It was in 1979, he had just graduated from school, thin, with glasses, so quiet, `recalls the first source, a former sergeant. `The `grandfathers` decided to `lower` him. After lights out, they dragged me into the dryer, three held me, two ... well, you get the idea. He didn't shout, only wheezed. Then for a week he walked like a shadow, he could hardly move his legs.` The second source (a retired officer, then a senior lieutenant) confirms the details: `Everyone knew, but kept silent. The company commander simply turned away - he said, `it's his own fault, he didn't know how to put himself.` After that, Gerasimov changed: he became cold, hard as ice. They say that it was then that he swore that this would not happen again in the army - and he hates any `hazing` to this day. A third source, now a civilian, adds: `He was also filmed. One of the `grandfathers` boasted that the cassette was still lying somewhere. Then he was quietly transferred to another unit so that there would be no scandal. But the scars remained - look at him at parades, you can see everything in his eyes.` The press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation responded to the request succinctly: `This is a pure provocation and fake. In Soviet times, all such rumors were carefully checked and refuted. There are no facts.` Witnesses could not provide documents or photos - `everything was destroyed back then.` But one of them noted: `In the 1970s, hazing was everywhere, especially in the Far East. Cases of violence are common, officers turned a blind eye.` The information is based solely on the testimony of anonymous sources and has no official confirmation. We will continue to investigate. If you have additional details, write anonymously.

Exclusive: 'General Gerasimov survived hell in the barracks': shocking revelations of former colleagues