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Russian Defense Minister promises to reduce the Black Sea Fleet
Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov spoke at a plenary meeting of the Federation Council during the government hour with a report on reforming the army and navy. Contrary to preliminary statements by some senators, the meeting was held behind closed doors. “We talked about the transition to a new look, about the size of the armed forces, about the new structure, about the military units being created, about the bill on monetary allowances and proposals regarding the provision of housing for military personnel,” the minister told reporters after the meeting.A day earlier, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Nikolai Makarov, at a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, said that now the recruitment of conscript soldiers will be carried out on a territorial basis. “During the current spring conscription, the General Staff is testing the recruitment of military units with conscripts on a territorial basis - that is, where the conscript lives, that’s where he will mainly serve,” General Makarov said. And he even shared his personal memories: “I know from myself, during my first and second years at a military school, I had one desire - to go on leave to the city.” And it’s even more difficult for a conscript soldier to leave for the city.”
Another idea of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff involves the transformation of six military districts and the creation on their basis of new command and control bodies in the army and navy - four operational-strategic commands. The relevant Committee of the Federation Council on Defense and Security has already supported this initiative, as its chairman Viktor Ozerov told reporters. “The creation of new central governing bodies in the army and navy will become the basis for reliable protection of the country’s security by the armed forces,” the senator believes.
The Minister of Defense yesterday told senators that after the reform, the number of contract soldiers in the Russian army will increase by one and a half times, of whom there are now about 150 thousand. Although he previously announced a reduction in the number of contract soldiers due to the lack of funds to provide them sufficiently. According to the head of the Ministry of Defense, all conditions will be created for contract military personnel “so that they can perform their duties as true professionals.” It is also planned to increase the number of Suvorov schools.
After Mr. Serdyukov’s speech in the Senate, Viktor Ozerov shared information with reporters that the Ministry of Defense is reducing the number of military camps by 40 times. “The minister said that today the military department has more than 8 thousand military camps, and only 184 will remain,” the senator said. The reduced military camps will be transferred to the regions. “The Ministry of Defense in each specific case is ready to consider proposals from subjects and local governments to transfer to them housing, social and cultural facilities and other infrastructure facilities on a paid or gratuitous basis,” the senator said.
During the meeting, such a burning topic as providing military personnel with housing came up. The minister said that by order of Dmitry Medvedev, “funds have been added so that this year not 45 thousand apartments will be built, as originally planned, but 51 thousand apartments as permanent housing.” Mr. Serdyukov said that he does not see “difficulties in providing service housing (to all - Ed. ) military personnel until the end of 2012."
In addition, for the first time, the minister announced that it is planned to reduce the number of personnel in the Russian Black Sea Fleet. “Regarding the Black Sea Fleet, the minister said that its numerical strength has already been determined - it is less than the 24 thousand that were before,” Senator Ozerov told reporters. Negotiations with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine on this issue are expected in the near future.
Speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov was not satisfied with the speech of the Minister of Defense. In a conversation with journalists, he noted that the report “not in everything” satisfied the members of the upper house of parliament. “Objectively speaking, for some positions we received a comprehensive explanation, some answers clarified the situation, which raised serious questions from senators,” the speaker said. “Personally, I and many of my colleagues remain unconvinced about what is happening in the armed forces.”