2019
Dima79
8
posts
Dima79
last edit on
7/26/2026 9:19:32 AM
Awhile back, This image scan was damaged. Cracks and scratches white lines. I repaired it in photoshop by hand using a clone stamp.
Now that method of approach is obsolete. Or a hobby perhaps.
Meta Ai said:This is a black-and-white photo of young soldiers taking the military oath — a formal induction ceremony in the Soviet / early Russian Army.
What you're seeing:
The central action: The soldier in the front is reading aloud from a folder that says "ВОЕННАЯ ПРИСЯГА" — Russian for "Military Oath." That's the core of the ceremony. Every recruit reads the oath of allegiance before his unit.
The soldiers: A group of 6-7 young conscripts in winter uniform. They're wearing heavy wool greatcoats - shinel - and ushanka fur hats with the Soviet star-and-cockade emblem on the front. Most are carrying AK-pattern rifles at port-arms. Their faces are very young, which was typical for Soviet conscripts at 18-19 years old.
The flag: On the right is a unit flag. It looks like the white-blue-red tricolor of Russia, which suggests this is right around the transition period — late 1991 to early 1990s, when the Soviet Union dissolved and Russian units switched from the red Soviet flag to the Russian tricolor, but were still wearing Soviet uniforms and insignia.
The setting: Indoors, likely in a barracks assembly hall or Lenin Room. The ceremony was always done formally, indoors in winter, in front of the unit colors and with weapons.
This kind of photo was extremely common. Taking the oath was a major rite of passage — only after it was a soldier considered a full member of the armed forces and allowed to be entrusted with a weapon and combat duty. Families would often get a copy of this exact moment as a keepsake.The grain, the uniforms, and the flag together point to this being Soviet / Russian Army, probably late 1980s to early 1990s.
Now I know everything.
Free video generator = Watermark. When you use a lot of tokens it's nice to be able to do little things on the side for nothing.
Cool! I posted this photo a few years ago and you saved it. Thanks, you entertained me. But the AI got the color wrong. Soviet army winter hats with earflaps are blue, and our AK model was black, with the forend and butt made of black plastic. I served in 1997-1999, but we were issued Soviet uniforms. The Soviet Union kept millions of sets of military uniforms in warehouses in case of war with NATO and the call-up of reservists. The new Russian uniforms in the 90s were of lousy quality. Soldiers joked that if you sit on a bench three times in summer camouflage, a hole will form in your pants.
Dima79
Cool! I posted this photo a few years ago and you saved it. Thanks, you entertained me. But the AI got the color wrong. Soviet army winter hats with earflaps are blue, and our AK model was black, with the forend and butt made of black plastic. I served in 1997-1999, but we were issued Soviet uniforms. The Soviet Union kept millions of sets of military uniforms in warehouses in case of war with NATO and the call-up of reservists. The new Russian uniforms in the 90s were of lousy quality. Soldiers joked that if you sit on a bench three times in summer camouflage, a hole will form in your pants.
I knew that, just checking if you'd notice ' '
I save everything.
Black AK47, Blue hat, brown coat. I skipped on the plastic cause it probably wouldn't make a different.
Blue is close, I checked up on some reference images of 1999 soviet winter uniforms, looks grey to me.
Those men are your Brothers. You still talk to any of them or what ?
It's said Russian men die young from liver failure to a point where most Russians are female, so I presume some of them passed away.
Black AK47, Blue hat, brown coat. I skipped on the plastic cause it probably wouldn't make a different.
Blue is close, I checked up on some reference images of 1999 soviet winter uniforms, looks grey to me.
Those men are your Brothers. You still talk to any of them or what ?
It's said Russian men die young from liver failure to a point where most Russians are female, so I presume some of them passed away.
Our company was understaffed. There were only 27 of us. During my service, I only became good friends with seven of my fellow soldiers, but Russia is a huge country and we all live in different regions, so after my military service, I never saw my army friends. We wrote letters to each other and rarely called each other. When the internet became cheaper and more widely available in Russia, we communicated on a Russian social network. Three of my army friends are already dead. One died in a car accident, the second died of a drug overdose, and the third was stabbed to death by bandits. Only four remain, but we all have our own families, jobs, and concerns, and now we rarely communicate.
Dima79
8
posts