The Russian Defence Ministry is not considering the possibility of switching to a fully contract-based army, Deputy Chief of Russian Armed Forces General Staff Vasiliy Smirnov said on 23 June, as quoted by Interfax-AVN military news agency website.
"For the Russian Federation, army conscription is better. It allows assigning a nationwide status to the army service," Smirnov said. "Every citizen should be ready to defend the state," he added.
"As regards knowledge-intensive posts and posts that are important for the troops' combat readiness, they should be occupied by contract servicemen," Smirnov noted. Therefore, Russia will keep its mixed system of manning the armed forces, he added.
Foreigners serving in Russian Army
Three hundred and twenty-five foreigners from the near abroad (former Soviet republics) are serving in the Russian Armed Forces, Vasiliy Smirnov said, as quoted by Interfax-AVN in another report at 0735 gmt.
According to Smirnov, citizens of the following countries are currently serving in the Russian Armed Forces: Tajikistan (103), Uzbekistan (69), Ukraine (42), Azerbaijan (27), Armenia (19), Kazakhstan (15), Belarus (8), and some other countries, including Georgia (1).
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