Editing Russia (section)

==Description==
The rival to the [[United States of America]] during the Cold War.

Generally very wintry and cold, given some of the position of the country they deal with white nights where the day lasts an interminable long time.

Anti-[[parahuman]] sentiment is more prevalent in Russia than other places.<ref name="II10.13 e1" /><ref>22:12 <~Wildbow> @ Edqu - In Asia in general (esp. Russia, CUI) there's a more endemic anti-parahuman sentiment. Capes get hunted and conscripted/killed by government forces or other capes.<br>22:13 <~Wildbow> Enough so that it's really cut down on the parahuman population & altered the makeup of said populations by way of survival of the fittest. - Comment by Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/33979888 --> According to [[Tanya Engalychev]], Russians tend to view American parahumans as similar to the [[CUI]] - pushy and looking for control.<ref name="PRT1">The way [[Vellum|she]] pronounces with, the subtle error in word choice. She’s English-speaking Russian, not Russian-ethnic American.<br><br>“I am. The good guys,” [[Auroch]] says.<br><br>“Back home, they think very little with a American superheroes. Like China, the bullies. The thugs. Sneakier than China, but still trying to push a way in.”<br><br>“Do I look like a thug?” - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13551770 PRT Quest p67]</ref>

===Policies===
There is no direct [[PRT]] counterpart in Russia.<ref name="SB2.1">There isn't a Russian equivalent to the PRT. If you were moving forward with that, it'd be pretty much pure fanfiction. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14300958/ Private message by Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles]</ref> Instead, the government generally tries to keep [[parahumans]] in their country separated from one another<ref name="II12.4 e1">I remembered Contender talking about the Russian cape scene- he’d toured over there in his mercenary work over there.  Over there, military and powers were woven into one another.  One squad leader with powers or one cape as an adjunct to a squad, adding to their capabilities.  Capes were rarely allowed or encouraged to get along. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/02 Excerpt] from [[Heavens 12.4]]</ref> and society.<ref name="reddit ePolicy" /> Russian leaders tacitly encourage infighting among their elite troops, the [[Elitnaya Armiya]], to prevent them from taking over.<ref>'''Elitnaya Armiya''' - The Army's elite. Think Metal Gear - trained soldiers supported by scary superhumans, as part of Russia's military-industrial complex. The mentality is highly adversarial; these aren't parahumans who play nice with other parahumans, and this includes them not cooperating with other members of the ''Elitnaya''. There's a lot of politicking and backstabbing going on behind the scenes (to the point that Russia is almost divided in four), and each member of the ''Elitnaya'' maintains ties to certain sub-factions, individuals and interests. Favor is curried, and virtually every mission the ''Elitnaya'' are mobilized to involves hidden motivations and sub-goals in service of sponsors and secret masters (human, not Master). Put two of these guys on the same mission, and their interests may collide. Keep in mind, these guys got their start being used to hunt other parahumans. The relationship is largely 'shoot identified parahumans on sight', or, in the case of ''Elitnaya'' vs. ''Elitnaya'', waiting until they're in private before orchestrating one another's murders. This is actively ''curried'' by the people in power, as it means the parahumans can't band together to control society, overtly or otherwise, as it is in America. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14300958/ Private message by Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles]</ref>

The government keeps the numbers and capabilities of Russian [[parahumans]] discreet so that they can simultaneously imply they have lots of parahumans to their enemies and also low levels of parahuman violence to their citizens.<ref name="reddit ePolicy">'''Anchuinse:''' However, we hear about how Russia deals with their heroes are different. They have a single hero lead a squad of unpowered individuals that stick together and act as a force multiplier to their parahuman from learned teamwork. You'd be much more likely to see the situation you describe there as opposed to in the US.<br><br>'''Wildbow:'''  Not so. In Earth Bet's Russia, parahumans are generally kept at arm's reach, removed, separated from one another, separated from society. Numbers and capabilities are kept discreet, so they can simultaneously imply 'we have lots of parahumans' to their enemies and 'we don't have parahumans, we've handled that, you don't need to worry about parahuman violence like people elsewhere do.' (Lower numbers than most other places, though)<br><br>Shock troopers, military, problem solvers, arms of the government, and squadrons that get sent out to execute or enlist any parahuman that they can, with a "We're going to ask you if you want to join once, and if you don't say yes and hold to that, you'll be on the list of those to execute thereafter" approach. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!-- https://redd.it/st8qsk -->

===Military===
The government is very proactive at hunting down and conscripting Russian [[parahumans]] into military service, sending out their forces to execute or enlist any parahuman that they can.<ref name="reddit ePolicy" /> They will then assign a squad of soldiers to the conscripted parahuman;<ref name="II12.4 e1" /> these soldiers act as an extension or force multiplier for the cape as they will learn about their assigned parahuman and how to work with them.<ref>I nodded.  “They’re organized in the old Russian style from back in Earth Bet.  Squads of soldiers with parahumans in charge.  Even down to the armbands and badges.  It makes the squads extensions of the parahumans, force multipliers because they know their parahuman and they work with them.”<br><br>“It’s not the worst idea,” Swansong said.  “If you find people you can trust.”<br><br>“Or forcefully conscript into military service and force into a given squad,” my dad said. - [[Heavens 12.5]]</ref> These squads are very anti-parahuman as they specialize at dealing with enemy parahumans; parahumans from other squads rarely cooperate.<ref name="II12.5 eLandscape">“I knew a cape once who was from there,” my dad said.  “Joined the New York Protectorate.”<br><br>“From Russia?” my mom asked.<br><br>“Yes.  Bunter.”<br>[...]<br>“We talked about what it was like over there,” my dad said.  “Maybe it applies?”<br><br>I rubbed the hand-warmer between my hands as I thought.  “Capes over there tended to break down into the ones who were conscripted, the ones who became fugitives of the state, the weird middle ground ones-”<br><br>“Almost always spies or state-supported capes,” my dad said.  “According to Bunter.”<br><br>I nodded. “-and the villains who were fugitives of the state who managed to establish themselves.  The whole dynamic was very anti-parahuman.  Setting up capes so they rarely cooperated, each squad was primarily expected to deal with capes, whether they were home-grown or not.”<br><br>“They’re set up to deal with us,” I said. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/05 Excerpt] from [[Heavens 12.5]]</ref>

Although this setup worked for their specialized task, it was much less effective against [[Endbringers]]. The Russians actually turned on [[parahumans]] from other countries that initially tried to help; for later Endbringer attacks, they did not receive assistance from other countries.<ref name="II12.5 eEndbringer">“Did it work?” Moose asked.<br><br>“The setup?  ''Yeah''.  For the specialized task.  When they got hit by Endbringers they turned on the people who came to help, though.  For later attacks, they didn’t have the help.  They ended up trying to use airplanes, tanks… but we’re digressing.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/05 Excerpt] from [[Heavens 12.5]]</ref> Combined with Russia having lower number of capes and less structured organization than most other places, they tend to respond to Endbringer or [[S-Class]] threats with military strength more than most other national players.<ref name="SB2"/> 

Another drawback of their setup was that squads ended up subservient to their assigned parahuman. Military parahumans are left in positions of paranoid power and don't usually learn to cooperate, which can magnify negative personality traits, worsen neuroses, and make bad habits more problematic.<ref>“Bunter was a squad leader,” my dad said.  “There was a drawback to that setup.  The squads end up subservient.  Power imbalance.  Every cape has their quirks.  Preferences, eccentricities.”<br><br>“Some of us are the sad kind of insane,” Chastity said.<br><br>“That, yes,” my dad said.  “When you surround yourself with people who don’t balance you out, you can spiral.  The neuroses get worse, the bad habits get more problematic.  Negative personality traits are magnified.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/05 Excerpt] from [[Heavens 12.5]]</ref>