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Only 1 Million in Russian Army by 2012
The number of servicemen in the Russian Army will be reduced to 1 million by 2012, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced at the collegium of the Defense Ministries of Russia and Belarus. That will include 150,000 officers, a reduction from the current 450,000. “Now the Armed Forces of Russia will consist mainly of units in permanent readiness,” Serdyukov explained.
The defense minister said that plans were for the armed forces to consist of 1 million people by 2016, but the deadline for that reorganization has been moved up to 2012. A number of measures to increase pay for service men are also being considered. The officer corps will be reduced gradually through the planned departure of officers whose term of duty is up.
Serdyukov also said that rapid reaction units would be formed in every military district. Now only paratroopers are on call as rapid reaction units. The new units will also be part of the paratrooper force. they will be formed by 2012 in the course of the modernization of the Russian Army.
www.kommersant.com
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Photo: Andrey Mahonin
