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MOSCOW: Murderous rampages by absconding soldiers have aroused growing concern about the parlous state of Russia’s military, igniting debate about conscription and a bold liberal blueprint to overhaul the country’s armed forces.
In recent weeks Russia has witnessed a depressing series of incidents involving heavily-armed deserters leaving in their destructive wake a trail of bodies of innocent bystanders.
The most deadly episode involved two paratroopers, traditionally among Russia’s best-trained troops, who this month shot dead nine people after deserting their Volga region base.
“There is rising concern about the level of crime within the armed forces,” said Vadim Solovyov, managing editor of the weekly Nezavisimaya Gazeta Military Review.
“There are some interesting figures which show that about a quarter of all cases before the military prosecutor are linked to violence inside the barracks.”
Russia’s armed forces have inherited from the Soviet Red Army an unenviable reputation for violent hazing of recruits. The Committee of Soldier’s Mothers of Russia estimates 3,500 conscripts die each year from beatings, malnutrition and disease.
Defence analysts say violence is bound to occur in a system that recruits men with criminal records, acute psychological problems and the educationally sub-normal.
“I think we are at a crucial moment because we can see how the old (Soviet-era) system is collapsing,” said Alexander Golts, a Moscow-based independent defence analyst.
ALTERNATIVE SERVICE: Reliable statistics are hard to come by, but the increase in reported incidents appears to indicate a groundswell of public concern which has been mirrored by the debate over conscription.
The government draft allows conscientious objectors and ethnic minorities living traditional societies, to complete national service in hospitals, the fire service and other state bodies instead of the armed forces.
They may remain in their home districts and engage in studies, a clear snub to the General Staff. But the cabinet did back the generals’ demand that alternative service be twice as long as the two-year military draft. Some fear that will make alternative service a dead letter.
Underlying the alternative service debate is a deeper struggle to force a reluctant military to speed up the sluggish reform process. Solovyov says the military oppose personnel cuts which could see the servicemen who remain secure better pay, because they still want Russia to act as a world, not a regional, power.—Reuters
