By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia has no young men of proper age left to recruit for the one-year compulsory service in its armed forces, the chief of the Russia’s general staff has said.
The current crisis in the armed forces was mainly due to demographic decline, bullying and brutal treatment of recruits.
General Nikolai Makarov said around 11 percent of young men in the country aged 18-27 were eligible for the army. But out of them 60 percent had health problems and could not be drafted under law.
“We now have a situation when there is virtually nobody left to draft. It is a serious problem and I make no bones about it,” Makarov said.
Many young people reportedly fake medical documents or even start a family in order to avoid the 12-month compulsory service.
The crisis in the compulsory service has led the defence ministry to halve the number of recruits in the autumn 2011 period. It will now recruit 135,850 young men instead of 250,000-300,000, as was planned in spring, the ArmyRus.ru web portal said.