The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not fully fulfill the plan to call up conscripts to recruit the Internal Troops (VV) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the autumn draft that ended on December 31, 2010. This was reported in the headquarters of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
“In the application of the General Staff, we asked to send 27 thousand recruits within the framework of the autumn draft for our troops. Unfortunately, this plan has been reduced to 20 thousand, but it has not been fulfilled in full. Only 18,500 conscripts entered the Internal Troops,”the source said.
According to him, with each draft campaign, the General Staff reduces the number of recruits for the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. “Allegedly, due to the lack of draft resources, the plan for the recruitment of conscripts in the formations and units of our troops is decreasing from year to year,” he explained.
Earlier, the deputy chief of the Interior Ministry's Internal Troops, Lieutenant-General Sergei Topchiy, told the agency that "the main command is concerned about the sharp increase in conscripts with a criminal past who are serving to recruit units and formations in the framework of the current autumn conscription."
“In the fall of this year, the number of recruits with a canceled criminal record, who are now coming from the country's military enlistment offices, has significantly increased in our troops. Taking into account the specifics of the activities of our troops, the performance of service and combat missions in the North Caucasus, this circumstance worries us more and more,”Topchy stressed.
The general did not name specific numbers of recruits sent to the Internal Troops with a cleared conviction or who had problems with law enforcement agencies. “Unfortunately, in accordance with the legislation, citizens with a criminal past are now called up for military service on a general basis, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces, apparently, does not seek to track which troops this category of recruits is sent to,” General Topchy said.
In accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, during the autumn conscription, it was planned to call up 278,800 people. The Ministry of Defense assured that the draft passed without serious violations and the plan was fully implemented. At the same time, the department acknowledged that the quality of the conscript contingent will be worse than before.
The reason for this, according to military officials, is the so-called "demographic hole" - if from 1980 to 1985 in Russia up to 1.5 million boys were born annually, then in 1988, 800 thousand boys were born.
The Ministry of Defense is concerned about the health of conscripts. The ministry annually sends to the troops about 65% of citizens who "have good health", but for one reason or another cannot serve in security units. In addition, about 35% of citizens of military age are exempted from service or receive deferrals for medical reasons. About 100 thousand people who came to the military registration and enlistment offices are sent for repeated medical examinations.
