Not to be confused with actual research, but I did some reading on the Russian Army in the 2008 South Ossetia War for an RPG character.
The beatings continue amongst conscripts. Junior conscripts are compelled to serve senior conscripts, doing the senior's various tasks. Hazing and sexual assault amongst and between conscripts and kontraktniki (see below) are common. One could make analogies to a well-armed, patriotic prison.
There are conscripts (and scads of them), then there are contract soldiers--kontraktniki. In theory, the kontraktniki are more professional soldiers, and are meant to slowly turn the force from a conscript army to an all- (or largely-) volunteer force.
The reality is that in most cases the kontraktniki are treated, trained, and utilized about the same as conscripts. And so they live up to those expectations, behaving like the conscripts. While it may be true that the most professional and competent Russian soldiers are kontraktniki, it is also true that some of the worst troops are kontraktniki--be they thugs or just the wives of officers who want a paycheck (talk about your
Dependapotamus nightmare
scenarios!).
What I've heard through other channels more or less confirms this: There is extremely broad variance across the board in the quality of Russian troops, from violent prisoners to real hardcore professional soldiers, but that it's still weighted heavily toward the bottom. Part of the problem is described as a lack of desire, discipline, and funding from the top to properly arm, train, and utilize forces. Too many officers are too distracted by political ambition to do more than paint a thin veneer of a massive capable army over their glorified prison system. This paragraph is so heavily slanted I felt the need to put it in italics to illustrate the point.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...