Of all the things to do to keep the local youngsters entertained, you’d likely imagine that throwing a live grenade wouldn’t exactly be top of most people’s lists. Not only is it incredibly dangerous from a safety perspective, but the act of violence is not really a great example to set for the neighbourhood kids, right?
Well, in Kazan city, the capital of Tatarstan in Russia, a soldier who had recently returned home after a stint in the Ukraine-Russia conflict was attempting to cheer up the community’s youth by doing exactly that: he threw a live grenade within close proximity of his “audience.” Thankfully, however, no one was hurt by the explosion. While the footage occurred last year, the viral clip continues to make the rounds across social media and was shared earlier today over on Reddit.
The clip is taken from an outdoor security camera, and depicts a group of people leisurely hanging out in the street. On the left, we have a man sporting an army uniform sat on a bench, with a woman in a white top and blue jeans sat next to him. Opposite them are two young children, while another woman in black takes up the center of the frame as she attempts to enter the door with the security camera.
As soon as the video footage starts, you can hear a conversation happening between the children and the two sat on the bench, though it’s hard to make out what’s being said as they’re speaking in Russian. The man in military uniform starts to point off camera, and the lady next to him mimics throwing something with her arm. The children seem very interested in what the soldier has to say, and they look like they’re listening intently.
The next few moments appear to be the soldier imitating “pulling the pin” from the grenade he’s holding, and showing the local youngsters how to throw a grenade properly. Obviously, no real grenade has been thrown yet. However, that’s about to change. As the woman in white begins to walk away, the war veteran pulls the pin from the live grenade in his hand and shouts something in Russian as he throws the grenade off camera past the children stood in front of him.
A very loud explosion shortly follows, with the soldier raising his hands proudly in a sort of celebration over his reckless behaviour. The woman waiting at the door turns around and begins screaming at the man in military uniform. As she screams, alarms that have been set off by the explosion ring loudly around her. The woman in black is clearly distressed by the soldier’s dangerous act as she walks away upset and in tears.
With over 2.5k upvotes and 151 comments at the time of writing, the viral clip is gaining plenty of momentum on Reddit at the moment. Of course, while the internet deemed the act to be incredibly dangerous, many found the clip entertaining.
“The way he lifts his arms, as if casually celebrating his fav football team celebrating a goal – man, that’s so reckless but it’s SO hilarious.” one commenter wrote.
Another Redditor chimed in with, “Says a lot of my impression of Russians that I’m pleasantly surprised the moms thought it was inappropriate.”
A third netizen quipped: “Bring your work home day….“
Elsewhere, another commenter added that the grenade was, “apparently thrown to entertain one of the children.”
Finally, another user imagined what the translation could’ve been if the subtitles were accurate in the video, declaring:
I didn’t see the translation here. Guy says: “Why you heff to be mad? Is only game
gawker
Fortunately, the grenade in question was allegedly a concussive grenade that Russian soldiers use for training purposes. Nevertheless, the explosion and sirens at the end of the clip do suggest that the grenade exploded with a significant amount of destructive force. Luckily, no one was hurt by the soldier’s unhinged “entertainment”. But, it does sound like the “prank” did some potential property damage, which I hope the soldier is prepared to pay for.
