MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax-AVN) - The overall strength of Cossacks in military units amounts to only 1.7%, Major General Alexander Valyaev of the Russian General Staff said at the scientific conference on the Russian Cossacks in Moscow on Wednesday.
"At the present time there are 15 units, supposed to be manned with Cossacks, in the Russian Armed Forces. As of October 1, 2007 the percentage of Cossacks in these military units amounts to only 1.7%," Valyaev said.
Some Cossack units are manned with Cossacks by 4.4-6.2%, he noted.
Commenting on conscription, Valyaev noted that there were 10-fold more defectors among Cossacks, than among other groups.
A total of only 110 of 823 Cossacks, expected to have been drafted in 2006, were in fact sent to military units.
There are four military units in the Russian Armed Forces to be manned with conscripts, he said. "A total of 3,107 Cossacks have to be drafted to man these units. If the Cossack community, amounting to 650,000 men, ensures that at least these units are manned with Cossacks, it will make a considerable contribution to strengthening the national defense," Valyaev said.