Meanwhile, the war in Chechnya demands a presence of 40,000 to 100,000 men. Since troops must be rotated in and out of combat zones, the need for soldiers may even be growing. Analyst Pikayev says it is amply clear that the troops are understaffed. The Defense Ministry is preparing a plan to boost the draft. Such a reform would increase the number of draftees by 40,000, the paper says.
Some reports say authorities have resorted to what amounts to press-ganging.
The young men were literally pulled out of their beds just hours after their graduation party the night before. The lack of conscripts is already changing the makeup of the Russian force in Chechnya. Defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer says unofficial estimates show the proportion of conscripts in Chechnya among privates has fallen from 93 percent to around 60 percent. The rest are contract soldiers. This evolution is seen by some military men as a step towards a professional army.