Reduce Russian Draft

From The Stars and Stripes:
"Medvedev: Russian military to sharply reduce draft"

The Russian military will rely increasingly on volunteer soldiers and sharply reduce the number of draftees, President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday. He said the conscripts' share will be brought down to 10-20 percent in the next five to seven years, with volunteers accounting for the rest. The pledge to reduce Russia's unpopular draft appears to be part of campaigning for Dec. 4 parliamentary elections, in which Medvedev leads the list of the ruling United Russia party, now that he has decided not to run for re-election so that Vladimir Putin can replace him as president. Medvedev's statement also reflects demographical problems that have made it increasingly difficult for the military to get enough draftees. Due to a population decline, the number of Russian men eligible for the draft has dropped, and most avoid it by signing up for college, being excused for health reasons or simply paying bribes. It wasn't immediately clear whether Medvedev was referring to the entire 1-million member military that includes about 220,000 officers, or was talking only about the enlisted men. Medvedev's pledge followed a statement by Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, who acknowledged last week that the military was struggling to fill the ranks and was aiming to eventually form an all-volunteer army. He didn't mention a specific time frame. Liberal politicians and military analysts have long urged the Kremlin to abolish the draft, which has been extremely unpopular due to the poor conditions and high crime rates within the ranks, particularly the vicious bullying of young conscripts by older soldiers. The government already has launched a sweeping military reform intended to trim the military and turn it into a more modern force. It also has promised to more than double officers' wages starting Jan. 1 and similarly increase salaries for volunteer soldiers.

^ As with most things in Russia this is going to take a very long time to complete. Out of all the Russians I know I have only met 1 who was in the Soviet/Russian military (he started as a draftee in the Soviet Army and ended in the Russian Army.) The majority of Russian men pay high bribes to get fake medical certificates so they don't have to serve. I don't blame them for doing that especially since the Russian Military is known for its poor conditions and abuse. Hopefully, the draft will be done away with completely sooner rather than later and the abuse and bad conditions will stop. ^

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