About 100 people gathered in Moscow on Saturday to protest legislation that would eliminate many existing exemptions from mandatory military service. The demonstrators, responding to a call from liberal opposition groups including the Union of Right Forces and the Soldiers' Mothers party, objected to the removal of deferments even as the overall length of service is being shortened.
The bill, which President Vladimir Putin supports and which has passed its final reading in the State Duma, reduces mandatory service from two years to 18 months starting in January 2007, then to 12 months from 2008 for men aged 18 to 27. The measure is part of a broader Kremlin effort to modernize the armed forces and eventually create an all-professional military.
The legislation eliminates nine of 26 existing temporary exemptions, ending special treatment for rural doctors and teachers, fathers of children under three, and men with disabled or retired parents. A companion bill also closes a loophole that had allowed some university students to avoid service by taking weekly military courses.
Russia's military currently has around 1.3 million personnel, but recruiting conscripts has grown more difficult due to widespread hazing and abuse within the ranks.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.