PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, February 15 (AVN) - About 150 out of 4,000 soldiers and sailors recruited to Kamchatka military units in the autumn of 1999 have been taken to hospital with pneumonia, a spokesman for the medical service of the Russian Northeastern troops said on Tuesday.
Another 10 raw recruits are still treated for meningitis, the spokesman told the Military News Agency.
The reason why 18-year-old able-bodied servicemen got to hospital lies in the actions of the General Staff, the spokesman said. It is no secret that acclimatisation to the Kamchatka climate is very tough in winter and much easier in summer and autumn. However the General Staff sent most recruits to Kamchatka right in the beginning of winter.
Besides, the servicemen were severely affected by bad work of military authorities of the Maritime territory, where they had arrived from central Russia by train. The recruits had no clothes suitable for Far Eastern frosts. Nevertheless, the authorities kept them in the open air or badly heated buildings from three to four days before boarding them on a plane to Kamchatka.
As a result, almost all recruits got a cold, which resulted in such grave diseases.