Russia will continue to rely heavily on conscription to man its Armed Forces in the near future rather than make a transition to fully professional army, a senior military official said on Monday.
"Our Armed Forces, while accomplishing a great number of tasks, have to rely on conscription due to the current economic situation in the country and limited resources," said Yuri Dashkin, head of the main directorate for morale in the Russian Armed Forces.
"The state simply cannot support the transition to a professional army," he explained.
All Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are obliged by law to perform one year of military service, but reports of military hazing and harsh conditions encourage people to evade conscription by bribing military officials and doctors for medical exemption certificates.
Following a series of incidents involving the deaths of military conscripts in the past few years, Russian authorities have moved to boost the safety of servicemen and improve the military's image.
However, the number of draft dodgers continues to grow. This trend is aggravated by the poor health of many Russian draftees and the "demographic hole" created in the 1990s.
The Russian military plans to draft about 270,000 eligible young people during the spring 2010 conscription.
In line with the ongoing military reform, the Russian Armed Forces will be downsized to 1 million personnel by 2016, enlisting 150,000 officers and about 745,000 soldiers.
The length of military service for draftees will remain unchanged at 1 year.
MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)
