Russia debates a military of the future

Two disastrous wars in Chechnya failed to convince Kremlin leaders to abolish Russia's archaic conscription system and move toward a professional military, but the harsh lessons of Sept. 11 and its aftermath may have finally forced a solution.

Last week, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, announced a sweeping blueprint for change, with a completely redesigned, highly trained, and well-paid volunteer Russian Army by 2010. That is a promise Russian leaders have been making - and breaking - for more than a decade, as the country's dysfunctional Soviet-era military continued inducting a quarter-million young men annually into a life marked by misery, malnutrition, violence, and brutal hazing.

"As it stands, our Army is a monster that swallows up boys and destroys their lives," says Valentina Melnikova, head of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers. "An Army like this is incapable of defending the country. It poisons our society by taking young men and subjecting them to humiliation, corruption, violence, and crime."

Running for reelection five years ago, former President Boris Yeltsin pledged to end the draft by 2000. Upon regaining the Kremlin, he forgot his promise. But experts believe that Mr. Putin, who projects the image of an aggressive modernizer, is far more serious about forcing change. In any case, they say, Russia can no longer afford to keep pleasing an aging corps of conservative generals by exploiting the country's dwindling supply of youthful manpower.

"Reform of the Army cannot be neglected any longer," says Valentin Rudenko, an expert with the independent AVN-Interfax military news agency. "Russia's present armed forces are little more than an expensive bluff. They are incapable of seriously defending the country."

But reforming Russia's armed forces won't be easy. While a leaner and meaner professional force might be more effective and less costly in the long run, the plan is a political and financial nightmare in the short haul.

A Russian conscript currently earns just one ruble (about 3 cents) a day. A volunteer kontraktnik soldier - of which the 1.2-million strong Russian Army has 150,000 - costs 5,000 rubles ($167) per month, plus an 800-ruble ($27) daily bonus when serving in combat operations. Yet experts say the Russian Army has been disappointed with the quality and discipline of its present kontraktniki, whom it deploys mainly in Chechnya, and that the Kremlin understands that wages, housing, benefits, and training will have to be substantially improved if the military is ever to attract serious, career-minded youth.

"To bring the Army and Navy up to strength in a professional form, you need a large amount of money, which we don't have," Mr. Ivanov said. "But the present state of the military also suits no one."

A growing number of Russian youths are evading the draft by feigning illness, buying phony educational deferments, bribes, or going on the lam.

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