The number of professional soldiers in the Russian Army should be increased, the head of the defense committee in the Russian parliament's upper house said on Wednesday.
"Today, officers account for 15 percent of the Armed Forces [personnel], professional servicemen for 25 percent - the rest are conscripts," Viktor Ozerov told reporters at the Sergeyevsky testing ground in Russia's Far Eastern Primorye Territory.
"I believe that this is not quite right," he said.
The discussion on whether the country's Army should mostly consist of conscripts or professional servicemen has been held in Russia since the mid-2000s, when large-scale military reforms were launched in the country.
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.
Yuri Dashkin, who heads the main directorate for morale in the Russian Armed Forces, said in May that Russia 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. The major reason for this, he said, was the current economic situation in the country and limited resources.
The Russian military was planning 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.
SERGEYEVSKY TESTING GROUND (Primorye Territory), July 7 (RIA Novosti)
