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Russia to send professional troops to Chechnya starting next year
Starting next year Russia will send only professional troops to Chechnya instead of draftees, the defense minister said Tuesday as he inspected the countryâs first all-volunteer division. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told the 76th Airborne Division that as the first unit to fully switch from conscripts it would serve as a model for the rest of the military. "It has helped us obtain a lot of experience that we can later use in staffing other military units with contract servicemen," the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying as he visited the divisionâs base in Pskov. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made reforming the underfunded and demoralized military his top priority. But he has backtracked on his initial plan to fully phase out the unpopular draft, accepting the militaryâs proposal for a mixture of draftees and volunteer professional soldiers. Under that plan, professional soldiers and officers would account for half the 1.1 million-strong military by the end of 2007. Most would serve in high-readiness units such as those serving in Chechnya, which Ivanov said would be staffed by volunteer soldiers starting next year. The starting monthly salary for a volunteer private in Chechnya will be $510, he said. By comparison, a private in the 76th division earns only $170, roughly the average monthly wage in Russia.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-12-24 |
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