What are the Russian military fed during the special operation in Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense has published footage of the field kitchen during a special military operation. "Newspaper.Ru" understood how food is provided to Russian servicemen in the DPR, LPR and Ukraine.
Logistics support units (MTO) are responsible for the organization of meals for military personnel.
"The army rear is a huge structure within the Armed Forces, in the tasks of which a large role is played by providing food for personnel. Including on the front line, in combat conditions, where servicemen must be fed and provided with all the norms of food allowance," he told the newspaper.Ru" military expert reserve Colonel Alexander Kolpakov, former rear officer of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. - There is experience of the war in Afghanistan, in other "hot spots", where the rear services provided soldiers and officers with full nutrition. Even more experience appeared during the last large-scale exercises of the Russian army, where hundreds of thousands of servicemen were involved, and all of them had to be fed and watered. Hot meals for soldiers are as important as machine guns and ammunition."
The main army field kitchens that provide meals for military personnel are PAK-200M and PK-130M. They are able to feed 200 and 130 people, respectively.
A feature of the PAK-200M is its mobility - you can cook food both in the parking lot and on the move. Two cooks, a necessary supply of food and water, allow you to feed several units.
A more modernized analogue is the mobile kitchen-dining room of variable volume KSVK-240/24. Because of the retractable wing sections on the sides, which increase the internal volume three times, in the army such a kitchen is also called a "butterfly". Inside, 24 people can comfortably eat at the tables.
Currently, the Russian army operates about 10 thousand field kitchens.
"In addition to hot meals for field kitchens, Russian servicemen performing combat missions in isolation from the main forces receive dry rations. Their official name is individual diets (IRP), which exist in seven variants, the energy value of each exceeds 4.5 thousand kcal. The options vary depending on the time of year (summer-winter), the conditions of use (combat and everyday), the paratroopers and special forces have their own rations - more compact. The dry rations are designed for three meals a day - there are also three plastic spoons in it," he explained to the Newspaper.Ru" member of the Board of Military Experts Sergey Belousov.
Mandatory set - biscuits, canned meat and vegetables, bacon or pate, canned fruit (summer version), processed cheese, sugar, jam or fruit concentrate, fruit sticks, milk drink, chocolate, instant coffee and tea bags, salt and pepper. There are napkins, matches, a portable heater (with dry alcohol tablets), chewing gum, disinfecting tablets and multivitamins. It is envisaged that the IRP can be used by military personnel for no more than three days.
The main manufacturers of dry rations for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation are the Baryshsky meat Processing Plant and the Gryazinsky Food Processing Plant - PJSC "GPK".
- I told the newspaper.Ru" General Director of PJSC "GPC" Valery Kovalevich. - The main conditions are to cook food quickly in the field, exclude perishable foods that cause stomach problems, the set should be nutritious and contain a sufficient amount of nutrients, it is at least 60 percent meat and no more than 16 percent fat.
And the IRP of our production "does not sink in water and does not burn in fire." The outer shell is a complex technological element, to which the military department imposes strict requirements. The dry ration should not be damaged, even if the package lies in the water for three hours at a meter depth, it will stay in the flames of the fire for at least five seconds."
Victor Sokirko
