Russia is already ready to completely replace the existing system of formation of the armed forces with a contract system, according to the Growth Party. The Russian Public Initiative (ROI) portal has launched a collection of signatures for amendments to the law “On military service" It is proposed to supplement it with a clause according to which “military service is carried out on a voluntary basis (under a contract).” At the same time, it is proposed to remove Article 328 “Evasion from military service” from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

It is quite possible to make appropriate changes to the legislation in the near future and make sure that the spring conscription of 2016 becomes the last, believes the party leader, Federal Commissioner for Entrepreneurs Boris Titov. “The last step remains for the transition to a fully professional army. We have already passed the adaptation period, we know how a contract army works, all the technical parts are there, all that remains is to make a decision and refuse conscription,” he said at round table dedicated to this topic.

According to Titov, today there are enough people in the country who professionally fulfill their military duty. They are the ones who participate in real serious special operations. And new conscripts dig trenches around their unit and are generally used more for housework than for their intended purpose. The army and military officers do not need them, but the generals need them as cheap work force to carry out everyday household needs.

In a year of urgent conscription, it is impossible to turn yesterday's schoolchild into a professional soldier. And even if in in some cases this will be possible, the actual period of its effective operation (minus training time) will not exceed 2-3 months. And then the person will return to civilian life, where the acquired skills will dissolve as unnecessary. A contract soldier who comes to military service voluntarily and for a long time will perform his functions for at least several years, supporters of this initiative argue for their position.

Moreover, today, in the era of targeted special operations and hybrid wars, which often begin on Facebook and are waged not so much on the battlefield as in the information space, the armed forces no longer require a huge number of privates. And from an economic point of view, training and servicing endless conscripts costs the state budget more than maintaining a professional army on a contract basis.

And in case of unforeseen circumstances and the need to assemble a large-scale people’s militia, it is necessary to train reservists, including women. To do this, it is necessary to revive the system of military departments at universities and make more active use of the practice of short-term military training. It would also not hurt to revive basic military training in schools. Already on this early stage You can teach some professional skills that can be useful both in the army and in life, for example, the ability to drive large machines, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a tank or a tractor, or to provide first aid.

At the same time, in order to create a full-fledged professional army, the issue must be considered comprehensively, and solve not only the problem of training and maintaining contract soldiers, but also their future fate after the end of the service. Everyone acknowledges the existence of this problem. IN Soviet time An officer leaving for the reserve received an average pension of 220-250 rubles, and could calmly fish at his dacha for his own pleasure, without thinking about his daily bread. Today, the average pension of a military personnel is from 20 to 30 thousand rubles. This, of course, is more than the average Russian pension in general, but it is still not enough for a full life. After all we're talking about about people who are still quite young - 40-45 years old, most have families and children.

In Russia, at this age, finding a job is, in principle, quite difficult, and even more so in the absence of “civilian” experience. And if technical specialists can still get a job in some commercial companies, then where can a combat officer go - only in security? But such people are in great demand in various criminal structures.

This social problem became especially pronounced in the 90s. Now the situation with the employment of military personnel has changed in better side, but is still far from ideal. In order to somehow relieve its severity, it is necessary to start working in advance with those who are planning to leave the ranks of the armed forces, the round table participants summarized.

“On measures for a phased transition to staffing the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with military personnel on a voluntary basis - under a contract.” The document obliged the Ministry of Defense from 1993 to begin organizational work on a phased transition to military service on the basis of a contract. At the first stage, the ministry was supposed to engage in attracting citizens to contract service in regions with “surplus labor resources", as well as recruit soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen who have already served in the army under conscription for contract service. On First stage reforms allocated 6 billion rubles. On January 31, 2012, the document became invalid.

On May 16, 1996, Presidential Decree No. 723 was also signed, which allowed conscripts to be sent to an armed conflict zone only on a voluntary basis and after concluding a contract with them. However, this decree was changed two years later - now the document stated that soldiers, sailors, foremen and conscripted officers could be sent to “hot spots” on a voluntary basis, but without concluding a contract. In October 1999, the decree completely lost force.

In addition, in September 1999 it was determined that conscripts could be sent to a combat zone after six months of military training. On February 11, 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that reduced the period of such preparation to four months.

At the end of December 2016, a law on short-term contracts was adopted, which allows conscripts who signed the corresponding document to be sent abroad “to participate in activities to maintain or restore international peace and security or suppression of international terrorist activities.”

“At the same time, the implementation of the government initiative will not require additional financial costs,” noted Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

May 16, 1996 President Boris Yeltsin issued decree No. 722 “On the transition to filling positions of privates and sergeants in the Armed Forces and other troops of the Russian Federation at professional basis" The decree in its original version determined that from the spring of 2000, the Armed Forces must completely switch to “staffing positions of privates and sergeants on the basis of the voluntary admission of citizens to military service under a contract with the abolition of conscription.” The development of the procedure for entering contract service was to be completed by 2000. In July 1996, Yeltsin was re-elected as president.

In two years the decree was amended - now the document provided for the transition to contract service “as the necessary conditions" Soon the State Duma adopted the federal law“On military duty and military service,” in which “conscription military service” was recorded as an obligation, and the fulfillment of “the constitutional duty to defend the Fatherland through voluntary enrollment in military service” was recorded as a citizen’s right.

In November 2001 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov presented a report to President Vladimir Putin on the gradual transition of the Armed Forces from conscription to the contract principle of recruitment. The report stated that Russia needed a gradual transition to a fully professional army; the number of contract soldiers in the Armed Forces should grow annually; the pace of reform will depend on the economic capabilities of the country, the prime minister specified. Newly appointed Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov estimates that the transition to a fully professional army would take at least 10 years.

In August 2002 At a meeting with sailors of the Pacific Fleet, Putin called the transition to contract service “task number one.” At the same time, he did not talk about the abolition of conscription as the ultimate goal of military reform. “In general, in continental countries, rarely does anyone switch to 100% contract service. But at the same time, contract service can be and, apparently, will be in the future, as it were, the main component,” Putin reasoned. - Initially it seemed that it was enough to simply increase the salary, and that’s all. No. Some of our politicians say: let us transfer everything to a contract basis within a year. You can transfer it to a contract basis within a year, but this will discredit the idea itself.”

In 2003 the government approved the federal target program “Transition to manning a number of formations and military units with contract military personnel,” according to which almost half of the units were to be transferred to the category of permanent combat readiness units; From now on, only contract soldiers could serve in them. The same program provided that from 2008, conscription service would be reduced to 12 months. According to a member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, director human rights group"Citizen. Army. Right” by Sergei Krivenko, the military department failed to implement the program - “soldiers were forced to sign a contract,” and conscripts continued to serve “in real military units,” although the Federal Target Program assumed that they would only master military specialties.

In 2004 Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that conscription into the army would not be cancelled; Only units with constant combat readiness will switch completely to the contract. “In Russia, no one has set or intends to set the task of completely transitioning to a contract system for recruiting the army and navy,” Ivanov said, explaining that “the state does not have such capabilities, and this must be directly recognized.”

In 2006 Vladimir Putin, at a meeting of the leadership of the Armed Forces, promised that by 2008, 70% of military personnel will be contract soldiers.

In November 2011 President Dmitry Medvedev has promised to reduce the number of conscripts to a minimum over the next five to seven years. According to Medvedev’s plans, by 2018 the share of contract soldiers in the army was supposed to be 80-90%. Those who consider it “extremely important and necessary for themselves” could serve under conscription, the president admitted. “We made, in essence, a political decision to calmly move towards a professional army,” the head of state said then. He emphasized: reform will require significant costs; To make contract service attractive, military personnel need to raise salaries.

In January 2012 Prime Minister Putin said that the requirement for a complete transition to contract service is related to the task of training military specialists, since “years of service, of course, to master modern technology, few". “We, of course, will maintain a significant part of the conscript army for now, but gradually, especially for high-tech branches of the armed forces such as aviation, air defense, and the navy, we need to gradually switch to a contract basis,” he concluded.

A month later V " Rossiyskaya newspaper“Putin’s “Be Strong” was published, dedicated to the development of the military-industrial complex. The author wrote that by 2020 the number of conscripts should be reduced to 145 thousand people, with a total number of armed forces of one million people. However, the presidential candidate made a reservation: “Of course, the Army should become professional, and its core should be contract soldiers. However, we cannot abolish the concept of honorable military duty for men, and they must be ready to defend the Motherland in a moment of danger.”

In November 2013 Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel that the Russian army cannot completely switch to contract service. “We have a very large country. In order to have an exclusively professional army, we have a very large territory. In case of a threat, we must be able to mobilize,” the minister explained. - And in order to mobilize, we must have a mobilization resource. For this, there is a solution to create four reserve armies, and by 2020 we will move away from the use of conscripts in combat operations.”

A year and a half later, in the spring of 2015 Shoigu said he still hopes that in the future the Russian army will be completely contract-based. However, the official did not give specific dates for the possible refusal of conscription. The minister noted that the number of contract soldiers in 2015 for the first time exceeded the number of conscripts: 300 thousand people versus 276 thousand, respectively.

We, faithful citizens of the Russian Federation, ask to cancel conscription into the armed forces in peacetime, while maintaining the obligation of citizens to register for military service.

Justifications for abolishing military service in Russia:

On this moment There are approximately 800 thousand military personnel in the armed forces. Of these, about 400 thousand are in contract service. Moreover, in terms of size, the Russian Army ranks 5th in the world. One of the best and strongest Armies in the world. Abolition of conscription would allow hundreds of thousands of young people to work after school and pay taxes to the state to support the army. At first glance, one year is not very much, but if hundreds of thousands of people lose this year at the same time every year, that’s a decent amount of time. In one year, the state receives less taxes from 400 thousand people. For 5 years: 400,000 x 5 = 2,000,000. Draw your own conclusions about how much taxes these people could pay to maintain the army. For time is also capital.
Today, the already economically difficult situation is complicated by another reason: young people do not go to work and benefit society, but enter universities due to a deferment from the army. We are not against universities, but against the fact that those who do not need it for their reasons and abilities enroll there. The result: the value and quality of higher education is declining, and the state is losing hundreds of thousands of promising workers and taxes every year.
This point comes from the first two: a state that has received good taxes is able to use them to strengthen the Army. This includes an increase in military salaries, promising research, and modernization of the armed forces. As a consequence: the abolition of conscription will have a beneficial effect on the prestige of the Army, its defense capability and professionalism, and the state will have new financial and human resources.
The abolition of conscription would make it possible to raise the authority of our Motherland Russia in the eyes of foreigners. Today there is a stereotype that the Russian Army is not an army of patriots, trained professional volunteers, strong in spirit and ready to tear apart any aggressor if necessary, but a crowd of weak-willed, unprepared people drafted into the army against their will.
If the Army becomes fully contract-based, then the standards for entering the army will increase. Today, unfortunately, people who cannot do one pull-up on the bar are called upon to do 10 push-ups, etc. Actual question: do the Army need such people or could they become outstanding musicians, scientists, engineers and benefit the state in their own way
The conscript army provokes corruption. There are many cases where conscripts who are unfit for health reasons, despite this circumstance, are called up for service, one way or another fall under the yoke of the bureaucratic apparatus and try to pay off hopelessness (despite the fact that many are forced to treat this crime as an extreme to the extent that appealing to the courts and other authorized bodies is not able to help). Thousands of unnecessary organizations profiting from conscription are appearing, providing “assistance in obtaining a military ID.” What nonsense? The abolition of conscription would allow every person, if there are objective reasons, not to join the Army.
The army as a social elevator. Don’t know what to do after school, haven’t decided yet, or have no life prospects at all? No problem - the contract Army is for you. A good salary in the army and, perhaps, as a bonus, other benefits would help those people who need a better life.
Counter-argument for people who say that the army makes men out of people: you won’t be nice by force. If you are not a man, then none of you will make one by force. You don’t have to join the army to know what boxing is, how to run 5 kilometers in 22 minutes and then do 10 pull-ups on the bar. A person could learn how to handle weapons in specially created shooting clubs.
There are about 200 countries on planet Earth. Of these, about 100 have already refused conscription. And not all of them are economically developed countries. This suggests that the state of the state’s economy cannot justify the existence of conscription. States with weak economies that refused conscription: Iraq, Lebanon, India, Afghanistan, Albania, Ethiopia, Pakistan and many others. Russia simply must not become last in this ranking of countries.
The conscription is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The Constitution enshrines the right of every person: to freedom of movement, non-forced activity, equality and equal opportunities for all citizens, regardless of gender and other characteristics. To those who try to argue that this cannot concern military service and so on, we answer the following: any society, state and law evolves. Some time ago there was serfdom and then it was considered justified, considered a state-guaranteed right of certain classes. The first US president owned about 300 slaves. Now he would have been tried and imprisoned, but then it was his right. And there are many, many such examples. Military service today is an atavism of the past.
The conscription destroys many young families and prevents many promising young people from starting a family. The phenomenon is not rare. Anyone who has encountered this will understand without further comment.
Military conscription ceased to be relevant in the second half of the 20th century due to the end of the Second World War and the creation of the United Nations (UN). International law established norms according to which waging aggressive war was considered a crime. As a result, there has not been a single major bloody war between states since 1945.
The call is not effective. Let’s imagine what would happen if in our country musicians and singers were recruited by conscription (no voice or hearing? No problem - we’ll teach you how to sing) or doctors and lawyers? There would be a collapse. Military service is as respected and prestigious a profession as any other. There is such a profession - to defend the Motherland. Efficiency and success in work directly depends on the talent, predisposition and desire of the candidate himself.
This reason is different for everyone.

If we summarize all of the above, we can say that the abolition of conscription would have a beneficial effect not only on the development of the economy of our Motherland, but also on its defense capabilities, ability to withstand internal and external threats more effectively, the well-being of the military personnel themselves would also improve, there would be more people who would perceive the Army not as a duty or an inevitable obstacle in their career, but as a prospect in life and would be personally interested in service.

"It's impossible to win free man, for he will stand for his freedom and the freedom of his loved ones with a wall so that no one takes it away. The forced one is weak, because he already has nothing to lose.”

Join in supporting the petition, and together we can help our state become great again!

IN Lately Many unconfirmed rumors have spread about the complete transition of the Russian armed forces to a contract basis. Will the mandatory universal conscription into the army in Russia be abolished in 2019 - read below.

Briefly about what we have now

Content

Today, compulsory conscription applies to men aged 18 to 27 years. Those who will not have a statutory deferment or health contraindications will be called up. The period of service in 2019 will be 12 months. There are two conscription campaigns a year:

Spring – from April 1 to July 15;
Autumn – from October 1 to December 31.

Every year, about 300 thousand recruits undergo military service.

Let's start with the most important thing

The current President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin in 2017 in the Kremlin, at an official meeting with the winners of the Wordskills competition, promised that the refusal of military service in Russia is a matter of time, and this should happen in the foreseeable future. The President still remained silent about the complete “recipe for transition” in the context of implementing budget policy.

Having touched upon such interesting topic, as an alternative service, V.V. Putin said that the state will further develop this version of the service. Not long ago, two scientific companies were organized - in Voronezh and the Moscow region, and the systematic creation of a Technopark is underway.

Interesting! A scientific company is a specially created army unit where young people with higher education have the opportunity to continue their scientific activity under the supervision of scientific supervisors.

Contract service

The number of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation annually amounts to about 800 thousand military personnel, half of whom are contract soldiers. Selection for contract service is stricter than in the case of compulsory conscription. Thus, not any young man who expresses a desire can become a contract soldier (girls are also allowed), but only one who has served at least 3 months as a conscript or has previously been on a contract. Only those who, as a result of a medical examination, have been assigned fitness categories A or B, as well as with the required level of physical fitness, are allowed to participate in such service.

Contract service, naturally, is voluntary, lasts from 3 to 5 years, has its own conditions and provides military personnel with many advantages and benefits:

The average salary of an ordinary contract soldier is 30,000 rubles;
The average salary of a sergeant is 40,000 rubles;
The average salary of a lieutenant is 55,000 rubles.

In addition, contract workers are provided with compensation for rental housing (if a service apartment was not allocated), allowances for all family members when moving to a new duty station, free medical care, free travel on transport, health insurance, as well as retirement at 45 years and a solid pension provision.

Agree, this is a very good employment option in modern realities of life, especially for residents of villages where finding a decent job has always been a problem.

Two negatives make an affirmative

Speaking about contract service in the army, we should not forget about its disadvantages:

Still, this work carries an increased risk to the soldier’s life;
The established order and subordination will not please everyone;
Some military personnel cannot withstand such conditions and break the contract. According to the latest statistics, such people give up, about 20%.

There is more than one example! Many European countries and non-CIS countries have long switched to a professional contract army. Let's give some examples.

France

French legionnaires are famous all over the world. They even make movies about them. The service life in the French army is 3-5 years. The salary ranges from 1,500 to 3,000 euros; during foreign business trips, the salary increases at least twice. Legal leave every year is 60 days without days off, of which the serviceman chooses 45 days himself.

While serving, a contract soldier has the opportunity to undergo free education more than 50 civilian professions - IT technology specialist, translator, signalman, etc. Perhaps that is why the French army is a major employer in the country, hiring from 10 to 20 thousand people annually.

USA

The American army, which today ranks first in the world in terms of combat power and number of weapons, switched to a contract basis in the distant 1970s, after the military operation in Vietnam. 250 thousand dollars - this is the amount of initial insurance for a serviceman who has entered into a contract.

There are countless benefits for a contract soldier; the requirements are not exorbitant. In 2017, 10% of new military personnel had a criminal record.

Hungary

Since 2005 in this small European country are invited, not required, to serve in the army. The conditions of service in the Hungarian army are also quite attractive. The salary of a private with all allowances will be about 1000 euros, a lieutenant - more than 2200 euros.

When sent to foreign missions, among the closest ones is the security of the Kabul airport, the salary, as a rule, doubles. In the event of a sudden death, the state undertakes to help the family of the deceased over the next years.

Australia

This distant country has long switched to a contract army. The service life ranges from 3 to 6 years with subsequent extensions of 3 years. According to research data, one in five soldiers in the Australian army is a woman.

Among the benefits provided are free medical care, assistance from the state when purchasing housing, subsidies for public utilities, the opportunity to travel around the country. well and minimum wage for an ordinary contract soldier is equal to $2,500.

Arguments for abolishing universal conscription

The abolition of urgent conscription into the army in Russia is becoming a topic of heated debate among both military and civilian experts. Political parties And public organizations present their arguments in favor of cancellation. By and large, logic and common sense are present in all their arguments.

If universal compulsory conscription is abolished, young people will go to work and, accordingly, will pay taxes. Thanks to the new taxes, it will be possible to strengthen the material and technical base of the Armed Forces, increase payrolls for contract soldiers and officers, and develop new types of weapons.

Indeed! Every year about 400 thousand young people are drafted. But they could be employed in the economy and bring considerable benefit to their country. back side Such a call is that, not wanting to serve, young people are desperately trying to get a deferment from the army on legal grounds. In particular, they enter higher education educational establishments, but they do this solely for the purpose of removal from service, and not for the purpose of obtaining an education. There are enough such examples.

Physically and psychologically prepared people will serve. Today, the physical training standards for conscript soldiers sometimes do not stand up to criticism; for most, the army is a stress that few manage to survive.

Gray schemes for evading the army by any means are flourishing in the current conditions. Corruption and bribery schemes can be found at every stage of recruitment events.

Children grow up without fathers, families are destroyed, and new ones are not created. Experience shows that not all relationships can withstand long-term separation.

Hazing among military personnel will be reduced to a minimum. Such a concept as “hazing” will disappear forever.

Conscripts, for the most part, perform the functions of service personnel for officers or contract soldiers.

Sometimes it happens! Employees of the military registration and enlistment office strive by hook or by crook to fulfill the established numbers for the recruitment of recruits. It often happens that sick people enter the army and spend more than half of their 12 months of service in hospitals for inpatient treatment. Each such patient costs the state 100 thousand rubles a month.

And this is already an argument! Today, over 100 countries have switched to a contract army. Among them are Albania, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia. Essentially, these are not countries with outstanding economies. This suggests that compulsory service should not be justified by the poor state of the economy in the country.

If everyone were in favor, that would be a different matter.

Not all public figures advocate the abolition of universal conscription. Many consider the army to be a school of life, in which a young, fragile mind will learn important lessons that will help him in life. future life. Where else, they argue, will a young man learn to quickly establish contacts with strangers, follow clear instructions from his superiors under conditions of the strictest discipline, correctly set priorities, and treat his body carefully?

How can I explain to such smart guys that all these questions were asked by the military leadership of all those countries that switched to a contract basis for filling the army. They did not find any contradictions, but they created conditions (you read about them above), thanks to which no one is afraid of serving in the army, but rather, on the contrary, wants and strives to get there.

Conclusion

Thus, the situation in the world is such that many the developed countries long ago, or not so long ago, they switched to a professional army consisting of contract soldiers. Russia has yet to abolish conscription. No one knows how many years it will take to travel this path.

Well, for now main goal the near future is to achieve a ratio of 90% to 10%, where the last figure will be conscript soldiers.

Where in Russian army Are only contract soldiers serving today?

The submarines of the Russian Navy today are fully staffed by contract servicemen. Soon it is planned to completely switch over all surface and coastal forces to contract soldiers.

The Growth Party, headed by business ombudsman Boris Titov, is collecting signatures on the ROI (Russian Public Initiative) portal for the complete transition of the army to a contract basis. An amendment is proposed to the Law “On Military Service”: “Military service is carried out: on a voluntary basis” (under a contract). A parallel proposal is to exclude Art. 328 “Evasion of military service.”

“To transition to a fully professional army, the last step remains (...), all the technical part is there, all that remains is to make a decision and refuse conscription,” the press service quotes Boris Titov’s statement.

July 15 – end of the spring conscription campaign. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, more than 125 thousand people have already been sent to places of military service. This year, a new feature for conscripts was the addition of a manicure kit to their bag of personal hygiene products.

The number of conscripts willing to serve has “grown significantly,” said Alexander Nikitin, head of the supervision department of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office. Perhaps the positive changes are much more significant due to the fact that draft dodgers risk spending up to two years behind bars instead of a year in the army, as well as the efforts of local prosecutors to block sites that encourage or help to “mow down” from the army. Benefits for entering universities and the desire to avoid problems with a future career remain a significant incentive for service.

The Ministry of Defense states: if since the beginning of the 1990s there have been hundreds of thousands of “draft dodgers”, now “many would be happy to serve, but they don’t take it” - there are “no places” in the army. So in the city of Pervouralsk Sverdlovsk region the military registration and enlistment office had to select 166 people from 808 candidates - an indicative ratio this year between the conscription plan and the number of young people suitable by age.

At the same time, according to social activists, military registration and enlistment offices are still “carrying out the plan at any cost,” en masse conscripting young people with various ailments. As a result, the state not only does not receive the soldier, but also spends a lot of money on his treatment. The “conscript” from the Airborne Forces spent 7 months out of the required 12 in the hospital, but his “tick” is in the cheerful report on exceeding the conscription plan.

A month of a soldier’s stay in a hospital costs the treasury 100 thousand rubles, recalls Valentina Melnikova, chairman of the Union of Soldiers’ Mothers Committees and member of the public council under the Ministry of Defense. For the money that is spent on the treatment of illegally conscripted, not entirely healthy young people, it was possible to support many contract soldiers, if the guys were “glad to serve”, but they would not take them for “urgent” duty. According to the Ministry of Defense, in 2016. the average monthly payment to professional military personnel reaches about 25,500 rubles.

There is a trend in the world to abandon military conscription. For example, in China, with the existing conscription, one can actually join the armed forces only after passing a special selection.

Military conscription in the USA last time was applied in 1973. However, all male US residents (including non-citizens) between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register for military service. In Germany, military conscription has been suspended since July 1, 2011. The last conscript from the Netherlands was transferred to the reserve in 1996. Italy finally switched to a professional army on January 1, 2005.

Forced military conscription was also abandoned by: Japan, India, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, Serbia, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Malaysia and the Philippines and 22 other states.

How possible is it for Russia, given the changing statistics of recruitment into the Armed Forces, to introduce such amendments to the legislation so that the autumn conscription 2016 becomes the last?

Expert opinions

,
founder of the project “Union of Conscripts of Russia”:

At the expense of the contract service. I believe that, firstly, this is all individual. Everyone must choose for themselves, according to their liking, what is more inherent to them. Either it’s conscription service, serve for a year and call it a day military career, or continue to apply for a contract. From my own experience, I can say that a very large number of guys who, before being called up for service, did not consider the option of remaining in contract service, after demobilization from conscription service, they went into contract. There are about 20% of these in my company where I served. According to the stories of friends and comrades, contract service is now very well paid, social security is good, apartments are allocated after 10 years of service. Contract service today is at a very high level.
The Russian Conscript Union was born literally from the street, from the yard, by ordinary guys, privates, sergeants. The activities of the Russian Conscripts Union will cover three life stages. First stage: conscription. Second: service. Third: demobilization. And further important point: motivational.
The conscription stage is psychological and physical preparation for military service in our primary departments. The primary branch is a territorial branch of our organization consisting of 2-7 courtyards. The chairman will be a person who served in the army. He undergoes certain training and prepares the guys for military service. Our task today is to find a consensus so that these guys in the primary branches go to serve in exactly one military unit, in one company. I'll explain why. I know from my own experience that when a serviceman comes to serve in a company alone, doesn’t know anyone, and there is already a close-knit team, difficulties arise. If they go to serve in groups of 5-10 people from the primary department, then it will be easier for them in a team, in one group in which they have been trained for six months, know about all the principles, traditions, and regulations in the service. We, as social activists, are putting forward such an initiative, negotiations are currently underway. We organized a central headquarters in the city of Moscow in order to then take root in the regions, 12 of which are already waiting for us, not counting Chelyabinsk, where the official hierarchy is already distributed down to the local branches of some primary organizations.
Second life stage This military service. Since the Russian Conscript Union is encouraging guys to serve in the army, it is logical that the Russian Conscript Union at least publicly guarantees them decent conditions of service. We will not abandon our supporters and our members. Leaders of primary and regional organizations will keep their finger on the pulse constantly. This already increases the confidence of the population; parents who are concerned are drawn to all sorts of provocative videos.
Third life stage. We conducted a sociological study, and I myself know first-hand what guys, healthy, strong guys need when they are transferred to the reserves. 33.3% said that this is employment at Russian enterprises in the manufacturing sector, or somewhere else. Some stay for contract service, some go to work in government agencies, and some go to study. Healthy Russian men have the right to receive workplace at Russian enterprises. We are also taking the initiative to ensure that young people who have served in the army are primarily employed at Russian enterprises.

,
Candidate of Political Sciences, expert of the Association of Independent Military Political Scientists:

Russia is not ready to switch to contract service, and will never be ready. This is primarily related to issues of the effectiveness of defense itself and the defense of the state. Of course, in the current conditions, when the situation is escalating, pressure is on our borders, primarily from the west, somewhere to some extent from the east and from the south, a professional army is simply not feasible. Moreover, there is a misconception that a professional army is some kind of effective army, while a conscript army is somehow weak and incorrect. I think this is a very serious misconception. As an example, in 2013, the month of January, there was a referendum in Austria, a developed democratic state, the population was asked which army they would like, conscript or contract. The population voted for the army by conscription. Therefore, to say that a professional army is required attribute democratic state, I would not.
We have a large territory that requires cover with a massive number of personnel. As a teacher, a higher school teacher, and as a former officer, I want to say that our army today is a very effective social institution for educating our youth, primarily males.
I am all for what we are talking about increasing the number of contract soldiers. This is truly an increase in the professionalism of the armed forces, which is very cool. But if we talk about a complete replacement with contract soldiers, I am against it. Because 1 year in the army makes you smarter young man than 5 years of university study. I speak as a teacher. It's very nice to have social institution, which is called the army, where our young people are educated. There is at least some instillation of responsibility. And responsibility is the main thing.

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Head of the Public Movement “Citizen and Army”, member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation:

Russia has been ready to completely switch to contract service for more than 10 years. Moreover, this task was set by the country's leadership, and the Ministry of Defense accepted this task as one of its main ones. Filling the army with contract soldiers is now the most important task. Last year, the Ministry of Defense reported that for the first time the number of contract soldiers exceeded the number of conscripts. All combat training units are now filled only with contract soldiers, and only they participate in combat operations. The only question remains how to organize this contract recruitment system, because those points that are deployed throughout the country are not yet very good at recruiting contract soldiers. The recruitment of contract soldiers through military units at one time, 10 years ago, when it was organized, showed that, unfortunately, various corruption mechanisms are included, and unit commanders pay more attention to the plan than to preparation. However, the latest movements recent months show that yes, Russia is ready and, moreover, there is no other alternative. The army should consist only of contract soldiers.
A serviceman will only become a true professional in the army under a contract, because with the technology and the pressures that currently exist, it is impossible to train a professional soldier in a year. A professional soldier means 3 years of service, and then more than half enter into the next contract. We will have a professional mobile army that is capable of solving the problems facing the country.
This is not such a big burden on the budget, everything has been calculated, it is a percentage of the military budget. We should soon have a million-strong army, 300 thousand total conscripted military personnel, this means that 700 thousand are contract soldiers, 350 thousand officers and more than 300 thousand contract military personnel. An increase of another 300 thousand is quite feasible for the budget.
Conscription service is an important part, an important stage of preparation for contract service. The guys go to the army, take a young fighter course there, receive a primary registration specialty, and then those who have proven themselves, for whom the army becomes their native element, are offered to switch to a contract. This becomes both a test for the young fighter and evidence for the commanders that such a person is ready. And now conscripted military personnel are simply a stepping stone; they do not participate in hostilities. Now a conscript is not needed in the army; he serves as a stage for the formation of contract soldiers, a selection stage.