29,500 Ukrainians aged 18 to 25 are trying to evade the military draft, believes Anatoly Kobas, deputy chief of the organization and mobilization department at the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces. He told a Kyiv briefing dedicated to the spring call-up (April 1 — May 31) that this figure was registered after the call-up last fall, adding that during the past two years the number of draft dodgers “has not increased sharply.” In the previous draft campaign 15,280 persons were reported to regional prosecutors’ offices. Simultaneously, the number of those prosecuted “runs into the hundreds, not thousands.” The spring call-up has been set at 41,275.
Meanwhile, Russia is looking at other ways to approach this problem, actively marketing the idea of a foreign legion. The Friday before last, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov suggested that citizens of CIS member states be allowed to serve in the Russian Armed Forces. Interfax quoted Minister Ivanov as saying that a bill to this effect has been submitted to the Russian Duma. One of the reasons behind this decision is the planned transfer of Russia’s Army to a contract basis. According to Gen. Ivanov, to attract young people from other countries they can he offered Russian citizenship in exchange for service in the Russian Army, that is, preferences for those who apply for it. “In cases of exemplary service, the foreign soldier will be granted Russian citizenship not in five years as demanded by the law, but in three,” Gen. Ivanov said. Obviously, this measure has been caused in part by problems of manning the Army similar to those in Ukraine. However, the flip side of this is that Russia is actively competing in the post-Soviet world for human resources in science, sports, show business, and now in the military. Obviously, a fitting response from the Ukrainian side would be to increase the attractiveness of service in the Ukrainian Army. In this connection, The Day turned to the experts with this question:
WHY DON’T YOUNG PEOPLE WANT TO SERVE IN THE ARMED FORCES?
Oleksandr ZASKOKA, chief of the Department of Conscription, Manning, and Managing Recruitment Offices of the Supreme Organizing and Mobilization Department, General Headquarters of Ukraine’s Armed Forces:
“We have always had high rates of evaders. Why do they avoid military service? My view is that the army, like society in general, has its problems, because it is a reflection of our society. Moreover, many young people are not fit for military service. We have let the main thing slide, that is, the military and patriotic propaganda we used to have in the country. Quite recently, weeks into the Iraq War, I visited the United States and was surprised at their real and not feigned patriotism. I visited their recruiting offices. Voluntary enlistment has risen by 30% in the US. Mind you, a very powerful propaganda machine is working to achieve this.
“Our people, though, do not consider it necessary to discharge their constitutional duty. And not only with respect to the Armed Forces. I often hear young people say, ‘If the state says it doesn’t owes me anything, then why should I do my duty?’ We often receive letters from mothers with similar arguments. In one recent letter a woman wrote: ‘I have no apartment, my husband left me, I earn only UAH 150, and the state hasn’t ever helped me in my life. Why should I let them take my son to the army? On the contrary, I’ll keep telling him that he doesn’t belong there.’ Today we face this problem alone. What the military is trying to do is not enough. We need public support. To illustrate, we have initiated a state program for transition to military service on a contract basis. It appears, however, that nobody else except the Armed Forces needs it.”
Mykola SUNHUROVSKY, coordinator of military programs, Razumkov Center:
“Young people think that any isolation from life and especially military service will be a waste of time they could otherwise devote to business. Another reason is that under present conditions military service does not enhance the skill level of conscripts. To illustrate, if in the developed countries they at least have an opportunity not to lose their skills, then in Ukraine there is not much hope even for that. The third reason is the technical and professional level of our Armed Forces. It is not the army’s fault but its sickness. It cannot create conditions for the young people so that each could feel like a defender of his homeland. And last but not least are numerous cases of hazing and damage to health.
“We need to revise the budget, balance it, and reduce the Armed Forces without reducing the defense budget. This would make it possible to upgrade obsolete materiel, buy modern weapons, and thus make the army more attractive for the young people.”
