ST. PETERSBURG. April 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of retired officers, signing volunteer contracts, has increased more than five-fold in the Leningrad Military District in the past six months.
"A total of 5.5-fold more retired officers signed volunteer contracts during the winter training period y-o-y 2004," Colonel Yury Klenov, aide to the commander of the Leningrad Military District, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday.
"Such officers range from lieutenants to lieutenant colonels," he said.
According to Klenov, the increase proves that still more retired officers consider volunteer service prestigious and profitable.
He also noted that a total of 194 officers had been promoted since the turn of the year, while 60 officers had been transferred to participate in the anti-guerilla operation in the North Caucasus. About 1,800 servicemen and civil servants have been awarded state and Defense Ministry decorations for outstanding combat training and valor, displayed in combat.