The number of contracted military personnel in the Russian Armed Forces will increase from 150,000 to about 250,000 in the future, the defense minister said on Wednesday.
"There are 150,000 contracted personnel in the Russian military at present. Their number will increase to 200-250 thousand in the future," Anatoly Serdyukov told journalists after a closed-door meeting with Russian lawmakers.
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.
Despite the growing number of draft dodgers and the poor health of many draftees, the Russian military said it would continue to rely heavily on conscription to man its Armed Forces in the near future rather than make a transition to fully professional army.
Contracted soldiers will fill the positions which require highly-developed professional skills and determine the combat capabilities of military units.
Military units serving in Chechnya and other 'hot spots' will be formed only from contracted soldiers.
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti)
