The Russian Shooting Range Massacre: The Perils of Religion in the Workplace

I’m an unapologetic evangelical Christian. If someone disparaged Jesus Christ in my presence, I might pity them, but I wouldn’t get angry about it. However, not everybody looks at life the same way I do.

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I was once working an overnight shift in a busy inner city emergency room when the cops dragged in a homicidal maniac who happened also to be Muslim. This guy was a product of his sordid world and was also hopped up on some pretty serious illicit substances. It took four police officers to get him strapped down.

If you can divest yourself of the emotions of the moment, it is fascinating to just stand back and watch people like that operate. This guy was absolutely unhinged. His insensible rages mixed ghetto slang with simply incalculable venom directed at frankly everybody. What made it really weird was the Muslim eschatology he sprinkled over the top of his rant for flavor. 

I have no idea what initially sparked his interaction with Law Enforcement. At some point during his arrest, he had suffered a pretty impressive gash to the side of his head. I got plenty of help to hold him sort of still and sewed his head back together. The result will not hang in the Louvre. However, he didn’t bleed to death, either, so there’s that. I can only imagine what that dude felt like the following day when all the wicked X/crank/cat valium/whatever finally ran its course.

I have several Muslim buddies who are simply great blokes. This guy, however, was a freaking homicidal lunatic. What I recall most clearly about that exchange is how passionate he was about his faith, even under conditions of such extremis. One of the cops goaded him a little bit about that, and I feared the poor guy might just explode. Under the wrong circumstances, Muslim extremists simply have no sense of humor. We see the results of that play out on the news somewhere almost every day.

Vladimir Putin’s legions rolled into neighboring Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The Russian Special Military Operation was the largest attack against a European country since World War 2. What Putin clearly thought would be a brief but violent incursion wherein the locals welcomed his occupying forces with open arms has turned out to be something altogether different. Now more than three years on, Ukraine has been a bloodbath for all involved.

It’s kind of weird if you think about it. Even this deep into the Information Age, a nation-state invaded another, driven solely by the hubris of a single megalomaniacal dictator. As a species, one might hope we would be beyond that these days. By now, however, Putin has painted himself into a corner out of which he cannot seem to escape.

Putin is a monster, but he’s not stupid. If he loses this fight, he becomes a prime candidate for summary defenestration. This is an unnecessarily polysyllabic way of saying that somebody will throw him out of a tall window. Accidentally falling from high places is a common refrain in Russia these days. As a result, with more than a million dead and wounded on both sides, there seems to be no handy off-ramp. To support his ill-conceived boondoggle, Putin has had to dig ever deeper into his reserves of manpower. Eventually, this was destined to cause problems.

On 15 October 2022, a mixed-ethnicity combat unit preparing for deployment to Ukraine was training at a military facility near Soloti, Valuysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization that was formed from the wreckage of the Soviet Union back in 1991. The CIS has a land area of some 7.8 million square miles and a population of nearly 240 million people. It is from this deep well that Putin draws meat for his expansive military machine. However, such a large country encompasses a great many disparate political and religious groups.

There is an intimacy implicit in military service that really has no parallel in the civilian world. Young, fit, testosterone-fueled troops come together for a common mission and bond via corporate suffering. This odd milieu can create some of the most powerful friendships as well as some of the most acrimonious conflicts. In this case, a trio of young Muslim soldiers was having second thoughts about the appropriateness of the enterprise. Eyewitnesses actually later reported that these three had formally declared that, “This was not our war,” and attempted to extricate themselves from their current sordid situation. 

In response to this simmering dissent, their battalion commander, one Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Lapin, called a confab. His subordinates drew his unit up in formation and had the troops sing the national anthem. Now appropriately infused with patriotic fervor, LTC Lapin addressed the group, no doubt intending to inspire his charges for the inevitable fight to come. Tragically, his motivational speech did not have the desired effect.

Lapin explained that Putin’s Special Military Operation was actually a holy war. He likely invoked the thoroughly debunked Nazi imagery and sundry talking points that Putin and his minions used to con the Russian people into this boondoggle in the first place. There resulted a most acrimonious discourse on what it actually meant for a Muslim to engage in jihad. The Muslims present were apparently concerned that the current circumstances did not technically meet the criteria. 

These three increasingly agitated Tajiks tried to explain that holy war only happened when pious Muslims were fighting infidels. The group began to fractionate into Muslims and everyone else. Then somebody started shoving. Now letting his temper get the better of him, Lapin said, “Allah is a coward if he does not allow you to fight for the country to which you swore an oath.” 

That phrase could also be translated, “Allah is a weakling.” There were devout Muslims among both the officer and enlisted ranks, and this characterization did not go over well with any of them. Now simply frustrated, Lapin dismissed his troops to sort out their troubles quietly. However, that’s not exactly how things unfolded.

Lapin and his command team had not been terribly accommodating up to this point. The Russian rank system is notoriously top-heavy. Their officer class has a reputation for being both draconian and cruel. The American professional NCO corps is trained to take the initiative and get the job done at the lowest possible level. That’s the primary strength of our inimitable military system. By contrast, the Russians are much more dictatorial. 

Before this time, the Muslim members of the unit had complained vociferously that they were not given the time, facilities, or space to practice their faith adequately. This created a simmering anger. LTC Lapin’s poorly-reasoned motivational speech disparaging their holy prophet was the match that lit a most horrible fire. 

The Russians and Muslims continued to scrap in small groups, no doubt debating the finer points of Islamic doctrine. From Lapin’s point of view, the situation was defused. However, later that afternoon, the training schedule had the battalion slated for the rifle range. Once everybody was issued automatic weapons, it was game on.

The original three rabble rousers, senior sergeants Bikzot and Anushe, along with a junior NCO named Ami, were indigenous Tajiks who were clearly serious about their faith. As soon as they were issued live ammunition, these three quietly directed their fellow Muslims to step aside. They then tracked down the heretic LTC Lapin and blew him away. This deed done, they turned their weapons on the rest of their infidel comrades.

Bikzot and Anushe chewed into the tightly packed troops with their assault rifles. Ami dropped his weapon and ran away. The result was carnage most ghastly.

The two zealots ultimately murdered eleven of their comrades and wounded a further fifteen. An Ensign named Semyonov was in the nearby hut where they stored ammunition. As the shooters struggled to reload and continue their rampage, Semyonov heard the gunfire and responded instinctively.

The Russians were understandably tight-lipped on the details afterwards. However, witnesses reported that Semyonov was carrying his service pistol, and he obviously also had access to plenty of rifle ammo. In the subsequent chaos, Ensign Semyonov killed Bikzot and Anushe. He also shot Ami in the shoulder as he attempted to flee.

This was a secure military facility surrounded by wire. However, there was a nearby spot where troops had pulled the barrier material loose so they could sneak into the nearby town without clearing the guard shack. Ami dove through this hole and escaped. I was unable to determine whether or not he was ever caught, though I feel certain he was.

READ MORE HERE: SSG David Bellavia: It’s All Fun and Games Until Some Unwashed Lunatic Bites You in the Balls

The current situation in Ukraine is just a mess. The last Ukrainian offensive degenerated into a stalemate, and both sides slaughter each other wholesale with drones, tanks, and artillery. Though the Russians clearly have their own myriad problems, tragically, I see no end in sight.

A point of personal privilege—There is currently great acrimony in Washington about support for the Ukrainians in their existential fight against the invading Russians. I honestly fail to comprehend this. The Ukrainians have problems with corruption, but our own President Biden was investigated for taking money from the Chinese. Corrupt politicians are a timeless scourge. 

Additionally, we have been churning out weapons to fight the Russians my entire life. Much of what we are sending the Ukrainians is stuff we just pulled out of storage that was excess to our needs. Now that we have someone else who is willing to do the bleeding for us, this seems a once-in-a-century opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of the Russian menace once and for all. However, perhaps it’s a good thing I’m not the President. Given their stellar performance in Afghanistan and our own southern border, I’m sure Biden and Company knew what they’re doing…

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