Russia's Defense Ministry will be forced to further cut the number of contract servicemen due to a lack of funds, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Thursday.
"We do not have the resources to maintain as many contract servicemen as we would like," he said.
The number of conscripts drafted into service will be increased, he added.
Vasily Smirnov, deputy chief of the General Staff, said in late July that the Russian army would recruit over 100,000 contract servicemen, down from the originally planned number of 210,000.
ST. PETERSBURG, September 23 (RIA Novosti)
