Russia Drafting 123,310 Men into Russia's Military
Starting October 10 - Term of Military Service 2 Years
October 3, 2006
Kommersant
This fall, over 123,000 young men are to be called to arms during the last military draft before the term of the service is ultimately reduced. Well-aware of forthcoming reduction, the youth will do the utmost to avoid long-term service, so the Army is likely to face mass evasion again.
Photo: Today’s draft is the last one before reducing the term of the military service. So the problems with calling to arms are well-excepted. (Vasily Alexandrov)In accordance with the president’s decree, 123,310 conscripts will be called in this fall, Gen. Vasily Smirnov, who is the deputy chief of the General Staff, announced Monday. The conscripts will be sent to troops starting from October 10. They won’t go to Chechnya, as only the military serving under the contract are sent there, the general specified.
The draft target will be attained, officers of the General Staff are sure, acknowledging the forthcoming difficulties. For the conscripts put into the uniform this fall, the term of the military service will last for two years, but it will be curtailed to a year and a half already in spring and to a year starting from 2008.
The reduction will mean recruiting problems for the Army - the troops will lose two drafts, i.e. around 300,000, in the fall of 2008 - so the military should focus on building up the reserve already this fall. But the peculiarity of this draft will be evading the service at large.
Well-aware of forthcoming reduction, the youth will do the utmost to avoid long-term service, forecasted Alexey Sigutkin, deputy chairman of State Duma’s Committee for Defense. The problem of those dodging the military service is really acute, Gen. Smirnov confirmed Monday. The number was 15,000 in 2005 and 12,000 in 2006. “Prosecutors and military commissars will have enough work to do to put an end to this infamous practice,” the general warned.
