Aleksandr Kanshin has reemerged . . . late of the Public Chamber, he’s now Deputy Chairman of the Defense Ministry’s Public Council, and he blames new army uniforms designed by fashion mogul Valentin Yudashkin for the recent outbreak of illnesses among conscripts in the Central Military District.
Vesti.ru and Newsru.com picked up what Kanshin told Interfaks:
“Judging by documents I’ve been made familiar with, one of the causes of illnesses among the young reinforcements in the troops, particularly in the Central Military District (TsVO), is manufacturing defects in the new winter field uniform supplied to conscripts at the assembly points of the military commissariats. In other words, the new type uniform ‘from Yudashkin’ doesn’t defend soldiers against freezing in low temperatures.”
“At times, TsVO servicemen have to wear warm things under the new winter uniform.”
Kanshin also said he’s talked with TsVO Commander, General-Lieutenant Vladimir Chirkin who recognizes the new uniform needs improvement, but he also indicates 80 percent of his personnel are dressed in the old field uniform which is much warmer.
Vesti.ru reported the majority of the district’s servicemen are negative about the Yudashkin uniform because the air temperature is -20° (-4° F) and the wind blows through it outside.
Newsru.com pointed back to several scandals over the Yudashkin uniform, including last December when it said 250 soldiers became seriously ill in their unit in Yurga. It was proposed at the time that they became sick because the new uniform didn’t protect them against the cold.
These new digital cammies were developed between May 2007 and 2010. Besides fashion designer Yudashkin, specialists from the Central Scientific-Research Institute of the Garment Industry and the Defense Ministry’s Central Clothing Directorate participated in creating them.
Gzt.ru claims Yudashkin isn’t to blame. The winter uniform was changed and sewn in defense industry factories with cheap materials. Perhaps these are Kanshin’s “manufacturing defects.” Sounds like corruption though, if someone substituted inferior materials.
Doctors told journalists that Yudashkin’s boots don’t keep out the cold either.
According to Gzt.ru, the military prosecutor is checking the situation in the TsVO. Meanwhile, the military officially denies the uniforms are to blame, and maintains the emergency situation is just a seasonal outbreak of illness.
Russian Defense Policy 