, which was divided into pikemen and riflemen. The features of the archers' weapons had both positive and negative sides. On the one hand, all other things being equal, widespread armament with firearms increased the power of the salvo. On the other hand, the absence of pikemen significantly complicated the defense of the detachment from the attacking cavalry. Especially if she used ramming tactics. Defense by shooting was hampered by the long reloading of arquebuses, and the melee weapons in service were not long enough to isolate themselves from the cavalry. The problem of increasing the efficiency of actions in the field was solved in two ways. The first solution was to create mobile fortifications - a walk-city. The second decision was to introduce pikemen into the Streltsy army, modeled on Western European armies.
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