A surface warship in Russia’s Northern Fleet has for the first time achieved 100-percent manning by contract servicemen, a Western Military District spokesman said on Friday.
There are no conscripts aboard the Vice Admiral Kulakov Udaloy-class destroyer, Captain 1st Rank Vadim Serga said.
Contract servicemen are paid on average 60,000 rubles (about $2,000) a month, he added.
President Dmitry Medvedev earlier said there should be 425,000 contract soldiers in the Armed Forces by 2017, a little less than 50 percent of total manpower.
Submarines started using 100-percent contract personnel earlier.
