Draft-dodging in Russia

[Dreamer128]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pledged to rebuild Russia's military might and restore national pride to it. But amid reports of abuse and killings within the service and no calm in Chechnya, the number of young conscripts evading the army has risen to alarmingly high levels.

A group of casually dressed youngsters get their instructions for the day from one of the officers at the ‘prizyvny punkt', the recruiting office for the Moscow region in Zheleznodorozhny, a town near the capital Moscow.

First their fingerprints will be taken, then they'll have to undress for the crucial part: the final medical check-up, to see whether they are fit to serve in the army.

Many, if not most, are less than enthusiastic about the prospect of two years in the Russian army. Nikolai, from the town of Solnechnogorsk, is one of them.

"In the past everybody served, of course,'' he says. "But those were different times. Maybe the army was better then. Now I don't know, I wasn't there. But they say that during the first month everything's fine, and then it really starts. In the old days,'' he adds, "you could serve abroad, and there was discipline. Now there is no discipline, nothing.''

Medical

Next to Nikolai sits Sergei, also with just his underpants on, in his hands a shiny new military identification card. Sergei is a little nervous, but he says he is sure he will not have to join the army. He is unfit, because he suffers from varicose veins.

One after the other, the boys have to be examined by a series of specialists, each in his own cabinet, from the dentist to the psychiatrist. The last room in the row is occupied by the draft commission, who will decide whether a conscript is fit to serve and if so, where. The verdict is read out loud.

"On the basis of the results of the medical commission, Aleksandr Shestopalov has been declared fit for military service without any restrictions,'' says the lieutenant-colonel who heads the draft commission.

Lower numbers

That means that Aleksandr is now in the Russian army. He is one of about 5,000 boys from the Moscow region who will join the army this spring, from a total of 50,000 drafted. An extremely low percentage, a result of the ever-larger numbers of young Russians trying to evade military service, or at least postpone it. The number of boys actually joining the army in and around Moscow is lower than anywhere else, says Colonel Igor Telbukhov, Draft Supervisor in Zheleznodorozhny.

"The low percentage in our region is caused by the fact that the Moscow province has a lot of institutes of higher education. As a result, a very large number of conscripts have been granted a delay of military service,'' he says.

National sport

In Russia as a whole, between 150,000 and 200,000 boys are drafted each spring and autumn. Not more than 11 percent of them actually join the army. Draft dodging has become a national sport in Russia, and that is no wonder. It is no secret that hundreds of soldiers get killed each year. Many commit suicide; others are murdered or die of wounds inflicted by other soldiers or officers. According to Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov 337 soldiers were killed last year alone. The previous year the number was even higher, with more than 500 killed and some 20,000 seriously injured. In addition, there is the danger of being sent to hot spots like Chechnya.

No surprise then, that draft dodging has become big business as well. Many parents are willing to pay large sums of money to save their children from an uncertain fate in the army. According to Russia's education ministry, a whole string of institutes can only exist thanks to the large numbers of students seeking to evade military service.

Reforms at standstill

As a consequence, those who do serve come from relatively poorer families, have had less education and often have criminals among their friends - a fragile basis for an army that is in desperate need of modernization. A smaller, professional army has been declared a goal of the current Russian administration, but military reform appears to have come to a standstill.

Outside, the new recruits have to obey orders and march for the first time, before entering the bus, which will bring them to the train station. From there, they will leave for their final destination. Close to home for some, 9,000 kilometres away on the Pacific coast for others.

(Source: Rnw.nl)

[ 06-04-2004, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

[Black Baron]

No wonder. The russian military is one of the worst places to serve. Putin made no remarcable progress in the Russia Chechnia war, so the moral is down.

Pfui.

[promethius9594]

i'm glad that the german military is nothing like that, if it were i would feel bad for the young german men. its not conscription thats the problem, its the piss-poor military that makes it so bad.