MOSCOW. Sept 23 (Interfax) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said he thinks it would be wrong to cancel military conscription in Russia because the country needs a mobilization reserve in the event of a military threat.
"In principle, it's possible [to cancel military conscription in Russia]. But I don't think that it would be the right decision. I'm absolutely convinced that, in any case, we need to have some number of conscripts," Shoigu said in an interview with the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.
"Beyond serving professional soldiers, any sovereign state also has a mobilization reserve made up of ordinary citizens," he said.
"Should a threat occur, the existence of such a reserve will help quite rapidly reinforce the Armed Forces. Combat training is organized for the male population in order to form such a reserve. Furthermore, this allows people to feel their involvement in defending their country. But if the army is treated exclusively as a way of earning good money, these people will definitely lack this moral backbone," the defense minister said.
"Military conscription, or compulsory military service is one of the effective forms of citizens' combat training, allowing them to master a military profession right in the Armed Forces. There is nothing unusual or, even more so, frightening in it. It has existed throughout history, and not only in Russia alone. In Israel military service is obligatory for all young men and even for all young women! And no one says anything negative about it," Shoigu said.
In the future, the Russian Armed Forces will become ever more professional, including in terms of specialists who maintain advanced military hardware, he said.
When asked whether there is bullying in the Russian Armed Forces, Shoigu said that "there are simply no grounds for bullying in the army now."
"Naturally, there have been instances of everyday life and barracks hooliganism. Of course, if one wishes to, such cases can be put into the spotlight and can be highlighted at all platforms and all rallies, implying 'Look, one soldier has hit another!' But there are far more such situations among civilians in any city," he said.