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The "unidentified armed men" in the Crimea are most likely Russian
"contract" soldiers wearing "sanitized" uniforms. Most Russian servicemen
are draftees fulfilling their term of national service. The term of national
service has recently been reduced from two years to one year, since the
draft is universally unpopular in post-Soviet Union Russia and many
conscripts don't even bother to show up for induction. Naturally draftees
serving for just one year aren't worth much , since by the time you get them
all individually trained and integrated into a unit their time of service
is nearly up and you'll soon have to send them home. Consequently, about the
time of the Chechen War, the Russian Army started taking volunteers under
"contract" and paid them much more than they paid draftees. Actually this is
nothing new since many countries in the past maintained separate formations
of draftee and volunteer soldiers. For example, France fought its Indochina
War exclusively with volunteers, all the while it had a draft. However, this
idea of contract soldiers, a professional army, is something new in Russia,
so apparently a number of people there regard the volunteers as
"mercenaries" or "hired killers", rather than as Russian citizens fulfilling
their military service obligation.
By Epictetus
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