Russia has no conscript-age young men left to recruit, Russia’s chief of the General Staff complained on Thursday.
The current conscript service crisis in the Russian Armed Forces is mainly due to demographic decline, bullying and brutal treatment of conscripts.
General Nikolai Makarov said only 11.7% of young men aged 18-27 were eligible for the army service but 60% of them had health problems and could not be drafted under law.
“We now have a situation when there is virtually nobody left to draft,” Makarov said. “It is a serious problem and I make no bones about it.”
Many young people have been known to fake medical documents or even start a family in order to avoid the 12-month compulsory service in the army.
The crisis in the consript service has led the Defense Ministry to halve the number of conscripts in the autumn 2011 draft period. It will now recruit 135,850 young men instead of 250-300,000, as was planned in spring, the ArmyRus.ru web portal said.
The effect of the 1990s demographic crisis is expected to reach its peak in 2014, experts said.