

Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School are on their way to parachute jumping in Novomaryevskaya village in Stavropol region, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Cadet take part in a tactical exercise that includes entrenchment training, forest survival lessons and other activities outside the southern Russian city of Stavropol. (Eduard Korniyenko)

This past fall, The Washington Post partnered with Visura in an open call for photo essays. The Post selected two winners and three honorable mentions out of hundreds of submissions. We are presenting one of the winners today on In Sight: Russian photographer Eduard Korniyenko’s project, “Lords of the Guns.”

Korniyenko’s project takes us into specialized cadet schools in the Caucasus region of Russia that train young people in military skills. Korniyenko told In Sight that military patriotic education has become part of the school system. From an early age, children study Russian history and train at patriotic military clubs.

According to Korniyenko, students in the cadet schools in the Caucasus region are given standard classes along with spiritual teaching and field training that can span multiple days. This training can include parachute jumping and firearms instruction. Korniyenko says cadets go through intensive training programs at a base near the city of Stavropol, with the students approaching their tasks in a mature, adult manner.

Many of the young people in these programs hope to have military careers. One of those young people, Dmitry Pavlov, told Korniyenko he enjoys the field work, wearing a uniform and working with other cadets and officers because, he says, “I would not learn at a normal school everything that I have learnt at the cadet’s school.”

Korniyenko was born in Stavropol and became a professional photographer in 2000. Since then, he has focused his work on the Northern Caucasus. You can see more of his work on his website, here.



Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School take part in a training march near Stavropol. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Members of a military patriotic club from Crimea train in Sengileyevskoye village in Russia's Stavropol region. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School take part in a training march near Stavropol, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School wait for firearms training in a camp near Sengileyevskoye village in Russia's Stavropol region. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Students from the Yermolov Cadet School take part in a training exercise in a forest near Stavropol, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Members of a search team work at the excavation site where the remains of Red Army soldiers killed in World War II were found, near the village of Didymkin in Stavropol region. In a week of searching, the group formed by members of military patriotic camps and volunteers found remains of 12 soldiers. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Members of a search team work at the excavation site where the remains of Red Army soldiers killed in World War II were found, near the village of Didymkin in Stavropol region, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



A student of the General Yermolov Cadet School throws a training copy of a machine gun on the grounds of the military patriotic club "Russian Knights" base, in Sengileyevskoye village in Stavropol region, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School look at a roster during a military tactical exercise outside the southern Stavropol city, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Student from the General Yermolov Cadet School during training on the school grounds in Stavropol, Russia. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School eat during a field exercise outside Stavropol. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Students from the General Yermolov Cadet School learn to strip weapons and reassemble them. (Eduard Korniyenko)



Members of a military patriotic club from the Crimean city of Evpatoria, on a visit to the base of the military patriotic club "Russian Knights," exercise in the morning near Sengileyevskoye village in Stavropol region. (Eduard Korniyenko)

In Sight is The Washington Post’s photography blog for visual narrative. This platform showcases compelling and diverse imagery from staff members and freelance photographers, news agencies and archives. If you are interested in submitting a story to In Sight, please complete this form.

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