Soviet vets begging to fight for Israel while Israelis refuse—what's wrong with this picture?
The long lasting Palestinian-Israeli conflict has created appaling phenomenons that have horrified the Israeli society. the "politically conscience-refusals" or those individual soldiers refusing to fight in the occupied territories, are one of those phenomenons. In opposition to them stand a thousand immigrants from the former Soviet Union, ex-military men from the Red Army, who yearn to be recruited into the IDF and fight for Israel, but who are denied the right to serve in the army. Through the stories of Oleg and Alex, immigrants and the battalion's charismatic commanders, the story of the Russkii Battalion is told. It is a story of contrasts between the hardships of the daily struggles they face as new immigrants against the pride and the sense of belonging they find in the battalion. The Russkii Battalion is a film about a militaristic social bubble, in a country that is in constant war.
Direction
Faudem captures desperate pride without exploitation.
Production
Raw access to a bizarre, closed military subculture.
Director
Joshua Faudem
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Post-Soviet immigration to Israel peaked in the 1990s with nearly one million arrivals, many highly educated but economically marginalized, creating unique pressures to prove loyalty through military service.
The 'conscientious objector' movement peaked in the early 2000s with hundreds of Israeli reservists refusing West Bank service—making this battalion's eagerness to replace them politically explosive.
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