Word: drafts
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...real name) paid $2,500 to be certified with his mental illness three years ago. He is just one of thousands of young Russians who have gotten out of military service (or are trying to) as the country comes up to the April 1 beginning of its biggest peacetime draft in history, one that hopes to enlist 305,000 new soldiers. (See pictures of Russia's evocation of Soviet military glory...
...line. This age cohort was born in 1991, the year Communism collapsed and the Soviet Union became moribund, and may not be as indoctrinated into the old patriotism as previous generations. The year 1991 also had a particularly low birth rate, which makes a huge peacetime draft even more of a challenge. The young men are also entering employment and working age - and families in the middle of Russia's economic crisis, which is sharper than the rest of the world's, may not be so willing to give up their potential breadwinners. (Soldiers are paid a minimal and "symbolic...
...colonel. "He signed a medical certificate which says that I am weakened from my childhood meningitis," he says. "It's valid until I turn 27." He didn't have to pay a thing. But he says he knows friends in Moscow that paid $10,000 for similar papers. "Draft-dodging is a national pastime," says Alexander Golts an independent military analyst. "In Russia it's a million-dollar industry." (See 10 things to do in Moscow...
...horrors of service may drive people away but, in the end, demographics may be enough to undermine the Russian draft. This generation is already small compared to past conscription pools; it is also qualitatively of poorer stock. Says Golts: "Already, half the conscripts are not actually healthy enough to serve." Golts worries about the drafts to come. In the next few years, he says, the situation will become worse because of the poor birth rates of the 1990s. "I am not sure what the army will do to maintain the quota...
Safi says he wants to foster greater openness with NGOs and intends to solicit their opinions regarding the draft law. Still, he doesn't think government surveillance of their activities is an infringement on their freedom. "The surveillance authorities follow and watch NGOs because there were a lot of legal breaches by NGOs that resulted in bad things," he says, referring to allegations that some groups supported terrorism or functioned as brothels. "This forced the government to monitor and maintain surveillance of NGOs given the thorny security situation...