Red Army goes capitalist

BBC:

The Russian army is set to raise money by auctioning off some of the property it owns, according to reports in the Russian press.

Newspapers in Moscow say the auction will include mansions, unoccupied land, and even whole towns.

The purpose of the sell-off is to raise money to build much-needed modern housing for army officers.

No fewer than 122,400 military families are said to be waiting for self-contained accommodation.

Some have been on waiting lists for years.

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Going under the hammer will be "fabulous mansions and guest houses, dilapidated garrison towns, unused shooting ranges and vast tracts of neglected land, on which no human has set foot for years".

The property owned by the army is extensive, and its total value has been estimated at 300 billion rubles (£6bn).

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I think we definitely won the cold war. The Russian Army is selling off its capital stock to build modern housing. No word on whether they have found all those ropes they supposedly were buying from the capitalist to hang them with.